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  INDIAN NOTES
  AND MONOGRAPHS

  EDITED BY F. W. HODGE

  [Illustration: Decoration]

  A SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS
  RELATING TO THE
  AMERICAN ABORIGINES

  ADDITIONAL MOUNDS OF DUVAL
  AND OF CLAY COUNTIES,
  FLORIDA

  MOUND INVESTIGATION ON THE EAST
  COAST OF FLORIDA

  CERTAIN FLORIDA COAST MOUNDS
  NORTH OF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER

  BY
  CLARENCE B. MOORE

  1896

  NEW YORK

  MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
  HEYE FOUNDATION

  1922




This series of INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS is devoted primarily to
the publication of the result of studies by members of the staff of
the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform
with HISPANIC NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS, published by the Hispanic Society
of America, with which organization this Museum is in cordial
coöperation.

Only the first ten volumes of INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS are
numbered. The unnumbered parts may readily be determined by
consulting the List of Publications issued as one of the series.




  INDIAN NOTES
  AND MONOGRAPHS

  EDITED BY F. W. HODGE

  [Illustration: Decoration]

  A SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS
  RELATING TO THE
  AMERICAN ABORIGINES

  ADDITIONAL MOUNDS OF DUVAL
  AND OF CLAY COUNTIES,
  FLORIDA

  MOUND INVESTIGATION ON THE EAST
  COAST OF FLORIDA

  CERTAIN FLORIDA COAST MOUNDS
  NORTH OF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER

  BY
  CLARENCE B. MOORE

  1896

  NEW YORK

  MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
  HEYE FOUNDATION

  1922




[Illustration:

  MAP OF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER
  FROM
  DOCTOR’S LAKE TO THE SEA

x indicates Sand Mound]




CONTENTS


                                                                  PAGE

  Preface                                                            7

  ADDITIONAL MOUNDS OF DUVAL AND OF CLAY COUNTIES, FLORIDA           9

  Low mound at Arlington, Duval county                               9

  Human remains                                                     10

  Earthenware                                                       11

  Stone                                                             15

  Shell                                                             16

  Remarks                                                           16

  Two low mounds at South Jacksonville, Duval county                16

  Low mound at Point La Vista, Duval county                         18

  Low mounds near Point La Vista, Duval county                      22

  Mound A                                                           22

  Mound B                                                           24

  Mound C                                                           26

  Low mound at Mulberry Grove, Duval county                         28

  Mound at Peoria, Clay county                                      32

  MOUND INVESTIGATION ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA                  34

  Stone House mound, Volusia county                                 39

  Mound at Courtenay, Brevard county                                40

  Low mound at Courtenay, Brevard county                            41

  Mound at De Soto, Brevard county                                  42

  Mound at Tropic, Brevard county                                   43

  Gleason mound, Brevard county                                     43

  Mounds near mouth of Banana river, Brevard county                 47

  Mounds near St. Lucie river, Dade county                          48

  FLORIDA COAST MOUNDS NORTH OF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER                 49

  Low mound at the Sawpit, Duval county                             50

  Low mound at Dr. Harrison’s, Amelia island                        51

  Mound south of Suarez Bluff, Amelia island                        52

  Mound northeast of Suarez Bluff, Amelia island                    53

  Light-house mound, Fernandina, Nassau county                      55

  Composition of mound                                              56

  Human remains                                                     57

  Canine remains                                                    59

  Earthenware                                                       64

  Stone                                                             65

  Shell                                                             65

  Miscellaneous                                                     67

  Copper                                                            68

  Remarks                                                           68

  ST. MARY’S RIVER                                                  68

  NOTES                                                             70




ILLUSTRATIONS


  PLATES

           PAGE

  Map of the St. Johns river from Doctor’s
  lake to the sea           _Frontispiece_

  I. Earthenware vessel with five compartments.
  Mound south of Point La
  Vista          27

  II. Outline view from above of vessel shown
  in Plate I         27


  FIGURES

  1. Tobacco pipe of earthenware. Low
  Mound at Point La Vista        21

  2. Plan of mounds south of Point La Vista       23

  3. Earthenware vessel with incised decoration.
  Mound at Mulberry Grove        30

  4. Ornament of silver. Gleason mound       45

  5. Ornament of brass. Gleason mound       45

  6. Section of mound northeast of Suarez
  Bluff          55




PREFACE


During five months of the Fall of 1895 and of the Winter of
1895-1896, mound investigation was carried on by us in Florida with
cumulative results in some cases, with negative results in others.

Nothing new or of special interest rewarded our labors.

Nevertheless, as our researches were made with great care and
considerable thoroughness, it has seemed well to embody the results
in a brief report. To our mind, it is the duty of one destroying an
aboriginal landmark to see to it that the results, be they ever so
meagre, go on permanent record.

  C. B. M.

June, 1896.




ADDITIONAL MOUNDS OF DUVAL AND OF CLAY COUNTIES, FLORIDA


Mound at Arlington. Mounds at South Jacksonville (2). Mound at Point
La Vista. Mounds South of Point La Vista (3). Mound at Mulberry
Grove. Mound at Peoria.


LOW MOUND AT ARLINGTON, DUVAL COUNTY

About three miles below Jacksonville, on the opposite side of the St.
Johns, at Arlington, on the property of William G. Matthews, Esq.,
of Philadelphia, was a low mound in pine woods. We are indebted to
W. H. Wilson, Esq., in whose charge the estate is, for permission to
investigate.

This mound was not considered of aboriginal origin by the inhabitants
of the neighborhood and had sustained no previous investigation
though it gave evidence of cultivation in former times; its height of
two feet, at the time of our investigation, was probably considerably
less than its original altitude. Its shape was irregular, its major
and minor axes being respectively 57 feet and 36 feet.

It was totally demolished.

It was composed of yellow sand with the usual admixture of charcoal.


HUMAN REMAINS

Human remains were encountered at twenty-five points, some as deep as
3 feet from the surface, beginning at the very margin of one portion
of the mound. Bones were in the last stage of decay, but minimum
portions of the skeleton being represented—at times parts of the
cranium alone and again small pieces of bone almost too fragmentary
for identification.


EARTHENWARE

Sherds were present in great quantities, the majority undecorated,
though some bore the complicated stamps found in Georgia and in
Carolina. Two had the stamp familiar in Florida, consisting of small
diamonds.

The material of all the ware present in the mound, with the exception
of certain fragments, was very inferior.

There were present numerous sherds showing separation from the
vessel, not by a clean break but by the aid of a pointed implement,
and a number of vessels had pieces removed from the margin by the
agency of pointed tools. We have before referred to this peculiar
custom as occurring in Duval County mounds and occasionally in other
parts of Florida.

At several points in the mound were nests of fragments of earthenware.

In the northwestern margin of the mound, together, just below the
surface, with a deposit of charcoal but apparently with no human
remains, were two tobacco pipes of earthenware, of the usual type
found in the mounds of Duval County, where the orifice for the stem
often equals in size the aperture of the bowl.

