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3Y JOURN 'ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PL. 1. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
COPPER BREAST-PIECE, MT. ROYAL, FLA. 
PARTIAL RESTORATION, -TWO-THIRDS NATURAL SIZE. CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS 
OF THE 
ST. JOHN'S RIVER 
FLORIDA 
Bv CLARENCE B. MOORE 
PART I. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
THE LEVYTYPE COMPANY. 
1894. While agreeing in the main with the suggestions of Professor Holmes contained 
in this paper I can hardly entertain one involving the hypothesis of a post-Col um- 
bian origin for any number of mounds of the St. Jolins. My position in this 
matter, based upon a thorough investigation of the entire river, will be detailed at 
length in Part II of this report. 
May, 1894. 
C. B. Moore. Preface to Part T. 
This first part^of the report on the sand mounds of the St. John's River, 
Florida, consists of scarcely more than an amplification of field notes which have 
been given with considerable minuteness, since Florida is almost an unknown land 
to the archaeologist. 
Thanks are tendered to Professor Cope, to Professor Holmes, to Andrew E. 
Douglass, Esq., and to Professor Haynes, for valuable references and information ; 
also to Dr. M. G. Miller for continuous aid in the field and in the preparation of 
this report. 
Philadelphia, July, 1893. 
C. B. M JOURNAL 
OF 
ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 
OF PHILADELPHIA. 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
Clarence B. Moore. 
PART I. 
The sand mounds of the St. John's River, Florida, have not until recently met 
with systematic investigation. 
The late Professor Jeffries Wyman, while exploring shell heaps of the 
river between Palatka and Lake Harney, confined himself, so far as the sand 
mounds were concerned, to superficial examinations.1 
i« Freshwater Shell Mounds of the St. John's River, Florida." Footnote page 47. 
1 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 6 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
The late Dr. Frederick D. Lente, in the March and April, 1877, issues of the 
"Semi-Tropical," a magazine published at Jacksonville, Florida, contributed an 
article entitled " The Mounds of Florida." This paper was subsequently printed 
in pamphlet form. The author frankly admits that in no case did he succeed in 
reaching the base of any mound, his explorations being limited to a visit with a 
party of ladies to the mound on Dunn's Creek, and to excavations in one of the 
two mounds on Murphy Island. In neither case did his researches take him over 
ten miles from home. 
Beyond the cases cited, virtually no work has heretofore been done upon the 
sand mounds of the river. In the Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
1883-84, page xxi, we read that in explorations recently made in Florida on 
behalf of the Bureau, the results were almost wholly negative, except so far as 
they tended to show that in Florida the mounds were chiefly domiciliary, and that 
but few were built for burial purposes. The portions of the state where these 
researches were made are not specified. It is quite evident, however, that the ter- 
ritory bordering the St. John's was not included. 
Occasional tourists have from time to time made superficial examinations, 
while the native " cracker " skimming the surface, has gathered at times a harvest 
of beads or intrusive implements of metal. 
The sand mounds of the St. John's, then, in respect to original burials, were 
found by us as left by their dusky builders. 
In the present report the mounds south of Palatka alone will be considered. 
The sand mounds of the river, while having a general resemblance, vary so in 
detail that an accurate classification is impossible. Many are crowded with human 
remains, while in others considerable excavations along the base failed to reveal an 
indication of use for purposes of sepulture. Numerous mounds are variously 
stratified with sand of different shades, from the surrounding territory, with shell, 
with " muck " and with sand mingled with hematite in powder. Others again are 
composed of one homogeneous material. Some have a sprinkling of shell; in 
others not a single Ampullaria or Paludina can be found. It is probable that cer- 
tain mounds were used as look-out stations, and possibly all in later times served 
for domiciliary purposes. In height and extent also there is a wide divergence. 
The great mound at Tick Island has an altitude of over 17 feet, while the famous 
Mt. Royal, with a circumference of 555 feet, is in area approached by no 
mound on the river. On the other hand, small sand mounds not exceeding three 
feet in height, are by no means uncommon. Almost without exception the shape 
is a truncated cone, the summit plateau in some showing an area doubtless more 
extensive than the original through the effects of the elements. 
Even the form of burial varies. Intrusive interments are in anatomical order 
as are bodies originally buried in certain moundswhile in others, the long bones, 
denuded of flesh previous to burial, lie in a bundle with the crania; and again, both 
forms of interment are met with side by side and evidently contemporary. Still THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
7 
another form of burial is that of disconnected bones where no effort has been made 
to keep in association the various portions of the skeleton. The "chieftain" mounds 
cited by the late Colonel Jones1 are not met with on the river, nor are bodies 
ever found in a sitting position. 
It is our intention briefly to describe the sand mounds of the St. John's as we 
have found them, prefacing the account with the assurance that at no time has 
work been done save in our presence; that all notes were taken on the spot and 
rewritten while the memory was fresh, and that special care has been exercised at 
all times carefully to measure depths and to distinguish the intrusive from the 
original burial. To guard against confusion, all objects were labeled upon discov- 
ery, while to various portions of the skeleton tablets of celluloid were attached, 
with which subsequent treatment with heated glue could not interfere. 
In nearly every case, the specimens described or figured are now in the pos- 
session of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 
Sand Mounds of the St. John's River, Florida, considered in Part I of 
this Report. 
Dunn's Creek. 
Murphy Island (2). 
Norwalk Landing. 
Mt. Royal (2). 
Kitchen's Creek. 
Blue Creek. 
In Pine Woods near Blue Creek. 
Volusia (5). 
Bluffton (2). 
Opposite Bluffton. 
Tick Island. 
De Leon Springs. 
Thursby Mound. 
Hun toon Island (2). 
Stark's Grove, Lake Beresford, 
Fort Florida (2). 
Northern end Lake Monroe. 
Ginn's Grove (2). 
Thornhill Lake (2). 
Black Hammock. 
Cook's Ferry. 
Mansfield's. 
Ranlerson's. 
Persimmon Mound. 
Indian Fields. 
Long Bluff. 
Mulberry Mound. 
Fort Taylor. 
In the accompanying map no attempt is made to represent distances by water. 
So tortuous is the river that a rough estimate alone as to distance can be made by 
those following the course of the stream. 
Dunn's Creek, Putnam County. 
On Dunn's Creek, about three miles from its point of union with the St. John's, 
some nine miles south of Palatka, on the right hand side going down, is Horse 
Landing which, however, must not be confounded with a place of the same name 
on the St. John's River, a few miles further south. Hidden by woods, perhaps one 
Antiquities of the Southern Indians," page 183. 8 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
hundred yards north of the creek, was a mound of sand having a height of 10 feet 
and a circumference of 210 feet. Its form was the usual truncated cone. Upon it 
grew five forest trees. Its proximity to Palatka made it for years the objective point 
for picnic parties which had excavated in a desultory way, but a systematic inves- 
tigation was never attempted. 
The mound was visited by us November, 1892, and a portion carefully 
explored. In April, 1893, it was again visited with a party of twenty men, and 
leveled to the ground. The surface of the mound was composed of a layer of 
sand to which a pinkish color had been given by admixture of pulverized 
hematite. This layer had a maximum thickness of about four feet, being consid- 
erably thinner on the summit plateau, doubtless through action of the elements. 
Beneath was fine yellowish sand, in places as dry as Hour; while lower, somewhat 
coarser and moister sand continued to the base which was marked by a layer of 
pure white sand about four inches in thickness ; beneath was the yellow sand of 
the surrounding territory. 
BURIALS. 
Bodies were all in anatomical order, though in certain cases were found por- 
tions of skeletons through which previous visitors had dug. Human remains were 
confined exclusively to the pink sand layer, never exceeding a depth of three feet 
from the surface. 
With the exception of one calvaria, no human remains were preserved, owing 
to their crushed and decayed condition, though all resources employed upon such 
occasions were at hand, including shellac and heated solutions of glue. 
And here it may be well to remark that the condition of bones depends less 
upon their age than upon their surroundings. It is fallacious to adduce partial or 
entire decay of human remains as a proof of advanced antiquity, since the Dunn's 
Creek skeletons, interred with implements of European origin, must be assigned to 
a post-Columbian period. On the other hand, human remains found in the shell 
heaps and in sand mounds having an intermingling of shell, though certainly as 
old and doubtless in some cases of much greater antiquity, through association 
with shell and the consequent infiltration of lime salts, are in fairly good condition. 
Two feet below the surface was a skull associated with a few vertebra? but 
with no other bones. Close by lay a bit of hematite with two fragments of pot- 
tery and two beads of shell. In addition were what seemed to be two brass or 
copper buttons, spherical in shape and evidently of European origin, since one still 
had a metal loop apparently soldered on. Their use as earrings is possible. One 
lay in actual contact with the skull and had imparted a greenish tinge to a part of 
the temporal bone. The calvaria was saved and was of the brachycephalic vari- 
ety found almost without exception in the sand mounds. One foot from the sur- 
face and three feet east of the skull just described, surrounded by sand deeply 
tinged with red iron ore, were two tibiae, two femurs and a pelvis. A former 
investigator had dug through the ribs. X <.n</tcates sand, mound. 
* Shelf - heap 
Maj of f)t John's Rtvzr, 
letujeen l/hefsione Patmi a._nd LaJ(e. t4»sh<nf tf>n. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
11 
Three feet from the surface and three feet distant from the other remains was a 
skeleton in anatomical order. The body lay upon its back, the thighs Hexed on the 
abdomen. The hands were folded upon the chest and on them lay a drinking cup 
wrought from Fulgur perversum by the removal of the inner whorls and the 
columella. Drinking cups of this character were still in use when the French 
landed in Florida. They are not common in the sand mounds of the river, and 
save in one case have been found only superficially in the shell heaps.1 Through 
the bottom of this shell cup a hole had been purposely knocked. Vessels, whether 
of shell or of clay, deposited with the dead in the river mounds, almost universally 
show perforation. Of this custum we shall have more to say when describing the 
low sand mounds near Volusia. 
