I have a nagging suspicion that "earthworms" was a euphemism for something secret.
Circumstantial evidence can be unreliable, but so can testimony.
Tuesday, July 04, 2023
Effigy Mounds
In Aspects of Winnebago Archaeology Radin tries to show, among other things, that the effigy mounds were built by Winnebago, some of them as recently as the 18'th century, and were clan property markers. They didn't have radiocarbon dating then, though they did have the testimony of Winnebago elders who died over a hundred years ago and are no longer available for interview. Those elders also unanimously said that they have never known how to make the stone arrowheads found all over the place--those were made by earthworms. They sometimes used them, but only when found.
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European mound-builders also used them to mark territory. "It is our ancestors who are buried here. This shows that we have been here a long time (even if we are an itinerant people who return to spots rather than settle at them.) If you try to claim this land as yours you will incur the wrath of the people buried in the mound, who know you are lying. They know that we will honor them properly and you will not."
I imagine this is true in many places.
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