This type, probably in vogue before White contact, is present in the
stone graves of Tennessee. We have elsewhere found tobacco pipes of
much more modern appearance in mounds containing objects essentially
European.

In loose sand was another tobacco pipe in appearance similar to the
foregoing.

In the northeastern margin, 15 feet down, with fragmentary human
remains 1 foot below, was a small undecorated bowl with a perforation
in the base, made previous to baking. This was the only occurrence
in the mound of ready-made mortuary ware. For the benefit of those
not familiar with our previous Reports on the Florida mounds, we may
say that it was the custom in that State, often to knock out the
bottom, or to make a hole through the bottom, of earthenware vessels,
previous to inhumation with the dead and that this custom is believed
to have been practised with the idea that the mutilation “killed”
the vessel, freeing its soul to accompany that of its owner into the
next world. Apparently, however, it entered the minds of the more
thrifty among the aborigines that vessels of value might serve a
better purpose, and hence there arose a class of ceremonial ware,
usually small in size, often of fantastic design and always of flimsy
material, with bases perforated during the process of manufacture.
This cheap ware was probably kept on hand and did duty for vessels
more valuable and less readily spared.

One and one-half feet below the surface, about 4 feet in from the
northwestern margin, was a small globular vessel of ordinary type,
undecorated, intact as to the base, with perforations for suspension
below the margin on either side. No human remains were found in the
neighborhood.

About 5 feet in from the western margin, and 2 feet below the
surface, with no human remains in proximity, were two undecorated
bowls, each with a maximum diameter of about 6 inches. Both showed
perforation of the base made after manufacture.

A globular vessel of somewhat over one quart capacity lay about
9 feet in from the northeastern margin and 1.5 feet below the
surface. It was undecorated save for a raised band around the
inverted rim. With it were the greater part of a small undecorated
vessel of ordinary type and various artifacts. Human remains were
in association. Within the vessel were two pebbles; fragments of
marine univalves; decaying portions of mussel shells; a worked object
of shell resembling an imperforate cylindrical bead; and a bit of
coquina.

At a number of other points were vessels, some of about one gallon
capacity, all undecorated and of most inferior ware. In nearly every
case was perforation of the base made after the completion of the
vessel. Nearly all were to a certain extent imperfect, some being
crushed to numerous fragments.


STONE

Five hatchets of the usual type, some showing considerable breakage,
came from various points in the mound, none deeper than three feet.

In sand dyed red with _Hematite_, near human remains, were several
mussel shells; one small bit of sandstone; a pentangular slab of red
sandstone with a maximum length of 7.5 inches, a maximum width of 7
inches, a thickness of 3 inches; a “celt” 8 inches in length.

Four arrowheads came from different depths. With one was a pebble
hammer of quartz.

About 2.5 feet from the surface, together, were fragments of lower
animal bones; pebbles; a bit of quartz; fragments of marine shell;
and several bits of chert rudely worked to resemble the arrowhead but
too imperfect to be of service for any but sepulchral purposes.

Variously associated throughout the mound were a number of sheets of
mica; pebble hammers; pebbles; several bits of chert and hones of
sandstone.


SHELL

Upon several occasions fragments of mussel shells, probably whole at
the time of interment, lay with human remains and with artifacts.

In one instance, with human remains and other objects, was the
columella of a marine univalve neatly worked to a blunt point at
either end.


REMARKS

This mound closely resembles many other low mounds of Duval County in
the presence of abundant earthenware, of tobacco pipes of prehistoric
pattern, of mica and of pebbles.

Nothing in the mound indicated acquaintance with the products of
Europe.


TWO LOW MOUNDS AT SOUTH JACKSONVILLE, DUVAL COUNTY

These two mounds, almost contiguous, were on property belonging to
the Hendricks estate. The ground, destined for building purposes,
has been cleared and has evidently been under cultivation.

The smaller mound, circular in shape, had a height of 1 foot 8
inches, a base diameter of 52 feet. The mound had evidently been
greatly spread out and a good portion of its contents doubtless
scattered. The central portion was dug through, resulting in the
discovery of a few sherds and here and there fragments of human
remains.

The larger mound was irregular in shape; its major and minor axes
being respectively 72 feet and 50 feet. Its height was 3 feet 3
inches. Its general appearance called to mind the low mound at
Floral Bluff, Duval County, and the largest of the low mounds south
of the great Grant mound, where our investigation was so richly
rewarded. Our hopes in respect to this mound, however, were doomed
to disappointment, for mound work is a lottery where blanks largely
predominate.

The central portion of the mound was entirely dug through, yielding
one interment badly decayed and apparently previously disturbed. A
few sherds with complicated stamped decoration were met with.


LOW MOUND AT POINT LA VISTA, DUVAL COUNTY

Point La Vista, on the eastern bank of the St. Johns, is about four
miles above Jacksonville.

In a cultivated field about one-half mile in a northerly direction
from the landing was a mound much reduced in height by the plow.
Its diameter of base, at the time of its total demolition by us,
was 55 feet; its height, 2 feet 4 inches. The mound at the central
portion had a thickness of 5 feet between the surface and where the
sand ceased to show an admixture of charcoal, that is to say about
2.5 feet above the level of the surrounding territory and an equal
distance below it. Yellow sand with no traces of charcoal or sherds,
marked the bottom of the mound and into this again certain small pits
had been dug, as was shown by the darker color of the sand employed
to fill them.

Somewhat below the level of the surrounding territory was a stratum
over one foot in thickness of sand blackened by fire, containing
abundant particles of charcoal. Above this layer were brown sand
and white sand intermingled at places, surmounted by a stratum of
cherry-colored sand owing its tint to the use of _Hematite_, of
irregular thickness—averaging, perhaps, 1 foot. This bright colored
stratum lay beneath a superficial layer of brownish sand about 1 foot
in thickness.

Interments were in considerable numbers—between thirty and forty—and
in the last stage of decay, some in fact so far gone that the method
of burial was not determined, but in all cases where sufficient
evidence remained the burial in anatomical order was indicated.

Quantities of sherds were in every portion of the mound; some plain,
others with punctate decoration, and others again bearing the square
or the diamond-shaped stamp common to Florida ware. Intricate
stamped decoration, prevalent in Georgia and present in many mounds
of Duval County, was not met with.

About 3 feet from the surface was a bowl of approximately one gallon
capacity, of ordinary type, bearing the square stamped decoration.
The bottom had been intentionally knocked out. No human remains were
discovered in the immediate neighborhood.

In a pocket of brownish sand, extending into the untouched sand below
the mound, seemingly a small grave, over 5 feet from the surface,
in the central portion of the base, with human remains, was an
undecorated earthenware pipe (Fig. 1) of the usual type of the mounds
of Duval County.

A curious earthenware knob, evidently broken from some vessel, lay in
the sand.

Two polished hatchets were met with, one with human remains, 6 inches
from the surface, the other in caved sand.

On a fireplace 5 feet from the surface were certain bones of the deer.