In various parts of the mound, especially on the summit plateau, burials were 
comparatively numerous, though an estimate as to number would be misleading, 
owing to the amount of surface investigation indulged in by excursionists from 
Palatka. 
IMPLEMENTS, ORNAMENTS, WEAPONS, ETC. 
Twenty-two-and-a-half feet from the southern margin of the base of the 
mound, and three-and-a-half feet from the surface, in the pink sand, were found an 
iron axe of curious pattern2 and what seemed to be a cold chisel, both greatly cor- 
roded. In immediate association with these implements was 
an ornament of metal, one inch in length, considerably dis- 
colored, perforated for suspension (Fig. 1). Through fear of 
injury to the specimen, no analysis has been made, but 
experts of the U. S. Mint, relying on acid tests considered 
final by them, have pronounced the metal silver, and have ventured the opinion 
that it is of unusual purity. 
No bones were found in association with these articles of metal. 
Beneath the roots of a large hickory, 10 feet west of the other implements, 
24 feet from the margin of the base and 3 feet from the surface, were found in 
association a polished hatchet of stone ; a circular fragment of glass, rudely chipped 
and considerably worn, possibly fashioned from the base of a bottle; an unworked 
pebble; two shell beads; a cold chisel of iron, 8 inches in length, and an axe of 
iron of the same pattern as the one previously described. No human remains 
were in immediate association. 
Thirty feet from the margin of the base and 6 feet from the surface, in the 
yellow sand, was a pin formed from the columella of a marine shell, 475 inches in 
length. In the annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, plate XXX, 
fig. 2, a counterpart of this pin is illustrated. A similar pin was found in another 
portion of the mound. Both were unassociated. 
Fig. 1 Pendant ornament 
of silver (full size). 
1 American Naturalist, Aug. 1893, p. 717. 
2Figured in the account of the Thursby Mound. 12 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Scattered through the pink sand layer, none being found below, were eleven 
polished implements, commonly known as " celts,'' none exceeding 5'6 inches in 
length. Of these, six, now at the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, were deter- 
mined by Professor Wolf as being four of diabase, one of porphyrite, one probably 
of a quartzose slate. Of the remaining five, four are of the usual traps, the fifth 
syenitic gneiss. The surfaces are somewhat decomposed, rendering an absolute 
identification impossible without injury to the specimens. 
Not over two of these polished hatchets were found in association with human 
remains. The frequent isolation of such deposits has been noticed by us in the 
river mounds and commented upon by Mr. Douglass in respect to the mounds of 
the east coast. In this connection a cache has been suggested, but as we have 
frequently found isolated polished implements at depths varying from 15 feet 
to within a few inches of the surface, we are inclined to believe the deposit to have 
been made out of respect to the dead generally, as we hang garlands on monu- 
ments. 
On the summit plateau, near the surface, was found a leaf-shaped implement 
of chert, chipped, 3'5 inches in length, much worn as from continued handling. 
In all, fifteen arrow and lance points were met with. They were confined to 
no particular layer, but were distributed from the base to the surface. Of these 
points eleven were of chert, one of hornstone, one of chalcedony and two of chert 
breccia. One slender point was possibly a drill or fish spear. The type is not 
uncommon on the surface but is seldom met with in the mounds of the river. On 
the eastern slope, 5'5 feet from the surface, not far distant from the base, six arrow 
and lance heads were found in immediate association, the largest being 4T inches 
in length, the smallest 1*9 inches. With one exception, namely at Mt. Royal, we 
have never before found so great a number of stone points together in a river 
mound. 
One arrow head of chert, unassociated, was smooth, with edges completely 
rounded by artificial means. 
A small arrow head of chert was discovered carefully stowed away within a 
Fulgur carica. 
Five feet from the surface on the northeastern slope was a slab of banded 
slate 7T inches long, 3T inches wide, with a thickness varying from '2 to '7 of an 
inch. It was imperforate and gave evidence of use as a hone for cutting-tools. 
At the base and near the center of the mound with an arrow head of chert 
was a flake, four inches long by 1'75 inch in breadth. With them lay a rude 
implement of chert bordering on hornstone, showing cleavage on one side, and upon 
the other traces of workmanship. 
At various points, always with human remains, were six drinking cups, 
wrought from Fulgur perversum^ all, with one exception, showing intentional 
perforation of the bottom. Throughout the pink sand layer were scattered numer- 
ous beads of shell, some as much as one inch in length ; while two beads of stea- THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
13 
tite, with lateral flattening 1*5 inches and '9 of an inch in length, respectively, were 
met with. 
A small bead of blue glass was found in the pink sand layer. 
Other relics were an implement of shell fashioned from the axis of a Fascio- 
laria ; a copper hawk-bell, found superficially, covered with patine, still containing 
the little ball which yielded a jingling sound when shaken. These hawk-bells, 
used in falconry, were highly prized by the Indians who obtained them by barter 
from the whites. 
POTTERY. 
Many fragments of pots, denoting vessels unusually large for the sand mounds, 
were met with in Dunn's Creek mound. From surface to base were sherds, vary- 
ing from the coiled pottery of coarse material to the most compact and finest pot- 
tery of the mounds. Certain fragments from the base were colored a bright car- 
mine, and ornamented with rims projecting laterally, over an inch in breadth. 
Other fragmentary portions of vessels had a graceful treatment of curves, a style 
of ornamentation usually wanting in the river mounds (Plate II, figs. 1 and 2). 
Other sherds showed interesting patterns (Plate II, figs. 3 and 4). Near the sur- 
face, the usual stamped pottery was abundant. Neither in this mound nor in other 
river mounds do we recall seeing an admixture of crushed shells with the clay. 
Owing to the great quantity of roots in the Dunn's Creek mound, often ren- 
dering fruitless the most careful digging, we were so unfortunate as to lose several 
pots by breakage. Besides a number of small bowls, undecorated, with the usual 
hole knocked through the bottom, two bowls were found in association in the north- 
eastern slope of the mound three feet from the surface, in the neighborhood of the 
base. Both were perforated in the usual manner. One with a height of 3'5 
inches and a maximum diameter of 4'75 inches, had the aperture contracted to a 
diameter of 3'75 inches. The margin of the aperture was scalloped. Seven feet 
from the surface, near the base, was a beautiful vase of unique design, imperforate, 
with oval base, 4*25 inches in height with a maximum diameter through the body 
of 2-5 inches. The upper diameter, including the laterally projecting rim, was 
4'75 inches (Plate III, fig. 1). We have met with nothing resembling this vase in 
all our mound work on the St. John's. Unfortunately, a portion of the rim suffered 
slight mutilation through contact with a spade, while on the other side a part was 
missing through a former break. A small pot with scalloped rim, but otherwise 
undecorated, broken, but not beyond restoration, was found during the investigation 
(Plate III, fig. 2). Another, somewhat larger but of the same pattern, was recov- 
ered unbroken. But one entire vessel was met with in the upper or pink sand 
layer. 
TOBACCO PIPES. 
Six feet below the surface, and twenty-five feet from the southern margin of 
the base, with a certain amount of charcoal, in such immediate association that the 
2 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 14 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
same spadeful of sand contained them, were found two tobacco pipes of coarse yel- 
low clay. One was without decoration; the other was shaped to resemble, pre- 
sumably, the head of the duck (figs. 2 and 3). 
Fig. 2. Tobacco Pipe. Dunn's Creek Mound (full size). 
Fig. 3. Tobacco Pipe. Dunn's Creek Mound (full size). 
A discovery of pipes is almost unique in the river mounds. With the excep- 
tion of two fragments from a small mound near Lake Poinsett, none have rewarded 
our labors in twenty-nine sand mounds of the river. Mr. Andrew E. Douglass dis- THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
15 
covered but one pipe during his extended researches in Florida.1 One other, of cor- 
alline limestone, from a shell heap on the west coast is in his possession. Professor 
Wyman found none in the shell heaps, and a small fragment from Mulberry 
Mound2 is the unique result of our researches in the shell deposits of eighty local- 
ities on the St. John's. These pipes are now at the Peabody Museum, Cambridge. 
Of all the mounds of the St. John's opened by us that of Dunn's Creek offers 
most difficulties as to a conclusion looking to an approximate date of origin. Less 
than half a score of skeletons were found by us, but how many were disturbed by 
previous workers it is impossible to say. In no other mound on the St. John's, 
intended for sepulture, have burials been found exclusively of superficial character, 
and this would indicate an intrusive origin for the burials in the Dunn's Creek 
mound. On the other hand, it was not the custom of the river Indians to put 
sherds, arrow heads and vessels of pottery into mounds not intended for sepulchral 
purposes. The presence of glass, of iron, of bells and of buttons indicates inter- 
course with Europeans. If we regard the burials as contemporary with the mound 
it is post-Columbian. If, on the other hand, remembering that absolutely nothing 
save of aboriginal manufacture came from below rhe upper layer where the bodies 
were interred, we consider the interments of a secondary character, then the epoch 
of the building of the mound remains an open question. 
Murphy Island, Putnam County. 
Murphy Island, on the east bank of the river, ten miles south of Palatka, is 
the property of IL L. Hart, Esq., of that place. This gentleman will permit no 
investigation. 
In addition to a large shell deposit there are two sand mounds on Murphy 
Island. The northernmost, almost on the river's edge, is the usual truncated cone 
but much more symmetrical than the majority of the river mounds, ascending at 
an angle of thirty degrees. Its height is eleven feet, nine inches ; its circumfer- 
ence two hundred and forty feet. The diameter of the summit plateau is twenty- 
one feet. 
About two hundred yards to the south at a short distance from the river is 
another symmetrical mound, ten feet in height, having a circumference of two 
hundred and ten feet. It is covered with a forest growth. 
Sand Mound near Norwalk Landing, Putnam County. 
In the pine woods, about one mile west of the landing, in sight of the road 
leading to the town, was an unstratified mound of white sand. Its height was 
3 feet, 8 inches; its circumference 132 feet. Its form was unsymmetrical, the sum- 
mit plateau being disproportionately great. This mound was totally demolished by 
us during four days of January, 1893. 
xMr. Douglass in private letter. 
2American Naturalist, August, 1893, page 717. 16 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Twenty-five interments, all of the bunched variety, were met with. In one case 
the bundle included the lorn? bones of two bodies. Two crania surmounted it. 
The bones were badly decayed and crushed, in many cases nothing remaining 
but small and friable pieces. By the aid of shellac applied in place, four skulls, in 
a somewhat fragmentary condition, were saved.1 One femur gave an index of 114. 
Five tibiae gave an average lateral index of 63'7, the oscillation exponent2 
being IT. 
Three humeri were recovered. All showed perforation. 
HUMAN remains. 
IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 
In all, nine polished hatchets, from 3 5 inches 
to 8'5 inches in length, were found; some associated 
with human remains, but the majority isolated. In 
addition the mound yielded a handsome lance head 
of chert and a perforated stone tablet 2'25 inches in 
length (fig. 4). Curiously enough, all relics, and 
the great majority of interments, lay in the eastern 
half of the mound. 
POTTERY. 
Throughout the mound were occasional frag- 
ments of undecorated pottery. In addition, super- 
ficially, were two brightly colored sherds. 
Fig. 4. Stone Tablet (full size). 
CONCLUSIONS. 
All burials in this mound are believed to be original. No trace of intercourse 
with the whites was discovered. 
Mt. Royal, Putnam County. 
On the east bank of the St. John's, just below where the river leaves Lake 
George, in a great grove of bearing orange trees, not 300 yards from the water's 
edge, stands Mt. Royal. 
Its owner, David Wright, Esq., of Auburn, New York, fully appreciating the 
interest attached to this famous monument whose makers now are nameless, has 
long followed the example set by former possessors of the St. John's largest mound, 
and kept it intact, carefully guarding it against the depredations of unsystematic 
relic hunters. Mt. Royal, then, prior to our visit (April, 1893), knew no explorer 
other than the gopher,3 the salamander,4 and the scarlet snake.5 
1 All crania will be described by Dr. Harrison Allen with the second part of this report. 
2See account of Tick Island. 
3Gopher, local for Florida tortoise, Xenobates polyphemus- 
Salamander, local for pouched gopher, Geomys tuza. 
Scarlet Snake, Cemophora coccinea. This beautiful little snake is found burrowing in many of the sand 
mounds. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
17 
For 128 years the existence of Mt. Royal has been a matter of history. The 
elder Bartram, a Philadelphia Quaker, on his way down the St. John's, January, 
17G6, stopped at Mt. Royal. Under date of the 25th he writes:1 "* * * "About 
noon we landed at Mount Royal, and went to an Indian tumulus, which was about 
100 yards in diameter, nearly round, and nearly 20 feet high, found some bones 
scattered on it, it must be very ancient, as live oaks are growing upon it, three feet 
in diameter; what a prodigious multitude of Indians must have labored to raise it ? 
to what height, we can't say, as it must have settled much in such a number of 
years, and it is surprising where they brought the sand from, and how, as they had 
nothing but baskets and boards to carry it in; there seems to be a little hollow 
near the adjacent level on one side, though not likely to raise such a tumulus the 
50th part of what it is, but directly north from the tumulus is a fine straight 
avenue about GO yards broad, all the surface of which has been taken off, and 
thrown on each side, which makes a bank of about a rood wide, and a foot high, 
more or less, as the unevenness of the ground required, for the avenue is as level 
as a floor from bank to bank, and continues so for about three-quarters of a mile to 
a pond of about 100 yards broad and 150 yards long, N. and S. seem to be an 
oblong square and its banks 4 feet perpendicular gradually sloping every way to 
the water, the depth of which we could not say, but do not imagine it deep as the 
grass grows all over it; by its irregularity it seems to be artificial; if so, perhaps the 
sand was carried from hence to raise the tumulus, as the one directly faces the 
other at each end of the avenue; on the south side of the tumulus I found a very 
large rattlesnake sunning himself, I suppose this to be his winter quarters; here 
had formerly been a large Indian town; I suppose there is 50 acres of planting 
ground, cleared, and of middling soil, a good part of which is mixed with small 
shells; no doubt this large tumulus was their burying place or sepulchre; whether 
the Florida Indians buried the bones after the flesh was rotted off them, as the 
present Southern Indians do, I can't say; * * * " 
Shortly before the Revolutionary War, the younger Bartram (William) went 
up the river alone as far as what is now called Lake Beresford, passing a night at 
Mt. Royal. The place had been under cultivation, which was not the case when 
John Bartram went up the river. " At about 50 yards distant from the landing 
place," he writes, " stands a magnificent Indian mount * * * But what greatly 
contributed towards completing the magnificence of the scene was a noble Indian 
highway, which leads from the great mount, on a straight line, three-quarters of a 
mile, first through a point or wing of the orange grove and continuing thence 
through an awful forest of live oaks, it was terminated by palms and laurel mag- 
nolias on the verge of an oblong artificial lake which was on the edge of a green 
level savanna. This grand highway was about fifty yards wide, sunk a little 
^Journal kept by John Bartram of Philadelphia, Botanist to His Majesty for the Floridas, upon a 
journey from St. Augustine up the river St. John's as far as the Lakes. With explanatory Botanic notes. The 
third edition, much enlarged and improved, London, sold by W. Nicoll, No. 51 St. Paul's Church-yard; and 
T. Jeffries at Charing Cross-Geographer to His Majesty, MDCCLXIX. 18 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
below the common level ami the earth thrown up on each side, making a bank 
of about two feet high." 
The good Quaker bemoans the change wrought since a former visit by the 
felling of the trees, but adds that " the late proprietor had some taste as he has 
preserved the mount and this little adjoining grove inviolate." 
In an unpublished manuscript, cited by Squier and Davis.1 the younger Bar- 
tram again refers to Mt. Royal: 
" The vast mounds upon the St. John's, Alachua, and Musquito Rivers," he 
writes, "differ from those among the Cherokees, with respect to their adjuncts and 
appendages, particularly in respect to the great highway or avenue, sunk below the 
common level of the earth, extending from them, and terminating either in a vast 
savanna or natural plain, or an artificial pond or lake. A remarkable example 
occurs at Mt. Royal, from whence opens a glorious view of Lake George and its 
environs." lie goes on to describe by the aid of a little sketch the highway 
and mound, making the latter 40 feet in perpendicular height. (His father, years 
before, by an estimate of half that amount, had come nearer the truth). " What 
may have been the motive for making this pond I cannot conjecture," he continues, 
" since the mound and other vestiges of the ancient town are situated close on the 
banks of the river St. Juan. It could not, therefore, be for the convenience of 
water. Perhaps they raised the mound with the earth taken out of the pond." 
In 1872, Professor Jeffries Wyman visited Mt. Royal while engaged in his 
researches among the shell heaps of the St. John's.3 The avenue to the lake was 
then overgrown with forest trees. 
These forest trees have now been largely cleared away, leaving here and there 
a scattering pine, and the ground has been under cultivation. The avenue is still 
readily traceable, though its point of union with the mound is no longer visible. 
Its course is north about half a mile to the pond, where water lilies were in flower 
at the time of our visit. It consists of a depression from twelve to twenty yards 
in width at different points, between embankments of sand with an average height 
of 2'5 feet, and 12 feet in breadth. 
SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF MOUND. 
Mt. Royal has been under cultivation4 and consequently by the wash of the 
summer rains a considerable quantity of sand from the sides has so raised the level 
of the territory immediately surrounding, that measurements taken from the appar- 
ent base to the summit are diverse and misleading. Its true height from the sum- 
mit plateau to the base, as shown by measurement at the center of the mound, is 
lu Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee, Country 
the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws," Dublin, 
1793, page 97. 
2" Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley," page 122, et seq. 
3"Fresh Water Shell Mounds of the St. John's River, Florida," page 40. 
4William P. Wright, Esq., of Drayton Island, informs us that the entire mound has been ploughed over. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
19 
16 feet; the circumference is 555 feet. It is composed of the yellow sand of the 
surrounding fields, with pockets and local layers of white sand along and above 
the base. Wherever exposed, the sand at the bottom of the mound was found 
mingled with pieces of charcoal. Beginning at the margin of the base, a layer of 
sand colored by admixture of powdered hematite, covered the entire mound. 