Several chips of chert, a rude implement of chert, a hone of
sandstone and two chert arrowheads, were found separately in the
sand.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Tobacco pipe of earthenware. Low Mound at
Point La Vista. (Length over curve, 5⅞ in.)]

Loose in the sand were several conchs, a number of oyster-shells and
the columella of a large marine univalve worked to a point.

As this portion of Florida has been long under cultivation, it is
impossible to say what artifacts may have been removed by the plow
in previous years.


LOW MOUNDS NEAR POINT LA VISTA, DUVAL COUNTY

Partly on the property of Mr. Shad, resident near by, and of Mrs. J.
R. Hunter, of Albany, N. Y., about one mile in a southerly direction
from Point La Vista, were three low intersecting mounds (Fig. 2) all
showing signs of former cultivation. By arrangement with Mr. Shad,
and with kind consent of George M. Wyeth, M. D., of Jacksonville, in
charge of the Hunter property, these mounds were totally dug through
at a depth of three to four feet below the level of the surrounding
territory.

They contained the usual charcoal and many fireplaces and were
composed of yellowish-brown sand unstratified.

_Mound A._ Diameter of base, 29 feet; height, 2 feet 5 inches.

No skeletal remains were encountered until the central portion of the
mound was reached when small fragments of mouldering human bones
were met with at four different points, from one foot to three feet
nine inches from the surface. No artifacts were in association save
in one instance when a small stone “celt” lay near bones.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Plan of mounds south of Point La Vista.]

With the exception of a nest of many fragments of earthenware, in
the southern margin, sherds were infrequent. Certain fragments
of earthenware were undecorated, while others bore a complicated
stamped decoration, several of these being additionally decorated
with crimson pigment—the first occurrence in our experience of the
combined ornamentation.

Four small arrowheads, too rude for aught save mortuary deposits,
were found separately. A bit of chert came from a depth of 5 feet.

Singly were: one pebble-hammer; one rude piercing implement of
chipped chert and one pebble about 2 by 2.5 inches by one inch in
thickness, worked into an oblong shape with rounded corners.

_Mound B._ Diameter of base, 52 feet; height, 2 feet 1 inch. In
this mound interments, consisting, as in the other, of mouldering
fragments, were met with at six different points.

Three and one-half feet from the surface, with human remains, were:
one bit of chipped chert; a few marine mussel shells; a piece of
sandstone; part of a columella of a marine univalve; and a small
_Fulgur carica_ with a hole knocked through one side. These all lay
in a pocket of sand dyed scarlet with red oxide of iron.

Also in the scarlet sand, 4.5 feet from the surface, with a few bits
of human bone, were: a small sheet of mica; a smoothing stone of
chert; a perforated _Fulgur_ and several molars and incisors and one
canine of some carnivore.

A streak of red sand beneath a seam of charcoal led to a large cockle
shell (_Cardium_) badly decayed, and a small vessel of earthenware
with two compartments and a handle on either end, very similar in
type to one taken by us from the Hopson mound, Lake County, and
figured by us (pl. LXXXV, fig. 2) in our Report on the mounds of the
Ocklawaha river. Apparently no human remains were with these objects.

A small imperforate undecorated bowl of ordinary type lay one foot
from the surface with fragments of parts of a large undecorated clay
vessel, near human remains.

Three feet from the surface, apparently unassociated with skeletal
remains, were portions of a vessel of about six quarts capacity, with
complicated stamped decoration. The base showed perforation after
manufacture.

Several pebble-hammers lay singly loose in the sand.

_Mound C._ Diameter of base, 58 feet; height, 2 feet 2 inches.
Human remains, mere fractional parts of the skeleton, present at
ten different points, were confined to the southern portion and the
eastern margin of the mound.

Three feet, eight inches from the surface, in the southern margin,
with several large shell beads and one small shell (_Marginella_)
longitudinally pierced, were portions of a cranium of a child about
nine years of age; also several molars and one vertebra. In the
vicinity lay a hatchet of polished stone.

Together were: three pebble-hammers, one pitted on one side and
neatly rounded; one small pebble; a cutting implement of chipped
chert, 6 inches in length, possibly incomplete; several conchs
(_Fulgur carica_) badly decayed, perforated in the body whorl
opposite the aperture; bits of columella of large marine univalves;
several mussel shells, fragmentary through decay; and what decay
had spared of one piercing implement of bone. All these lay with
human remains in the eastern margin of the mound, about 3 feet from
the surface.

[Illustration: PLATE I

EARTHENWARE VESSEL WITH FIVE COMPARTMENTS. MOUND SOUTH OF POINT LA
VISTA]

[Illustration: PLATE II

OUTLINE VIEW FROM ABOVE OF VESSEL SHOWN IN PLATE I]

In close proximity to the deposit just described were human remains
at about the same depth. With them were one lance head, two
arrowheads and eleven chips, all of chert.

In various parts of the mound were nests of many fragments of various
vessels, buried in close contact, as we have described elsewhere as
present in numbers of low mounds of Duval County.

Three and one-half feet from the surface, beginning almost at the
southern margin and extending in for about 6 feet, was a large log
or several smaller ones pressed together with lines of separation no
longer distinguishable, in the last stage of decay. The upper surface
was considerably charred.

About 5 feet in from the southern margin and 1 foot, 8 inches from
the surface, unassociated with human remains, was a vessel of
heavy earthenware, unique so far as our experience extends. This
interesting vessel, entirely intact, consists of four irregular
compartments joined together on the same plane. From their point of
union a fifth compartment rises as shown in Plates I and II.

We are indebted to Professor Holmes for a sketch of a five-chambered
vessel about 5.25 inches square, from a mound in Franklin County,
Florida. The central compartment is not raised above the other
four, as is the case in our specimen, but is on the same plane and
surrounded by them. Various high authorities consulted by us express
ignorance of the discovery within the limits of the United States of
five-chambered vessels other than the two here recorded.

Nothing in these mounds gave any evidence of intercourse with the
Whites.


LOW MOUND AT MULBERRY GROVE, DUVAL COUNTY

About ten miles south of Jacksonville, on the west bank of the
St. Johns, is the estate of A. M. Reed, Esq., known as Mulberry
Grove. We are particularly indebted to Mr. Reed for permission to
investigate his mound inasmuch as it was under cultivation at the
time of our visit. The mound is reported to have been ploughed down
for thirty years and materially reduced in height. Its diameter of
base was 46 feet; its height, 2 feet.

A central excavation, 32 feet in diameter (and this, we think,
included the original mound) was carried through at a depth of about
5 feet. The mound was of brown sand, unstratified, and contained
great numbers of fireplaces with charcoal. The form of burial, with
one exception, was in anatomical order, about two dozen skeletons
being met with, all much decayed. The crania were also badly crushed.
About 2.5 feet from the surface was a heap of calcined human bones
with charcoal.

Some of the crumbling skeletons lay at a depth of 5 feet from the
surface.

Sherds were infrequent and probably of accidental introduction.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.—Earthenware vessel with incised decoration.
Mound at Mulberry Grove. (½ size.)]