This layer attained a maximum thickness of 7 feet on the northeastern portion of 
the summit plateau and adjacent slope. The general tint of the layer was what is 
called crushed strawberry by dealers in ribbons, though at many points, and espe- 
cially in the vicinity of relics, the sand in considerable quantity was dyed a brick- 
red, even reaching what is termed Indian red by vendors of colors. At times 
streaks and local layers of highly colored sand throughout the entire mound led to 
implements, pottery, etc., and while the discovery of objects in the yellow sand 
was not uncommon, still in the majority of cases they lay in contact with that 
having an artificial color. Realizing this fact, the 21 colored men in our employ 
worked with their hands alone in the presence of sand tinted with the red oxide, 
and it is doubtless owing to this that but two objects in pottery were broken by 
the spade during the seventeen days comprising our excavation. 
The use of hematite in this connection in mounds has been noted by us upon but 
three other occasions: at Dunn's Creek; at Duval's, near Blue Creek, Lake 
Co.; and in the case of the mound a mile due west of Duval's in the piny woods. 
At Dunn's Creek, it will be remembered, an outer layer of light pink sand was 
found; at Duval's, as we shall see, a layer of pink lay between strata of white 
sand, while in the other mound pockets of red sand alone were found, these 
pockets always marking the presence of deposits. Mr. Andrew E. Douglass 
noticed a similar use of hematite on the east coast of Florida; while strangely 
enough a similar custom prevailed among early races in Europe. In the caves of 
Mentone, Dr. Riviere repeatedly found objects tinted by contact with the red 
oxide 51 while Dr. Verneau found a layer of earth in which bodies had been 
deposited,2 artificially colored by the use of iron ore. 
It is a fact worthy of remark that while an artificial shell deposit of consider- 
able depth borders the water's edge in sight of Mt. Royal not a single Paludina^ 
Ampullaria or Unio was met with in the mound. 
EXCAVATIONS. 
Ill the southern portion of the mound, 12 feet from the margin of tlie base, a 
trench following the base 89 feet in length, was dug. Its breadth at the beginning 
was 12 feet, widening after a few feet to 30 feet, again decreasing to 25 feet, the 
last 20 feet having a breadth of from 37 feet to 40 feet. Owing to the unstable 
nature of the sand, a considerable convergence to the sides was requisite, so that 
*De 1'Antiquity de 1'Homme dans les Alpes-Maritimes, page 176. 
2"Nouvelle Decouverte de Squelettes Prehistoriques aux Baousse-Rousse, pres de Menton," 1'Anthropol- 
ogie, tome troisieme. page 526. 20 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
even at the broadest portion of the trench the surface of the base exposed had a 
breadth of but 12 feet. 
Starting from the northern side of the mound, 13 feet from the margin of the 
base a trench 36 feet in breadth was dug along the base a distance of 21 feet. 
This trench when discontinued had a depth of 8 feet. In addition to these 
trenches a great portion of the surface of the mound was dug over to a depth of 7 
feet. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
That Mt. Royal was erected for purposes of sepulture is beyond a doubt. In 
every portion of the excavations, though at considerable distances apart, signs of 
burials were met with, though meagre and incomplete. In no mound of the St. 
John's have human remains been found so fragmentary through the ravages of 
decay, and it is probable that traces of many burials have entirely disappeared. 
In certain cases human remains were represented by hardened sand retaining 
nothing but the shape. Many fragments of bones resembled moistened powder 
and crumbled at the touch. Beyond a few crowns of teeth no remains were saved. 
It is probable that an admixture of shell with the sand of the mound would have 
preserved the bones to a material extent. 
FULGURS. 
While occasional drinking cups, wrought from the Fulgur perversum, have 
been found in various mounds of the river, their occurrence has been marked by no 
great numbers. The evenly perforated Fulgur with ground beak, usually the carica, 
has been met with only in Mt. Royal, where three specimens lay under undis- 
turbed strata, and superficially in the Thursby Mound. The discovery, then, in 
Mt. Royal of vast quantities of Fulgurs is a feature peculiar to that mound. 
These conchs were in no case shaped for use as drinking cups by the removal 
of the columella and inner whorls, nor, with but few exceptions, did they resemble 
the implements made by the grinding of the beak and the even perforation of the 
body whorl above, below or above and below the shoulder, as the case may be. 
The shells in question were seldom unbroken, having in nearly every case a frag- 
ment knocked off, and these breaks, by a certain regularity as to their points of 
occurrence, indicated an intentional fracture. That this fracture was made 
through the prevailing custom that actuated the perforation, before or after comple- 
tion, of mortuary pottery in the mounds of the St. John's there seems to be 
little reason to doubt. 
While scattered Fulgurs were met with in every portion of the mound, they 
occurred in the greatest number beneath the summit pleateau and that portion of the 
mound immediately adjacent, and were rarely found below 7 feet from the surface. 
They were often encountered lying in actual contact in great deposits ; in one case 
so many as 13G being found together. From the main trench 1.307 Fulgurs were THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
21 
taken; of these but 15 were noted as of the species carica, though possibly a few 
may have escaped particular examination. 
IMPLEMENTS, WEAPONS, ETC. 
While objects of stone, of pottery and of metal were found in great abundance in 
the mound, there seemed to be no central deposit but a distribution in every direc- 
tion from below the base to within a few inches of the surface. Though objects 
of stone were sometimes deposited near the dead, more frequently no traces of bur- 
ial were apparent with them, and as in the case of the mound at Dunn's Creek, 
objects seem to have been deposited in a general way to do honor to the dead as a 
whole. On the other hand, in nearly every case, pottery, and invariably beads, 
when found, were in close connection with human remains. 
Arrow and Lance Points.-During the excavation 93 arrow and lance 
points were met with. In nearly every case the material was chert, some- 
times bordering upon hornstone. They were infrequently associated with human 
remains, and with one notable exception lay usually singly, though sometimes in 
pairs. Eight feet from the surface and six feet east of the center of the mound, 
not in immediate association but scattered perhaps through a yard of sand, were 53 
small arrow points, ranging between '8 of an inch and 14 inches in length. The 
great majority were of chert, a few of chalcedony, and one of chert breccia. None 
had the tang, and many were rude, though some were of finer workmanship, 
barbed and serrated. With them lay the claw of a predatory bird, an eagle or a 
hawk. 
In but three cases were arrow heads found in association with celts. Two 
lance points of chert showed longitudinal striae, giving evidence of intentional pol- 
ish, the inequalities of the surface being removed and the edges rounded. Another 
lance head, also of chert, had the tang grooved as for suspension and likewise 
showed marks of wear. This occurrence of the grooved tang is the first we 
have met with on the river. One small arrow head in shape and size was the 
counterpart of one figured by Joseph Jones, M. D., from a stone grave of Tenn- 
essee.1 
Seven feet from the surface and five feet northwest of an imaginary line 
drawn through the center of the mound, with human molars and various articles of 
copper, was a small and beautiful arrow head, probably of chert, which contact 
with the metal had dyed green (Fig. 5). 
Fig. 5. Arrow head of chert (full size.) 
1" Exploration of Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee," page 46, fig. 12 
3 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 
Fig. 6. Lance point of chert (full size). 22 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
In association with a crystal of quartz were an arrow head and a lance point 
of chert of graceful pattern (Fig. G). 
A fragmentary portion of an arrow point was found with a marked curvature 
to the barbs in opposite directions, doubtless intended to impart a rotary motion in 
Hight. 
No spear points of unusual size were met with or of types previously unre- 
ported. 
Polished Hatchets.-In all, G1 polished hatchets, " celts," so-called, were found 
during the investigations at Mt. Royal. Scattered through every portion of the 
mound they lay often in bright red sand, never more than three in association. 
Some of beautiful finish tapered to a blunt point at one end, while others were 
more rudely fashioned opposite the cutting edge. All sizes were represented, rang- 
ing in length between 34 inches and 9'5 inches. One hatchet, upon which a 
sandy deposit had formed, clearly showed where a heavy cord had twice encircled 
it. The material of the hatchets was, as a rule, the usual trap rock, sometimes 
porphyritic, though a microscopic examination, kindly made by Dr. Goldsmith, 
showed the rock in certain cases to be of sedimentary origin, non-cleavable, argil- 
laceous, closely bordering on claystone. 
Polished Chisels.-Six polished implements, evidently chisels, were met with ; 
the smallest, 3*75 inches in length, gracefully shaped, still showing striae received 
during its manufacture (Fig. 7). Another having a length of 4*75 inches was 
almost cylindrical (Fig. 8). 
The longest chisel, a beautiful implement of highly polished greenstone, 
tapered gracefully from the cutting edge to a blunt point. Its length was ten 
inches. It was found on the N. N. W. slope of the mound, one foot from the sur- 
face1 (Fig. 9). We believe this specimen to be unique. 
In the collection of the National Museum implements of this character and 
length are wanting in stone, though present in copper from Wisconsin. The type 
is not represented in the Museum of Natural History of New York. 
Gorget.-A tablet 4'6 inches in length by 17 inches was found on the western 
slope 2'5 feet from the surface. Human teeth alone were in association. It was 
notched at either end and perforated at one end as for suspension. It was presum- 
ably worn upon the chest as a gorget (Fig. 10). 
Ceremonial Implements.-Two implements of the rare form known as spade- 
shaped were found in Mt. Royal. Both were of polished claystone.2 The smaller, 
with a length of 9'5 inches, had four notches or tally marks upon either side. It 
was found 18 inches below the surface, 25 feet due south of the center of the 
mound. The larger, 1TG inches in length came from about the center of the 
Mt is well to remember that the depth at which these implements were found does not represent the 
distance from the surface at which they were orignally placed. The entire mound has been under cultiva- 
tion, as previously stated, and the height has been materially lessened by the storms of centuries in a penin- 
sula having a greater rain fall than any other part of the country east of the Rockies. 
2Professor Brown and T. D. Rand, Esq., have made careful examination of all stone implements from 
Mt. Royal. Fig. 7. Polished stone chisel (full size). 
Fig. 10. Polished stone gorget 
(full size). 
Fig. 11. Ceremonial implement (full size). 
Fig. 9. Polished stone chisel 
(full size). 
Fig. 8. Polished stone 
chisel (full size). 24 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
mound at a depth of 5'5 feet from the surface. The notches were uneven in num- 
ber, eight on one side and ten on the other, as shown in the figure (Fig. 11). As 
a rule, we have found the number of these tally marks to agree on either side of 
ce re mon i al i mple men t s. 
Unlike so many of our aboriginal relics this implement is of a type unknown 
in Europe.1 It is of comparative rarity, though of wide distribution, in the United 
States. Mr. A. E. Douglass has one from Kentucky with notches, three on each 
side of the blade which is slightly convex on the sides. It is highly polished. Its 
length is 15'75 inches.2 
We are indebted to Thomas Wilson, Esq. for a report of two of these imple- 
ments, one of blue trap rock highly polished, found near Columbia, South Carolina; 
the other from Kentucky. The collection in the Smithsonian Institution is largely 
comprised of casts, and Dr. Bau, in his " Archaeological Collection of the United 
States Museum," (page 25) takes his figure from a cast. 
Colonel C. C. Jones, (Plate XVII, fig. 2,3) figures the spade-shaped implement 
found by Dr. Joseph Jones in Tennessee. Colonel Jones believes it to have been 
an agricultural tool. 
Dr. Joseph Jones4 figures the same implement. It is of highly polished green- 
stone, 18 inches in length, and came from Old Town, Tennessee. He reports 
others from various parts of the Cumberland Valley. " Several conjectures," he 
says, " have been formed as to the use of these singular implements. Some have 
supposed them to have been used in agriculture, the fiat head being employed as a 
spade, and the round handle for making small holes in the earth for the deposit of 
grains of Indian corn; others believe that they were used to strip the bark 
from trees; others again, that they were used in dressing hides, in excavating 
caves, or in felling trees after the wood had been charred by fire. It is 
possible that they may have been used for all these purposes, and also as war-like 
weapons, since it would be easy to fracture or to cleave the human skull with a 
single blow from one of these stone implements." 
Mr. Thruston5 reports a number of these implements from various parts of 
Tennessee, and rightly, we think, classes them as ceremonial. We consider them 
of too infrequent occurrence to suggest their employment for any practical use. 
We have been able to learn of none showing breakage or signs of use, and some 
reported are too small in size to render them useful as weapons. Moreover, we 
think the tally marks on certain specimens connect them with the ceremonial class. 
The two from Mt. Royal, the larger of which we figure, are the first reported from 
Florida. 
Miscellaneous Objects of Stone.-At various depths, carefully noted on the speci- 
mens but not of material interest here, were found a " sinker " wrought from a 
1" Prehistoric America," page 170, et seq. 
2Mr. A. E. Douglass in private letter. 
3 Op cit., page 302. 
4 Op. cit., page 87. 
5"Antiquities of Tennessee," page 295, et seq., fig. 208 and Plate XV. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
25 
quartz pebble grooved for suspension; an implement of polished hematite, too frag- 
mentary for identification; two pieces of iron pyrites; a bead of ferruginous sand- 
stone, 1'5 inches in length and '75 inch in diameter, with a "celt" in association ; a 
rude fragment of hornstone with cutting edge rounded by use, 3 inches in length 
by 1'7 inches broad ; several pendant ornaments and beads of calcite (Fig. 12), 
one bead having a length of 2 inches; a chisel-shaped implement of chert breccia, 
3'12 inches long; a quartz crystal -87 of an inch long and *5 of an inch thick, 
with longitudinal groove, the entire surface roughened as by 
wear. In association were a lance and an arrow head of chert. 
Crystals of quartz, we are told,1 were sometimes worn in the 
ears of the aborigines. A hammer stone of chert; three 
large marine pebbles, one flat in shape, the others oval, and 
numerous chips of chert and bits of red hematite were met 
with during the excavation. 
An interesting discovery was a slightly curved cylinder, 
apparently a natural sandstone deposit, through which ran a 
perforation, having a shoulder at one end (Fig. 13). 
It is the opinion of some archaeologists that these cylin- 
ders were used in the smoking of tobacco. Of this we shall 
have something to say later in connection with the Bluffton Mound. 
Fourteen feet from the surface and 16 feet south of the center of the mound, 
with a number of unbroken vessels of pottery, bits of charcoal, a Fulgur, a portion 
of the body whorl of the Fulgur 
deeply grooved artificially, in a local 
stratum of sand colored bright red by 
the addition of hematite were 951 
fragments of chert and of hornstone. 
These fragments, none exceeding a 
goose-egg in size, lay scattered over 
an area of two or three square yards. 
Fragmentary human remains were in 
association. It is difficult to assign a motive for this deposit of stone, since 
none of the fragments were of a size to serve for the manufacture of implements, 
and in addition contained flaws and defects. Not far distant was a similar deposit 
of perhaps one hundred specimens. We know of no natural supply of chert or 
hornstone nearer to Mt. Royal than the limestone of the west coast. 
Beads.-Always in connection with human remains, at various depths in the 
mound, were small discoidal beads of shell, at times in great quantities, single 
deposits occasionally exceeding a pint. Several beads one inch in length and under, 
wrought from the axes of large marine univalves, were scattered throughout the 
mound. 
Fig. 12. Pendant ornament 
of calcite (full size). 
Fig. 13. Sandstone tube (full size). 
TC- C. Jones, " Antiquities of the Southern Indians," page 521. 26 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Seven and one-half feet from the surface in the N. N. E. slope of the mound, 
with human remains and great numbers of small shell beads, was the perforated 
vertebra probably of a catfish. The use of the vertebrae of fishes as ornaments was 
practised in Europe. Dr. Verneau speaks of the vertebrae of a salmon in the caves 
of Baousse-Rousse,1 while the vertebral bones of various fishes are described and 
figured as coming from the same caves by Dr. Riviere, an earlier explorer.2 
Pearls.-During the course of the excavation a number of globular beads were 
met with, which examination by means of acid and of the microscope showed to be 
pearls, the concentric lamination being clearly marked, which would not be the case 
were the material from the nacreous portion of a shell. 
The subject of pearls in southern mounds has been exhaustively treated by 
Colonel Jones in Chapter XXI.3 We learn that not one was found in the stone 
graves by Dr. Jones, while but few rewarded the search of Colonel Jones. We 
believe the discovery of pearls in the mounds of Florida to be hitherto unreported. 
The mounds of Ohio yielded pearls to the investigation of Squier and Davis, while 
a rich harvest lately rewarded the labors of Mr. Moorehead. The largest specimen 
from Mt. Royal measured '36 of an inch and '26 of an inch respectively in its major 
and minor axes. 
Mr. II. A. Pilsbry of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, to 
whom the beads were submitted, writes as follows: " Having examined again the 
beads supposed to be pearls, I can state with confidence that true pearls they 
undoubtedly are. The curvature of the layers in the specimen treated with acid 
precludes the supposition that they are beads cut from shell, and indicates a pearl 
of nearly spherical form, four min. in diameter. Where etched with acid the 
characteristic structure of concentric laminae of carbonate of lime appears, the 
layers of animal matter (conchiolin) which alternate with those of lime having been 
dissolved away. This loss of organic cement leaves the delicate layers of lime 
unsupported, and the pearls are consequently very fragile. For the same reason 
the Unios are peculiarly liable to disintegration, contrasting in this respect with 
the shells of porcellanous structure, such as Ampullaria and Paludina, found associa- 
ted with them in the shell-heaps. 
" The pearls were probably, in my opinion, obtained from fresh water mussels 
(Unio}. The only marine shell of the Florida coast which could be expected to 
produce pearls of this size is Margaritiphora radiata Leach, found abundantly on 
the Keys, etc.; but sections of the pearls produced by a closely allied oriental Mar- 
garitiphora which I have examined have the layers of lime distinctly thinner and 
closer than in the specimen submitted to me by you. The so-called pearls of Strom- 
bus or other gastropods need not be considered, as they have an internal structure 
totally different from genuine pearls. It is therefore likely that your specimens 
were taken from river-mussels." 
1 L'Anthropologie, Tome troisieme, 1892, page 528. 
2 "De TAntiquity de 1'Homme dans les Alpes-Maritimes," page 273, plate XXI. 
3 Op. cit. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
27 
Pottery.-In that portion of the main trench bordering on the margin of the 
mound numerous sherds were met with of good material and mainly of the stamped 
variety. As we believe them to be of a later period washed from the surface and 
ploughed under during cultivation, they will not be particularly described. 
Vessels of pottery were encountered in every portion of the mound, at times 
singly and again in association with other objects or with each other. The material 
was of fairly good clay, baked by exposure to fire, with no apparent admixture of 
shell. As before stated, the presence of pottery, as a general rule, marked an 
interment. 
So great is the pressure exerted by masses of sand that in numerous instances 
vessels of pottery were crushed beyond recovery. Others, again, allowed of restora- 
tion ; while a considerable number were recovered intact. As before stated, but two 
vessels of pottery were broken by contact with the spade, the absence of roots being, 
of course, a favorable factor in the work. Unbroken pottery in the river mounds 
is a somewhat unusual occurrence, and beyond the large superficial deposits in the 
Thursby mound and the specimens from Dunn's Creek our explorations have been 
rewarded by but few examples of pottery not in a fragmentary condition. 