With a skeleton, 3.5 feet from the surface, were two vessels of
earthenware and a pipe of the same material. The larger vessel lay on
its side across the right forearm; the smaller vessel, on its base,
with the tobacco pipe, was on the right hand side of the cranium.
Beneath the skull, were two piercing implements of bone. Both
vessels are virtually intact and imperforate as to their bases. Each
has a small hole on either side beneath the margin, for suspension.
The larger has two incised parallel lines beneath the margin of
the opening. Its dimensions are approximately: height, 4.5 inches;
maximum diameter, 3.25 inches; across mouth, 2.5 inches. The smaller
vessel, almost cylindrical (Fig. 3), has an interesting incised
decoration. Approximate measurements: height, 4.25 inches; maximum
diameter, at mouth, 2.75 inches; at base, or minimum diameter, 2.25
inches.

Five feet down, near a fragmentary skull, were one arrowhead and
twenty-six small fragments of chert. We have before made reference in
our paper on certain mounds in Duval County to the placing of numbers
of such fragments together in the mounds.

In another portion of the mound, at about the same depth as the
previously mentioned deposit, with human remains, were eleven small
bits of chert and one shell gouge.

Near the surface as it was at the period of excavation, lay a small
“celt” with human remains.

Loose in the sand were several bits of chert and a portion of a
polished stone hatchet, found separately.

What this mound may have contained at the period of its abandonment,
it is, of course, impossible to say. Nothing discovered by us pointed
to intercourse with the Whites.


MOUND AT PEORIA, CLAY COUNTY

Doctor’s Lake has its union with the St. Johns at Orange Park
about sixteen miles south of Jacksonville, on the west side of the
river. About six miles in from the mouth of the lake, almost at its
extremity, is the settlement of Peoria. In the outskirts of Peoria,
on the property of Mr. J. A. Silcox, was a mound 4 feet 2 inches
high, and 75 feet across the base. It had sustained very little
previous examination, but its height had been greatly diminished by
washing down of sand and trampling of cattle, which, at the same
time, had increased its diameter.

At the time of our previous mound work on the St. Johns we were
unable to come to terms with the owner of this mound, the location of
which, however, is noticed in our Report.

The mound was totally demolished. It was composed of brownish sand,
with the usual intermingling of charcoal.

About 5 feet down from the level of the summit a thin, irregular
layer of dark sand and charcoal ran through the mound.

Less than one dozen interments were encountered, and these were
represented by mouldering fragments.

Sherds were very infrequent, all coming under our notice being
undecorated save one having the ordinary square stamp.

Throughout the mound were several whole and fragmentary arrow points,
three pebbles, a bit of chert and a piece of mica.

Four and one-half feet from the surface, with very fragmentary human
remains, lay fourteen arrow points.

Almost in the immediate center of the mound, 2.5 feet from the
surface, was a concavo-convex ornament of sheet copper, 1.4 inches by
1.2 inches, having a narrow margin beaded in the fashion so common in
the mound ornaments of copper.

Nothing further of interest was encountered.




MOUND INVESTIGATION ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA


Our investigation of aboriginal mounds on the east coast of Florida,
south of St. Johns County, occupying three months of the Winter of
1895-1896, included such territory as borders the Halifax river; the
Hillsboro’ river, including the Mosquito lagoon; the Indian river and
Lake Worth; as well as the tributary streams, Tomoka creek, Spruce
creek, Banana river and St. Lucie river.

In addition, certain mounds in the neighborhood of the town of
Fernandina were examined and the St. Mary’s river, separating
portions of Florida and of Georgia, was gone over so far as the head
of navigation. To this work additional time was devoted.

The Halifax, Hillsboro’ and Indian rivers, so-called, are not rivers
strictly speaking, but long and comparatively narrow stretches of
salt water, connected with the Atlantic Ocean by various inlets and
separated from the sea by a comparatively narrow strip of sand, at no
place five miles in breadth. They extend north and south and their
total length in a direct line is about 187 miles.

The Banana river is simply a portion of the Indian river, lying east
of Merritt’s Island.

Tomoka and Spruce creeks and St. Lucie river, at a certain distance
above their outlets, are fresh water streams.

The aboriginal mounds bordering the Halifax, Hillsboro’ and Indian
rivers, while examined with considerable care, were by no means so
exhaustively investigated by us as have been the mounds of the St.
Johns river and of other parts of Florida, and our conclusions must
not be regarded as final but rather taken as indications.

It would seem that the mounds of this region, considerable in number
and some of great size, were mostly erected for other than sepulchral
purposes, inasmuch as human remains appear to be absent from the
bodies of the mounds though in some cases numerous interments were
present near the surface, sometimes associated with art relics of
European manufacture, such as glass beads, silver beads and the
like.[1] These burials we look upon as intrusive, made by Indians
coming later than the makers of the mounds.

In certain cases smaller mounds contained human remains down to the
base, but in every case these remains, where any other objects were
found at all, were associated only with bits of shell or of coquina.

Mr. Andrew E. Douglass, of the Museum of Natural History, New York,
who has spent a number of seasons on the east coast and has published
various valuable papers descriptive of his work,[2] reached virtually
the same conclusions as ourselves, and we are strongly of opinion
that a more thorough investigation of these mounds, though earnestly
to be desired, will not be fruitful of results.

Another point strongly impressing itself upon us was the almost
entire absence of stone (unless coquina[3] may be so termed) in
the territory bordering the Halifax, the Hillsboro’ and the Indian
rivers, the mounds being entirely free from chips, cores, and other
refuse material of chert so abundant in mounds of the St. Johns river.

Large fields of shell, denoting aboriginal dwelling sites, are
numerous, yet upon them we found not a single arrowhead or fragment
of hard stone, while persons cultivating these fields invariably
expressed ignorance as to the discovery of stone upon them. Upon
similar fields and shell heaps of the St. Johns arrowheads and flint
chips are abundant; this absence of stone on the east coast is
certainly worthy of remark considering its comparative abundance on a
river not over thirty, and at one point only five, miles away.

Mr. Douglass has remarked the absence on the east coast of the
polished stone hatchet, or “celt,” from mounds south of St. John
County, or about where the Halifax river begins, and we have not
in our experience learned of the occurrence of this implement on
the east coast south of the point referred to by him, though on the
St. Johns river a number were taken by us from Thursby Mound, about
twenty-seven miles farther south, while one small hatchet was found
on the surface not far north of Lake Monroe. Beyond this point,
even on the St. Johns, the stone “celt” seemed to be absent with
the exception of one rude cutting implement of the polished “celt”
type[4] taken by us from the island shell heap known as Mulberry
Mound, situate where the St. Johns river leaves Lake Poinsett, about
six miles west of Cocoa on the Indian river.

As we have said, exhaustive work was not done by us on the east coast
and as various lists of the earthworks of that section have already
appeared, we shall not go into a detailed account but shall give
results obtained in certain of the mounds examined by us which, so
far as our investigation has extended, were typical of the whole.