A number of vessels of patterns entirely new on the St. John's were found 
during the work, and will be particularly described. 
One point in connection with Mt. Royal deserves special notice. Almost uni- 
versally in the river mounds each burial is accompanied by small pieces of pottery, 
to which, in many cases, the shape of the arrow or lance point has been intention- 
ally given. We have previously referred to this custom in the American Natural- 
ist.. February and July, 1892, in articles descriptive of the great Tick Island mound. 
In the Mt. Royal mound, bits of' pottery with the skeletons were absolutely want- 
ing, and such isolated fragments as were found had no connection with human 
remains, and were probably of accidental introduction. We are of the opinion that 
the former inhabitants of Mt. Royal, of greater possessions than the majority of 
those who built the other river mounds, were not compelled by poverty to confine 
themselves to the interment of sherds with the dead. 
Small pots of conventional forms were numerous in all portions of the mound, 
but vessels of any size were absent and no fragments were found except superficially 
to indicate the use of any of considerable size. Thirteen feet from the surface and 
7 feet north-east of the center of the mound was a vessel much resembling a half- 
barrel in shape. The bottom was missing. Its height was 7'5 inches. Its 
diameter at the aperture was 10-75 inches, at the base 6'5 inches. The external 
decoration was stamped. This vessel was the largest found and the depth at which 
it was discovered showed stamped designs to have been in use at the inception of 
the mound. 
Two feet below the surface was a vessel of yellow clay, 3'35 inches in height, 
6 5 inches in diameter at the top, and 4'75 inches in diameter at the base, which 
was intentionally perforated at the center. Near the upper margin of the vessel on 28 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
either side was a small perforation for suspension (Plate 111, Fig. 3). This vase of 
unusual type, gave the impression of a saucer with perforated bottom, placed upon 
a bowl. It was undecorated. 
Two feet below the surface and 15 feet west of the center of the mound was 
an oblong dish, undecorated, with a portion of the bottom intentionally knocked 
out. The length of the vessel was 5 inches, its width 3T2 inches with a depth of 
175 inches (Plate IV, Fig. 1). 
Six feet eight inches from the surface, 3 feet north of the center of the mound, 
was an imperforate bowl 7'75 inches in diameter, and 2'37 inches in height. Its orna- 
mentation was a small diamond pattern conferred through the medium of a stamp. 
Fourteen feet from the surface and 1G feet south of the center1 of the mound 
in a local layer of bright red sand with human remains and fragments of charcoal, 
and in connection with a deposit of chert already described, were six unbroken 
vessels of clay. In addition were a number crushed beyond restoration. Of the 
unbroken pots all had base perforations intentionally made, and all. with two excep- 
tions, were undecorated. Of these two one was of a model entirely unique in the 
river mounds (Plate IV, Fig. 2). Diameter at opening 3 inches, maximum diame- 
ter 4'5 inches, height 3 inches. The other, a bowl (Plate IV, Fig. 3), had a height 
of 3 inches, a diameter at mouth of 1'4 inches, with a maximum diameter of 3'75 
inches. Of the undecorated vessels in this deposit the largest, a bowl, had a height 
of 3'25 inches, with a diameter at opening of 4'85 inches. Another was bell-shaped ; 
its height 3'5 inches, its diameter at the mouth 4'85 inches. 
Three feet from the surface, with fragmentary human remains, was a rude bead 
of pottery 2T2 inches in length, with a maximum thickness of 1T2 inches, tapering 
somewhat toward the ends, and with longitudinal perforation. 
Four feet from the surface was a small vessel of colored pottery. A broken 
surface on either side below the margin indicated the former presence of handles. 
Five feet six inches below the surface were four small bowls; one in fragments. 
All were undecorated, and all were intentionally perforated through the base. 
Three were of conventional form but the remaining one much resembled a small 
tureen, an unusual pattern on the river (Plate V, Fig. 1). Its length was 3'75 
inches, with a maximum breadth of 3 inches. The height was 2'5 inches. 
A tube of pottery of dark color, upon which a high polish had been conferred, 
was found near the surface. Its length was 3-25 inches, its diameter '7 of an 
inch. 
Four feet from the surface was a vase with flaring top. It was undecorated. 
The bottom and a portion of the body were wanting. The height of the remain- 
der was 5'5 inches, its maximum diameter 5 inches, the measurement across the 
mouth 4'25 inches (Plate V, Fig. 2). 
In the northern slope of the mound at a depth of 8 feet was a small undeco- 
rated pot, intentionally perforated at the base. In shape it much resembled a cru- 
cible; its height was 2'75 inches. 
1 The term center is used to indicate an imaginary line drawn vertically through the center of the mound. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
29 
In the northern slope 6'5 feet down were two small pots; one somewhat in the 
form of a tureen had a height of 1 inch at the center, a length of 3 inches, with a 
breadth of 2'25 inches. 
Eight feet down in the northern trench was a small oval dish, without perfo* 
ration. 
Twenty-five feet from the northern margin of the base, and 7 feet from the 
surface, lying on or below the base of the mound in a large pocket of bright red 
sand, piled upon each other in actual contact and adhering together so that they were 
lifted from the sand as a whole, were six vessels of pottery surmounted by a large 
dish. This dish, though broken into fragments by the pressure of the sand, had 
protected the vessels below. The vessels had the usual base perforation and had 
the conventional shape of mortuary pottery, with the exception that two had each 
a handle with a central opening, one projecting laterally, the other vertically (Plate 
V, Figs. 3 and 4). Their respective dimensions were length, including the handle, 
5'75 inches, height 2 inches; length 4 inches, width 3'2 inches, height 2 inches, 
height including handle 4'8 inches. Two had ears extending from the upper mar- 
gin, while one gave evidence of having been similarly decorated. The rim of one 
bowl was plain. 
Four feet below the surface, well down on the western slope, was a vessel of 
pottery in a very fragmentary condition, though admitting of partial restoration. 
Its height was 6 inches. From a diameter of 3'6 inches it tapered to one of 1*75 
inches at the margin of the neck. The margin of the base showed an intentional 
omission of the bottom. It is possible that this specimen belongs to a class of mor- 
tuary pottery to which fuller reference will be made in the description of the Volu- 
sia mounds (Plate VI, Fig. 1). With it lay portions of an almost similar vessel too 
fragmentary for reconstruction. 
Numerous other vessels of pottery were found during the excavation, some of 
which we figure (Plate VI, Figs. 2 and 3; Plate VII, Figs. 1, 2 and 3). 
While in certain cases perforation had been made subsequent to manufacture, 
the great majority of vessels in Mt. Royal showed small base perforations made pre- 
vious to baking. This curious custom, first called to the attention of archaeologists 
by us, will be more fully referred to later. 
Galena.-In the northwestern slope of the mound 6 feet from the surface and 
at no great distance from the base, associated with three " celts " was a small piece 
of galena. 
Similar bits of lead sulphide are common in the western mounds and are found 
in southern mounds north of Florida. Galena was highly prized by the 
aborigines for its bright appearance and crystalline fracture. We have no record of 
the reduction of the metal from the ore. We have found but one other bit of 
galena in the mounds of the St. John's, namely at Tick Island, where its depth 
indicated an original deposit. 
4 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 30 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Copper.-In every portion of the mound, superficially and almost on the base 
where the mound was of the greatest height, were various objects wrought from or 
coated with, sheet copper. This sheet copper had the appearance of being an Indian 
product, reduced to the desired thickness by hammering, while the design, appar- 
ently produced by pressure, seemed to indicate aboriginal work, an opinion shared 
by Dr. Dall to whom a specimen of the workmanship in copper has been referred, 
and by Professor Holmes who has examined the entire collection. 
Two feet from the surface was a concavo-convex disc of sheet copper centrally 
perforated. Its diameter was 1 inch. Such discs are reported from various sections, 
and somewhat similar ones are figured by Squier and Davis.1 In one of the mounds 
they found a block of compact sandstone with circular depressions and suggest the 
probability (page 207) that these depressions were used as moulds to give the discs 
convexity through the medium of pressure. Other copper discs closely resembling 
the Mt. Royal specimens are reported from Tennessee,2 and described as probably 
" relics of De Soto," an opinion which we do not share. 
Copper and copper coated beads in various forms were found throughout the 
mound. 
One form consisted of a section of a reed thinly coated with copper,, forming 
a tubular bead. Ran in " The Archaeological Collection of the United States 
National Museum," page 62, describes similar ornaments, though somewhat longer, 
from an Indian grave near Newport, R. I. " These tubular ornaments, however," 
he says " though covered with verdigris, cannot be very old, considering that each 
of them encloses a tightly fitting piece of reed of equal length, evidently stuck into 
the cylinders for diminishing the width of the holes, and even remnants of a narrow 
thong by which they were connected or attached, have been preserved. It is prob- 
able that the tubes are of Indian (not European) workmanship, and their appear- 
ance bears witness to a comparatively recent origin." 
We are inclined to believe that a conclusion as to a comparatively modern 
origin can hardly be based upon the preservation of the reeds and of the thong. 
The preservative action of the salts of copper is well known. 
Beads of sheet copper were found in Ohio by Mr. Moorehead.3 
Three feet down was a piece of sheet copper, 4 inches by 2T2 inches pressed 
to form a central protuberance or boss 1'25 inches in diameter at the base. It was 
centrally perforated. 
Five feet below the surface was an oblong sheet of copper 24 by 19 inches. 
The thickly corroded surface was subsequently cleared by the use of dilute acid, 
showing the plate to be of irregular thickness, varying from T6 of an inch to 
almost a cutting edge and revealing an interesting design made, we believe, 
through pressure, as striae were plainly visible on the indented surface (Fig. 14). 
Three feet beneath the summit plateau were two objects of sheet copper which 
apparently had been attached to wood, particles being still adherent. One, 1'5 inches 
1 Op. cit., page 206. 
2 " Antiquities of Tennessee." G. P. Thruston, 1890, page 303. 
3 " Primitive Man in Ohio," page 169. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
31 
square, had in the center a hollow boss from which ran beaded lines to the four cor- 
ners (Fig 15). 
Fig. 14. Plate of sheet copper (full size). 
Fig. 16. Plate of sheet copper (full size). 
The other, oval, 2'5 inches by 2T2 inches had also a boss-like, perforated pro- 
tuberance (Fig. 16). Ornaments suggesting this pattern appear in various plates of 
Le Moyne and notably in Plate XVIII where King Outina is decorated with 
numbers of them. 
In association with them were beads of wood 
thinly coated with sheet copper, beads of shell and the 
crowns of nine human molars, one premolar, one canine, 
and one incisor. The custom of placing human teeth,1 
unaccompanied by other remains, with objects of copper 
was very noticeable at Mt. Royal, where it was of fre- 
quent occurrence. It may be suggested that in a mound 
where human remains were so greatly affected by decay 
other parts of the skeleton placed with the metal had 
entirely disappeared. To this it may be said that bones 
contiguous to copper are hardly likely to be destroyed. 
Moreover, as we shall see later, in a low mound in the 
pine woods of Lake County, teeth, not connected with skeletal remains, were repeat- 
edly found in association with objects of copper, and in this mound the bones 
were in a much better state of preservation. In but two mounds of the St. John's 
River have we found objects of copper other than superficially, and in but two (the 
same) did the burial of human teeth, extracted from the jaw, prevail. 
Mr. Moorehead,2 in an Ohio mound, found a human tooth with a deposit of 
copper beads, which " from contact with them was almost as green as the copper 
itself." 
Fig. 15. Plate of sheet copper 
(full size). 
1 As a rule, but not always, crowns of the teeth alone were met with. 
2 Op. cit., page 170. 32 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Near the center of the mound, two feet from the surface, unassociated, was a 
pin or piercing implement of copper; length 2 75 inches, thickness T to *2 of an 
inch. A portion split from the main part indicated its manufacture by hammering 
from sheet copper. 
Twelve feet from the center of the mound, 5 feet from the surface, was an 
object of great interest, consisting of a sheet of copper 10'6 inches square, centrally 
decorated with seven depressed concentric circles and having a figure in each corner, 
the conventional aboriginal bird's head (Plate I).1 
Beneath the upper plate of copper was a layer of reeds laid side by side and 
bound together by closely woven vegetable fibre. On one side, however, the reeds 
were replaced by twisted vegetable fibre of equal length and diameter. Behind 
this layer was a backing of bark about '25 of an inch in thickness. Next came 
another copper plate bent over on itself, projecting beyond the other layers on one 
side. It was ornamented with corrugations running in different directions. Behind 
the copper were fragments of wood one inch in thickness, probably remnants of a 
plank serving as a final backing to the various layers. An interesting fact noted 
in connection with the upper plate was that a broken portion had been repaired by 
the aid of rude copper rivets. 
This object, worn as a breast plate, might seem sufficient to stop an arrow,2 
and probably is of the nature of the copper chest pieces seen by the huguenot 
Laudonniere, and figured by Le Moyne. 
Immediately below this object were small fragments of a human cranium with 
teeth, and two pearls, one with lateral perforation. In addition, covered with a 
thin coating of sheet copper, were portions of the upper and of the lower jaw 
of a small mammal identified by Professor Cope as the gray fox. The mandible 
showed perforations as for suspension. In the upper portion the thin metallic 
coating had been turned in to cover the interior of the orbit. Teeth of the deer, 
treated in the same manner with sheet copper, have been found in an Illinois 
mound.3 
Six feet from the surface were ten cylindrical beads of wood, thinly covered 
with sheet copper, averaging l-06 inches in diameter and *75 of an inch in height. 
With them were five elongated beads of a like character tapering toward each 
extremity: also two cylindrical beads of shell; the crowns of two human molars, 
and one premolar; all bright green through contact with the metal. 
Objects of wood, copper coated, have been found in the stone graves of Tenn- 
essee.4 
Seven feet from the surface was the small and beautiful arrow head to which 
reference has been made. In association with it were beads of copper, or copper- 
'The upper copper plate, greatly corroded, was unfortunately broken in transit. It is, however,capable 
of restoration. A careful sketch on scale was made at the time of its discovery. 
2 Wonderful accounts, however, as to the power of the Indian bowmen are given by Cabe^a de Vaca and 
by the chroniclers of De Soto. 
3Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, March, 1887, cited by Nadaillac. 
4" Exploration of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee," by Joseph Jones, M. D., page 45. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
33 
coated, still strung on a cord of vegetable fibre, with three spherical pendant beads, 
a large one between two smaller ones. The beads, barrel-shaped, were '6 of an inch 
in length. With them were human teeth and many small pieces of sheet copper, 
evidently fragments. 
In association with a polished hatchet, 5 feet from the surface, was a piercing 
implement of copper, similar in shape to the one previously described. Its length 
was 8'8 inches. With it was a disc of the same metal, badly corroded, with a cen- 
tral boss surrounded by a beaded margin. The diameter of this disc was 2 inches. 
Two-and-one-half feet below the surface of the 
western slope were two objects, probably of soft lime- 
stone, the upper surface thinly coated at places with 
sheet copper, at others exposed by erosion (Fig. 17). 
In appearance they greatly resembled large cuff-but- 
tons. Their diameter was 1*75 inches; diameter of the 
expanded portion of the shank 1T2 inches ; height *6 of 
an inch. They were probably ear plugs worn in an 
enlargement of the lobe of the ear, a use to which, it has been surmised, the spool- 
shaped copper ornaments of the mounds in other localities were put. Many of 
Le Moyne's plates1 represent ear decorations of surprising size. While his pictures 
are doubtless exaggerated, they are unquestionably based upon facts observed by 
him during his visit to Florida, (1565). 
Somewhat similar ear plugs are figured as coming from a stone grave of Tenn- 
essee.2 
Three feet from the surface, unassociated, was a bead apparently of limestone, 
copper-coated, one inch in length and '8 of an inch in diameter. At various depths 
throughout the mound were beads of clay and of shell similarly coated. 
In the northwest slope, 6 feet from the surface, was a sheet of copper about 6 
inches by 6 inches, in two fragments. It was enclosed in a matting apparently of 
reeds, flattened or split and woven together. Such matting is described as found in 
other sections of the country. 
The discovery of copper in considerable quantity is new to the records of 
mound investigation in Florida. In the publications of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion no reference is made, we believe, to the occurrence of copper in the mounds of 
that State, nor have authorities at the Institution been able to indicate references 
of such a character. Mr. Douglass, during his extensive mound investigations on 
the east coast, found but two objects of copper: one, a bead in the mouth of a 
skull, which he believed to be intrusive; the other, a fragment of a spool-shaped 
ornament.3 Excluding a hawk-bell and metal buttons, probably brass, from the 
Dunn's Creek mound, and plaited wire of copper or brass found in association with 
iron at Mulberry mound, all of which articles were clearly of European origin and 
Fig. 17. Copper-coated ear plug 
(full size). 
x" Brevis Narratio," De Bry, Frankfort, 1591. 
2 " Antiquities of Tennessee," page 168. 
3Andrew E. Douglass, Esq., in private letter. 34 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
all superficial, we have found copper in but two mounds of the St. John's River, in 
both cases scattered from the base to within a short distance of the surface. 
That the Indians of what are now our Northern States made use of copper in 
pre-Columbian times is gainsaid by none. 
That, ignorant of the art of reduction from the ore, they called into requisi- 
tion native copper, and that this native copper, found in sufficient quantity in the 
Lake Superior region only, consists of the pure metal with occasional admixture of 
metallic silver, is generally admitted. 
That the Indians of our Southern States were in possession of a certain 
amount of copper at a period too early to account for its acquisition under the 
hypothesis of barter with, or plunder from, the whites is indicated by the early 
chronicles. 
The source of supply of this southern copper has not been definitely shown. 
Careful examination of the western mounds shows the implements of copper 
to have been hammered into shape, and the sheet copper at times to have been 
produced by rolling between stones. Now in these same mounds are found drink- 
ing cups wrought from the Fulgur perversum, with beads and pins fashioned from 
the axes of great marine univalves native to the southern coast. The presumption 
that such objects were obtained by barter seems allowable enough and one would 
naturally look for copper from the western territory in the mounds of, or near, 
those localities from where the implements of shell were derived.1 In point of 
fact, objects of copper, either of, or resembling, the western type, have been found 
in certain Southern States and have been described as of native copper from 
Lake Superior, though presumably without the requisite analysis. A complete 
investigation by chemical tests might reveal the material to be as stated, and would 
certainly enhance, in any event, the interest attached to the copper. Certain 
writers, moreover, seem to consider the evidence of malleability displayed by the 
copper described by them as indicative of native metal. In point of fact, any 
fairly pure copper though reduced from the ore, could with perfect readiness be 
hammered into shape. In such matters too many precautions cannot be taken, 
and in making deductions 44 it is well to beware of the expected.'' 