  Stone House Mound.
  Mounds at Courtenay (2).
  Mound at De Soto.
  Mound at Tropic.
  Gleason Mound.
  Low Mounds near mouth of Banana river (2).
  Mound near St. Lucie river.


STONE HOUSE MOUND, VOLUSIA COUNTY

Spruce Creek enters the Halifax river opposite the town of Ponce
Park. About 1 mile up Spruce Creek, turning into Murray’s Creek and
following the stream about 1 mile, the Murray dwelling is reached,
from which the mound is distant about 1.5 miles inland, in a
southwesterly direction. The mound, in thick “hammock,” and covered
with palmetto and other trees, has a height of 20 feet, a diameter at
base of 144 feet. The trench made by Mr. Andrew E. Douglass,[5] was
the only previous investigation apparent on the mound.

Parts of two days, with nine men to dig, were devoted to
investigation. Neither burial nor artifact rewarded our labors—a
result similar to that attained by Mr. Douglass.

Two feet beneath the surface, such parts of the mound as were dug
into by us, were encased in heavy slabs of coquina. This curious
feature was noted also by Mr. Douglass in the portion investigated by
him.


MOUND AT COURTENAY, BREVARD COUNTY

The settlement of Courtenay, on Merritt’s Island, which here forms
the eastern shore of the Indian River, is about eight miles north of
the town of Cocoa.

On the property of Mr. John H. Sams, at Courtenay, is a mound which
was cordially placed at our disposal for investigation by the owner.
The mound, entirely surrounded by a trench, presents a striking
appearance, giving the impression of greater altitude than it really
possesses. Its height is 11 feet; its diameter at base about 100
feet, making allowance for a certain amount of sand evidently washed
from the mound.

An excavation 28 feet in diameter and from 5 to 6 feet deep, was made
in the central portion of the mound. A few scattered human bones
were present immediately below the surface. At a depth of 5 feet was
a sherd of considerable size. Loose in the sand was one fragment of
chipped chert. Beyond these, nothing was encountered and the sand,
coarse and yellow, had the raw look peculiar to mounds containing no
organic remains.


LOW MOUND AT COURTENAY, BREVARD COUNTY

In the southern extremity of the settlement of Courtenay, in thick
“hammock” land, on the property of Mr. H. J. Tiffin, of Montreal,
Canada, was a mound about 2 feet in height and 35 feet in diameter.
The central portion of this mound was completely dug through at the
courteous invitation of the owner. At two points were fragmentary
human remains which, with one small sherd, were the entire yield of
the mound.


MOUND AT DE SOTO, BREVARD COUNTY

The Banana river, as we have stated, is simply a portion of the
Indian river separated from the main body by Merritt’s Island. On
the east side of the river, about 7 miles south of its northern
extremity, at or near De Soto, is the estate of Mr. F. Y. Hanna,
an unoccupied house with a landing. About one-half mile in a
northeasterly direction from the landing, on Mr. Hanna’s property,
is an irregular mass of sand 6 feet 4 inches in height and 75 feet
across the base. An excavation made in the center, 18 feet by 24
feet by 4 feet deep, yielded four burials in anatomical order, none
over 18 inches from the surface. With one skeleton were two bits of
looking-glass, with another was a fragment of conch-shell. About one
foot from the surface were parts of an undecorated bowl. This mound,
at a short distance below the superficial portion, was composed of
that raw-looking bright yellow sand, in which, as we have stated, we
have never yet met with interments.


MOUND AT TROPIC, BREVARD COUNTY

Near the southern extremity of Merritt’s Island is the settlement
of Tropic. On the property of Mr. M. F. Dwyer, of New York, in a
cultivated pineapple patch, was a symmetrical mound of white sand,
3 feet 8 inches in height and 48 feet across the base. It was
practically demolished. No stratification was noticed. A considerable
number of fragmentary human remains, very badly decayed, including a
number of isolated crania, were present at all depths. A number of
bits of plain earthenware and several stamped in squares, were loose
in the sand.

Eight small shells (_Dosinia discus_) were found together, while
masses of coquina and smaller bits were present in the mound. An
occasional fragment of Fulgur was met with. Beyond this, greatly to
our disappointment, for the mound had a very promising appearance,
nothing was discovered.


GLEASON MOUND, BREVARD COUNTY

On the eastern bank of the Banana river, a short distance above its
union with the Indian river, in full view from the water, is a great
shell-heap mainly composed of the shells of marine bivalves (_Dosinia
discus_), a section of which has been laid bare by the river. In the
“scrub,” about one-eighth of one mile in a northerly direction from
this heap, is a mound on the property of ex-Governor Gleason, of Eau
Gallie, who courteously placed it at our disposal.

The mound, which is not symmetrical and had suffered from much
superficial investigation, has a height of about 10 feet and a
diameter at base of about 150 feet.

The mound, which was thickly covered with undergrowth, was cleared
by us near the center of the summit plateau, giving a space about 32
feet in diameter, which was dug through to a depth of from 5 to 7
feet. In addition to this, considerable work was done on the northern
and eastern slopes.

The sand, whitish in color, was unstratified.

Burials—all superficial and all in anatomical order—were numerous,
about thirty being met with.

With the majority of the bodies no relics were found. With others
were flat bits of coquina; portions of clam shells, showing wear, and
occasionally a mass of coquina.

Near human remains were three large glass beads and a round bead of
silver, apparently of European make.

[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Ornament of silver. Gleason mound. (½ size.)]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.—Ornament of brass. Gleason mound. (½ size.)]

With a burial about two feet from the surface was a small gorget of
silver, oxidized, having three perforations, two apparently made with
a sharp cutting tool, the other bored from one side and countersunk
(Fig. 4), representing the head of a duck.

With another superficial burial, lying near the lower jaw, was a
somewhat similar ornament of brass (Fig. 5).

Ornaments of this type are not uncommon in Florida, though we have
met with none on the St. Johns.[6]

Loose in the sand throughout the mound were a few bits of ornamented
earthenware; one _Fulgur carica_, much worn at the beak, but without
the usual perforation; and one large marine shell (_Fasciolaria_). A
considerable number of these shells, all more or less broken as to
the body whorl, lay near previous excavations.

Five feet from the surface were the remains of an undecorated bowl
of considerable size, which had been interred whole or nearly so. No
human remains were found in the neighborhood of this bowl, and it
lay at a much greater depth than any other discovered by us. It had
probably been lost or broken during the construction of the mound.

From the eastern slope, with human remains, were taken two
imperforate drinking cups of shell, one within the other; another
alone; and two beads of silver seemingly of European workmanship.

As no burials or indications of interment (and discoloration of sand
usually shows where bones have been) were met with in the Gleason
mound at a depth of over 2 feet, we are of opinion that later Indians
utilized for burial a pre-existing mound.


MOUNDS NEAR MOUTH OF BANANA RIVER, BREVARD COUNTY

On the property of Mr. John Aspinwall, of New York, about one-half
mile south of the Gleason mound, 50 yards apart approximately, were
two mounds in thick “scrub.”

The smaller mound, about 4 feet in height, was dug through as to the
central portion, yielding a number of superficial burials of the
bunched variety. With some of these were small bits of coquina and of
shell.

The larger mound, about 7 feet in height, yielded nothing to an
investigation conducted through the central portion.


MOUNDS NEAR ST. LUCIE RIVER, DADE COUNTY

About one and one-half miles above the railroad bridge, or six and
one-half miles, approximately, from the river’s mouth, near the
southern bank of the south fork of the St. Lucie River, is a mound in
the pine woods in full view from the stream.

Its height is about 6 feet above the general level on the south and
west, while on the other two sides deep depressions, made by the
removal of sand for the mound, give it the appearance of much greater
altitude.

The diameter of its base is about 80 feet.

A considerable section was dug out from near the margin to the center
and the base of the central portion was carefully explored.

Several superficial burials were met with toward the center and two
at different points about 3 feet from the surface.

With the remains were no artifacts whatsoever.

Loose in the sand, separately, were two fragments of undecorated
earthenware, two bits of _Hematite_ and a number of pieces of
charcoal.

At Spruce Bluff, up the north fork of the St. Lucie river, is a
large mound which we did not investigate. Considerable digging had
been attempted in the central upper portions. Residents reported no
discoveries during these investigations.




FLORIDA COAST MOUNDS NORTH OF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER


By turning into Sisters creek near the mouth of the St. Johns river,
an inland passage by water can be made to Fernandina. This inland
route has been carefully searched by us for mounds upon two occasions.

Low mound at the Sawpit, Duval County. Low mound at Dr. Harrison’s,
Amelia Island, Nassau County. Mound south of Suarez Bluff, Amelia
Island, Nassau County. Mound northeast of Suarez Bluff, Amelia
Island, Nassau County. Light-house mound, Fernandina, Nassau County.


LOW MOUND AT THE SAWPIT, DUVAL COUNTY

A small mound at the Sawpit, about 10 miles north of the St. Johns
river, 4 feet in height and 35 feet across the base, was completely
dug through by us as to its central portion. A few crumbling
skeletons in anatomical order were discovered unassociated with any
art relics whatsoever.

On the southern end of Talbot Island, Duval County, on the property
of Mr. Spicer Houston, of Mayport, are two symmetrical sand mounds
about one-half mile apart. This gentleman values the right to
investigate at one thousand dollars and is still owner of undisturbed
aboriginal earthworks.


LOW MOUND AT DR. HARRISON’S, AMELIA ISLAND

On the property of Dr. Robert Harrison, about one-half mile in an
easterly direction from his house, which overlooks the Amelia river
at a point about one mile, in a southerly direction, from Suarez
Bluff (Amelia City, Nassau County) was a mound 1.5 feet high and
30 feet across the base. It had sustained little if any previous
investigation and was totally demolished by us.

It was composed of yellowish sand with pockets of white sand, and
through the central portion a layer of white sand several inches
in thickness ran considerably below the level of the surrounding
territory.

Interments, probably a dozen in all, were, curiously enough, marginal
and beneath the slope, no remains being met with in or near the
central portion of the mound. Both forms of burial, the bunched and
that in anatomical order, were present. In one case the remains were
in part calcined, while other portions of the skeleton were charred
in places only. No charcoal or fire-whitened sand lay with these
bones which consequently must have been exposed to flames elsewhere.

A number of the burials lay beneath deposits of oyster shells.

The remains were in much better state of preservation than is usually
the case in the mounds. One skull, almost intact, was preserved.[7]

With two crania, at different points, were numbers of longitudinally
perforated shells (_Olivella_).

With human remains was found a portion of the shaft of a large pin of
shell, showing recent fracture. The remaining part doubtless escaped
us.

But two sherds were brought to our attention.


MOUND SOUTH OF SUAREZ BLUFF, AMELIA ISLAND

In a large shell field about three-quarters of one mile in a
southeasterly direction from Suarez Bluff, on property belonging
to Mr. Scott of that place, was a mound 6.5 feet high and 44 feet
across the base. It had probably lost about 2 feet in height through
previous investigation.

The mound was built on a shell heap of irregular surface. A thickness
of 6 feet of solid sand was at certain portions of the mound and
scarcely 2 feet at others.

About two-thirds of the mound was dug down.

Nineteen burials, from 1 to 6 feet from the surface, all in
anatomical order, were discovered.

Occasional pockets of sand colored with _Hematite_ were near the
base. A few bits of pottery lay loose in the sand and at one point
were fifteen marine univalves (_Fulgur carica_, _Fulgur perversum_,
_Fasciolaria_). A few shell beads, lying with a skeleton, were the
only artifacts discovered.


MOUND NORTHEAST OF SUAREZ BLUFF, AMELIA ISLAND

About 1.5 miles from Suarez Bluff was a mound 5 feet 2 inches in
height with a diameter at base of 68 feet. About one-half of this
mound, which was kindly placed at our disposal by Mr. Jonathan
Buzzell of Suarez Bluff, or Amelia City, as it is now called, was
demolished by us. It was composed of yellowish sand with little, if
any, intermingling of charcoal. A layer of oyster shells and midden
refuse, such as fragments of bones of the turtle and of the deer,
but apparently with no sherds, occupied a central position in the
mound. This deposit began about 18 feet from the margin and was then
a little over 2 feet from the surface, and apparently so throughout.
Its thickness was about 2 feet (see diagram), increasing toward the
center. There were no oyster shells in the marginal portion of the
mound.

At one point in the marginal, or sandy portion, 1.5 feet from the
surface, was a deposit of calcined fragments of bone, some belonging
to the turtle. This mound was evidently not a shell heap covered with
sand, since the mass of shells, when encountered, did not present
a sloping surface but showed an abruptly vertical surface 2 feet
in height, very much as though the shells had been thrown into an
excavation.

No human remains or art relics, with the exception of one arrow head,
were met with.


LIGHT-HOUSE MOUND, FERNANDINA, NASSAU COUNTY

The Light-house[8] mound, in a shell field and in the neighborhood of
others, about 150 yards south of the light-house, probably one mile
east of the town of Fernandina, was kindly placed at our disposal by
Mr. E. D. Lukenbill of the Fernandina Development Company. Our thanks
are tendered for numerous courtesies also to Mr. H. L. Linville, port
warden of Fernandina.

[Illustration: FIG. 6.—Section of mound northeast of Suarez Bluff.]

The height of the mound, which was totally demolished by us,
was 12 feet; the diameter of its base, 75 feet. It presented a
very symmetrical appearance when stripped of the dense growth of
vegetation which covered it, the ascent at some points being at an
angle of 44°. Excavations 3 to 4 feet deep to the west and northwest
of the base showed whence the material was derived. There had been
some previous investigation on the immediate summit.


COMPOSITION OF MOUND

Structurally the mound was of considerable interest, the strata well
defined. Immediately in a central position was a cone of white sand,
surrounded and surmounted by the regular strata of the mound.

The stratification of the mound from the top downward, a little north
of the center, was as follows:

  2 feet 6 inches—dirty brown sand.

  1 foot—dark sand with oyster shells.

  1 foot—pink sand mingled with oyster shells and with white sand.

  5 feet 8 inches—yellow sand.

  7 inches—dark sand and oyster shells.

  2 feet—light sand to yellow sand of the base.

At various points in the mound were pockets of sand artificially
colored with _Hematite_.

The distance between the summit of the mound at the center to the
yellow sand at the base, where charcoal and human remains were
wanting, was 15 feet.


HUMAN REMAINS

Exclusive of loose bits of bone, doubtless thrown from the previous
excavation, seventy-four skeletons, all seemingly in anatomical
order, were met with, and one deposit of charred and calcined
human remains. We are, of course, unable to estimate the number of
skeletons thrown out or carried away prior to our visit. The first
interment was encountered 10 feet in from the southwestern margin
of the base. With very few exceptions no art relics lay with human
remains, and if we except a stone hatchet found with a skeleton
8 feet from the surface and some beads of shell with another
interment, no art relics were associated with burials in the body or
on the base of the mound.

In no previous mound work have we found so great a percentage of
pathological specimens as in this mound, and, as has not been the
case in other mounds, entire skeletons seemed affected, and not one
or possibly two bones belonging to a skeleton. The pathological
conditions were so marked and cranial nodes so apparent that, in view
of the fact that no objects positively indicating White contact were
discovered in the mound, though the utmost care was exercised by a
trained corps of assistants, we are compelled to regard the bones
with the greatest interest since evidence of contact with the whites
being wanting we must look upon these bones as of pre-Columbian
origin. We may state here that all bones preserved by us came from
depths in the mound which insure their derivation from original
burials. These bones, found 8 to 12 feet from the surface, and lying
beneath numerous undisturbed layers are as unmistakably of an early
origin as any yet described and much more reliable than most.

Dr. Washington Matthews, whose memoir on the human bones of the
Hemenway collection is so well known, has kindly consented to study
and to report upon these bones from the Light-house mound.

     _Perforation of the humerus_

  ————————————————————————+———————+——————
                          |  Left | Right
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————
  Male     |Perforated    |     3 |     3
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————
           |Not Perforated|     7 |    14
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————
  Female   |Perforated    |     6 |     4
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————
           |Not Perforated|     2 |     3
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————
  Uncertain|Perforated    |     3 |     4
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————
           |Not Perforated|     2 |     3
  —————————+——————————————+———————+——————


CANINE REMAINS

Professor Wyman, as we have stated in a former paper, found no
remains of dog during his researches among the shell heaps of the St.
Johns river. In point of fact no practical work was done among the
sand mounds by this pioneer of the archæology of Florida.

In a shell-heap near the bank of the Econlockhatchee creek, Orange
County, we discovered a canine lower jaw which Professor Cope
minutely examined, giving his results, with figures, in the American
Naturalist.[9]

Professor Cope concluded that the jaw under examination belonged to
an unknown kind.

A canine jaw from another shell-heap examined subsequently, presented
features with which Professor Cope was unfamiliar.

On the base of the large sand mound at Tick Island, Volusia
County,[10] the skeleton of a dog was found by us, the skull and
certain other bones of which, forwarded to Professor Cope, were
passed upon as follows by that eminent authority: “The bones you
send are those of a dog but of what species I am not sure. It is no
wolf or coyote but differs from ordinary breeds of domestic dogs.
Nevertheless, it may be some form domesticated by the Indians, with
which I am not familiar.”

Fifteen feet from the surface of the Light-house mound, or 3 feet
below the level of the surrounding territory, was discovered the
skeleton of a dog.

The cranium has been submitted to Dr. C. Hart Merriam, who was,
unfortunately, unable to spare time for an exhaustive examination,
being about to leave town for the summer. According to Dr. Merriam
the skull is not that of a coyote, nor does it belong to any type of
domestic dog with which he is familiar.

Professor Cope is of opinion, after an examination of the skull,
that it belongs to neither wolf nor coyote, but is probably that of
a domestic dog, though by no means of necessity one obtained from
Europeans.

There are, however, according to Professor Cope, certain domestic
dogs whose crania cannot be distinguished from those of wolves.

Professor Cope also made an examination of a canine skull from the
great shell deposit at Damariscotta, Maine, in which no articles of
European origin have ever been met with at a depth greater than a
few inches from the surface. The Damariscotta skull, according to
Professor Cope, strongly resembles that from the Light-house mound.

Professor Putnam, who has made a careful study of the skull from the
Light-house mound, writes as follows:

  “I have lately secured for comparison several dog skulls, among
  which is that of a mongrel greyhound. This skull resembles that of
  the coyote more than it does the gray wolf. It differs from the
  coyote, however, in being slightly more convex. In the coyote the
  frontals are flatter than in the gray wolf.

  “I have a skull of an Irish setter which agrees with that of a gray
  wolf, except that it is slightly higher over the orbits, and there
  is more of a concavity along the union of the frontal bones. The
  jaws are also shorter, but the teeth are of about the same size.

  “I have the skull of an English collie which differs from the gray
  wolf in the same way as does the setter’s skull; that is, the
  frontal bones are slightly more concave in the center and a little
  higher. The jaws are proportionately shorter than the jaws of the
  setter, and of course shorter than those of the wolf, and the molar
  teeth are proportionately smaller.

  “The skull of the collie agrees in size and height and convexity
  of the frontals with the nearly perfect skull I have from the
  Damariscotta shell-heap; it also agrees with the teeth with the
  exception that in my Damariscotta skull the second and third molars
  are slightly stouter and approach more nearly to the corresponding
  teeth of the setter.

  “Thus, I should say that the Damariscotta shell-heap skull is
  very close to the English collie, and also very close to the gray
  wolf. This Damariscotta skull was found very low down in the great
  shell-heap, and it is unquestionably of prehistoric time, probably
  centuries before any white man reached this continent. There is,
  therefore, no possibility of its being a domestic dog brought over
  by the Whites. The close affinities, in its shape, with the setter,
  and thus with the gray wolf, lead me to regard it as a domestic dog
  of the people whose refuse formed that ancient shell-heap; probably
  a domesticated gray wolf, unless there was some now extinct species
  of the genus _Canis_ from which this dog was derived, the only
  prominent difference being in the shorter jaws of the dog.

  “I have also three skulls from the ‘ash-pits’ of the ancient
  cemetery near Madisonville, Ohio. In the contents of about 1,500
  of these ash-pits, which we have carefully examined, not a sign of
  White contact was found; and they are unquestionably of prehistoric
  time. These three skulls from the ash-pits are slightly smaller
  than the Damariscotta skull, but agree with it in every other
  particular.

  “I have examined two skulls (in the American Museum of Natural
  History) found with an Indian skeleton on Staten Island, New York.
  This burial-place is also of unquestionably prehistoric time.
  These two dog skulls are of about the same size as those from the
  Madisonville cemetery, and are of the same character.

  “I have two skulls of dogs from the Lake Dwellings, at St. Aubin
  and Neufchatel, Switzerland, which agree in size with the three
  above-mentioned from the ash-pits at Madisonville, but differ from
  them in having the frontals slightly flatter and in having the
  interparietal crest nearly obliterated. A fourth skull from the
  Madisonville ash-pits, smaller than the other three, agrees with
  these Swiss Lake skulls in the latter character.

  “I cannot distinguish any important difference between the
  dog skull you found in the Florida mound and those from the
  Madisonville ash-pits.

  “Thus your Florida skull, while it agrees very closely with the
  English collie, also agrees, as well, with the other dog skulls
  which are of unquestionably prehistoric time. The condition of the
  bones indicates considerable antiquity and unless objects belonging
  to the Whites were found associated with the bones of the dog, or
  the bones themselves were found near the surface, and you have
  evidence that they belong to an intrusive burial, I should have no
  hesitation whatever in considering your Florida skull as that of a
  domestic dog of the people who built the mound.”

Three varieties of dog are found with the dead in the Necropolis of
Ancon, Peru, one of which strongly resembles the collie.[11]


EARTHENWARE

Sherds were infrequently met with, the majority being undecorated,
though several from marginal parts of the mound bore cord-marked
and stamped decorations. One bowl of about one pint capacity, with
incised marginal decoration, lay apparently unassociated on the base.
It unfortunately received a blow from a spade.


STONE

In all, eight stone hatchets, or “celts,” were met with, as a rule,
in caved sand and probably from upper strata. One lay with a skeleton
3 feet from the surface. With it were two large barrel-shaped beads
of shell.

No arrow heads, whole or fragmentary, were met with, nor were any
fragments of chert, so numerous in many mounds, apparently present in
this one.


SHELL

Loose in the sand, separately, were two fine large marine shells
(_Fasciolaria_), while at various depths were several heavy conchs
(_Fulgur carica_) worn and chipped down at the beak and with a round
or oblong perforation opposite the aperture in the body-whorl
between the shoulder and suture.

It has been customary to regard such shells as having served as war
clubs. We have elsewhere pointed out that in the great majority of
cases they must have been put to other uses, and give here some of
our reasons:

1. The beak shows wear as by constant use.

2. The margin of the perforation is frequently smoothed as by
continued motion against a handle, which would not be so in the case
of a club.

3. Some specimens are entirely too small to have been of any avail as
weapons of offense.

4. The hole is usually so placed that the handle would not be at
right angles to the shell as would be the case with a war club.

5. The perforation is frequently too small to admit a handle of
sufficient size to deliver a heavy blow without danger of breaking.

Moreover, Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing, who has recently explored
certain shell deposits of the southwestern coast of Florida, and
who was fortunate enough to find a number of these implements with
handles in place, informs us that in his opinion our position in this
matter is the correct one.

These perforated _Fulgurs_ were probably in use as picks, hoes,
chisels, and the like.

With a skeleton were three gouges of shell, and a similar implement
was found loose in the sand.

A drinking cup of shell (_Fulgur perversum_) lay loose in the sand.

Two shell pins were met with separately, and so far as could be
determined, unassociated, though, in our opinion, they must have
rolled from the neighborhood of some skeleton.

Three feet from the surface, with human remains and a bone implement,
was a marine shell (_Murex spinicostata_).[12]


MISCELLANEOUS

A bone piercing implement, with a length of 6.5 inches, closely
resembling the one to which reference has been made, was taken from a
different portion of the mound.

A canine tooth of a large carnivore lay loose in the sand.


COPPER

Two very minute fragments of sheet copper, found separately, showed
the former presence of this metal in the mound.


REMARKS

As we have stated, nothing that was necessarily the product of
Europeans came from the Light-house mound, and when a mound of this
size, containing so many skeletons, shows no contact with the Whites,
it is justly regarded by archæologists as having a pre-Columbian
origin.




ST. MARY’S RIVER


St. Mary’s river, having its source in the Okefenokee swamp, enters
Cumberland sound near the town of Fernandina, and serves as boundary
between portions of Georgia and of Florida.

The stream, which hardly averages over 75 yards in breadth, a few
miles distant from the sea, is navigable for other than small boats
to the second railroad bridge, a distance of about 30 miles by land,
though probably double that distance by the river.

At first the river runs through marsh land, though farther up it is
bordered by firm and at times high ground, mainly wooded with a thick
growth of pine. The river is famous for the excellent quality of its
water, and one would believe its banks to have been a chosen dwelling
site for the aborigines.

The river was carefully searched by us on either side, all landings
and settlements being visited, and diligent inquiry made, resulting
in the conclusion that no mounds of importance, and an extremely
limited number of any size, were present.

One small mound, partly dug through, was found on the Florida side
on the property of Mr. Haddock, and another, about 2 feet in height,
was seen at the “Brick Yard” a few miles east of King’s Ferry. So
well known along the river was this insignificant earthwork that it
was evident that no mound of importance is likely to have escaped
our inquiries, made as they were at all points where habitations were
apparent.

No shell-heaps were noticed on the banks.

Numbers of stones and fragments of rock proved to be ballast from
timber schooners, and not indigenous to the territory.




NOTES


[1] Mr. Douglass informs us that in his exploration of more than
forty sand mounds on the east Florida coast, from the St. Johns river
to Miami—a distance of 375 miles by water—he has never found an
article of European manufacture.

[2] “Some Characteristics of the Indian Earth and Shell Mounds on the
Atlantic Coast of Florida,” The American Antiquarian, March, 1885.

“Earth and Shell Mounds on the Atlantic Coast of Florida,” same
journal, May, 1885.

“A Find of Ceremonial Weapons in a Florida Mound, with Brief Notice
of Other Mounds in that State.” From the Proceedings of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. XXI.

[3] Coquina, a formation of sand and minute shells and fragments of
shells.

[4] For figure and description see American Naturalist, August, 1893,
page 716. “Certain shell heaps of the St. Johns River, Fla., 4th
paper.”

[5] There are two mounds on Spruce Creek. The one not referred to
here is described by Mr. Douglass in the first part of his article,
“Earth and Shell Mounds on the Atlantic Coast of Florida,” American
Antiquarian, May, 1885. Details of the Stone House, or Rock House
mound, as it is variously called, are given in the same paper.

[6] The reader is referred to “A Gold Ornament from Florida,” by A.
E. Douglass, American Antiquarian, January, 1890.

[7] Sent to the United States Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C.

[8] This mound must not be confounded with the remains of a mound
near the water works in the suburbs of the town.

[9] July, 1893, page 613.

[10] “Certain Sand Mounds of the St. Johns River, Florida,” Part II,
page 157, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Vol. X.

[11] The Necropolis of Ancon. Reiss and Stübel, Berlin.

[12] Determined by Professor H. A. Pilsbry, of the Academy of Natural
Sciences.




Transcriber’s Notes

  pg 10 Changed: almost too fragmentary for indentification
             to: almost too fragmentary for identification