Specimens of copper from Mt. Royal were submitted by us to Messrs. Booth, 
Garrett & Blair of Philadelphia. The result of the analysis made by Mr. Garrett 
is given herewith : 
44 The piece of copper, 4 from an Indian mound,' which you left with us a short 
time ago, yielded to our analysis: 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
The chemists who made analyses given on pages 34 and 39 state that lead 
" 
valueless and are withdrawn, as are conclne»TTS on page $ MOORE 
Copper, . . . . . 99'258 per cent. 
Lead, ..... 0*758 per cent. 
'For the results of investigation in such localities see: C. C. Jones, op. cit. pp. 226, et seq., and 232, et seq. 
Thruston, op. cit. pp. 25, 79, 169. 
Eleventh Annual Report, Peabody Museum, p. 307; also Fifteenth Annual Report, Peabody Museum. 
Joseph Jones, M. D., "Exploration of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee," pp. 8, 45, 59, 136,137. 
Fifth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 101 et seq. 
Ran, " The Archeological Collection of the United States National Museum," p. 59, et seq. 
(Paste on margin of page 34). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
35 
" We also examined the sample for silver, antimony, tin, bismuth, iron and 
zinc, but found no indication of their presence. 
" The sample was very much corroded and was cleaned with acids before 
analysis. 
" We do not think that this copper came from Lake Superior, since we have 
never found lead in any sample that we have examined; neither can we find any 
record of its presence in any published report." 
Extended investigation shows no report of the presence of lead in native 
Lake Superior copper. 
The result of this analysis indicates the copper in Mt. Royal as obtained: 
(1) through intercourse with Europeans, or 
(2) from aboriginal sources other than the Lake Superior region. 
Of this matter we shall speak farther in Part II of this report. 
Miscellaneous Objects.-On the base of the mound, near the center, associated 
with pottery, in the neighborhood of the chert and hornstone fragments already 
described, was the columella of a marine univalve, ground at the beak. 
During the excavation, the enamel-like covering of the crowns of two teeth of 
the man-eating shark were met with. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
So great a mass of sand is piled up at Mt. Royal that a total demolition of the 
mound was not attempted, and we are, therefore, debarred from forming final con- 
clusions. Among the hundreds of objects taken from the great mound was not 
one bead of glass nor implement of iron, nor was any object met with obviously 
of European manufacture, or of necessity connecting the mound with a period sub- 
sequent to the arrival of the whites. 
Small Sand Mound near Mt. Royal. 
Four hundred yards north by east of the great mound was a small sand 
mound which we totally demolished. Its height was 3 feet 2 inches, its circumfer- 
ence, 195 feet. It was unstratified. A little west of the center was a pocket of 
shell on the base. No skeletons were met with, nor relics of any sort, with the 
exception of two fragmentary arrow points of chert. 
Sand Mound Near Kitchen's Creek, Volusia County. 
About half a mile south of Volusia Bar, Kitchen's Creek, a waterway connect- 
ing the river with Lake George, enters the St. John's. On the left hand side, going 
up, about a quarter of a mile from the point of union, is the home and grove of 
Miles Revels upon a large deposit of shell. A quarter of a mile north of the 
house in the palmetto hummock is a sand mound 3 feet 8 inches in height and 243 36 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
feet in circumference. The mound is of a brown loamy sand filled 
with palmetto roots. Upon it is a small frame house. A trench, 10'5 
feet by 7 feet, along the base on the east side showed no stratification. 
Human remains in a bad state of preservation were met with. 
Two feet below the surface was a small pendent ornament of hard trap 
grooved for suspension (Fig. 18). The presence of the dwelling pre- 
vented satisfactory investigation. 
Sand Mound Near Duval's, Lake County. 
Fig. 18. Pend- 
ent ornament 
(full size). 
Directly opposite the point of union of Hitchen's Creek with the 
St. John's, Blue Creek joins the river. This name is given to a water- 
way which, making a detour, joins the main stream about three miles farther south, 
forming an island of what otherwise would be a portion of the main land. On the 
right hand side of Blue Creek, going south, about half way up, is a shell deposit 
some two acres in extent. The spot is uninhabited, but is reported to belong to 
a person named Duval. Following a path running north through the clearing and 
turning west into the pine woods, one comes upon a sand mound about 200 yards 
distant from the creek. The mound is now virtually demolished. Its height was 
5*5 feet, its circumference 165 feet. It was thickly covered with scrub oak and 
scrub palmetto whose roots, permeating the mound, made satisfactory investigation 
difficult. 
COMPOSITION OF THE MOUND. 
About one foot beneath the surface of the mound, which was otherwise com- 
posed of the white sand of the surrounding territory, ran a layer of pinkish sand, 
having a maximum thickness of 18 inches. At places, especially in the neighbor- 
hood of any deposit of pottery or of implements, the sand had been given a brick- 
red hue. 
Chemical analysis showed the coloring matter to be pulverized hematite. 
This tingeing of the sand, it will be remembered, was noticed at the Dunn's Creek 
mound and at Mt. Royal. We shall refer to it again in the case of a mound 
shortly to be described. 
About 15 feet from the southern margin of the base and three feet below the 
surface was a small local deposit of Paludince. Otherwise the mound was devoid 
of shell. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Burials were all original, lying under the unbroken stratum of pink sand. 
They were mainly on or below the base and were all of disconnected bones, crania 
greatly preponderating. Occasionally one or two long bones lay together, but no 
ribs nor any of the smaller bones were apparent, save occasional cervical vertebrae THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
37 
in connection with the skulls. At one spot near the center of the mound, with no 
long bones in association, at a depth of 6 'feet, were 6 crania almost in contact. 
With them were a lance point of chert and several fragments of pottery. 
The affinity of certain plants for nitrogenous elements was well exemplified in 
this mound. Masses of roots, in some cases almost solid, filled the skulls, forming 
a perfect cast of the cavity, somewhat resembling a cocoanut when the moldering 
remains fell asunder. 
No bones were in condition for measurement. 
With the exception of several arrow points and 2 pots, one semi-ovoid in shape 
(Plate VIII, fig. 1), nothing of interest was recovered. 
About 100 yards southwest of the burial mound is a low sand mound of 
unusual shape. Partial excavation yielded nothing. A diagram is appended. 
o Sand. Tn. a u. rt. oL >t z a. r 'B Cree.K^ 
Aa/e 7^0 = /' 
Sand Mound in Pine Woods, Lake County. 
Following the trail from Duval's clearing and passing the two mounds just 
described, at a distance of about 2 miles in the pine woods we found an unstratified 
mound of pure white sand containing occasional pockets of red sand surrounding 
deposits of implements, pottery, etc. Its shape was a symmetrical truncated cone. 
Its height was 4 feet 4 inches, its circumference 180 feet. It was leveled to the base. 
5 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 38 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Owing to its isolated position its existence was known to but two or three persons 
and no investigation had ever been attempted. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
In this mound, burials were of the bunched variety. 
Crania.-In all, 30 crania were met with, of which several were saved. At 
times bundles of long bones were found without the skull, while in other portions 
of the mound fragments of isolated crania were encountered. At times great 
bunches of long bones were found with two or three crania in association. These 
bunches were taken out in a solid mass, almost without exception thickly envel- 
oped by roots. Roots of the scrub palmetto ran in numbers through the shafts of 
the long bones, partially filled the crumbling skulls and appeared in bunches 
through the sockets of the eyes. Most skeletons lay near or upon the base. Exactly 
in the center of the mound, in actual contact, were seven crania surmounted by a 
mass of long bones lying at all angles and in all planes. With the long bones lay 
mandibles, pelves and scapulae, but smaller bones were wanting. 
Humeri.-Five humeri showed three perforations, a percentage of GO. Of the 
perforated, two were from the left side and one from the right. Two were male 
and one of uncertain attribution. 
Femurs. 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
5 
1343 
126 
146- 
5-8 
Female 
2 
120- 
116 
124- 
Uncertain . 
5 
110 4 
105 
114 
25 
Tibite. 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
5 
638 
541 
704 
59 
Female 
3 
65'5 
63-8 
67-9 
Uncertain . 
2 
67*6 
66'6 
68-6 
IMPLEMENTS, ORNAMENTS, ETC. 
Unassociated, completely encysted in a mass of roots, was a spherical bead of 
calcite having a diameter of one inch. 
Apparently unassociated with human remains were several small pieces of 
sheet copper; one fragmentary cylinder with overlapping edges, fashioned from 
sheet copper; four human incisors and one canine; nine shell beads with a diame- 
ter of one inch each, and sixteen smaller beads of shell. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
39 
With no human remains in the 
immediate neighborhood were an un- 
wrought river pebble; a fragment of 
sheet copper; a small implement of 
shell that crumbled upon exposure to 
air, and a pendent ornament of hard polished trap rock (Fig. 19). 
In another portion of the mound was a small copper cylinder with overlap- 
ping edges, and a piece of sheet copper. 
With a portion of the shaft of a human femur were a number of shell beads; 
one bead of calcite; small pieces of sheet copper; fragments of decaying wood, 
upon which the metal had served as a coating; several small bones of lower ani- 
mals, dyed a bright green from contact with the copper, and a beautiful hoe-shaped 
implement of polished trap rock, 7*3 inches in length, with a maximum breadth of 
5'2 inches (Fig. 20). 
The hoe-shaped type of implement is hitherto unreported from Florida. 
Colonel J ones1 describes a specimen from Georgia which differs from the attribution 
of Squier and Davis who classed one of its type among ornamental axes. The 
implement found by us seems to show slight marks of wear upon the edge, while 
the specimen described by Colonel Jones has marked abrasions. A somewhat simi- 
lar implement is figured as from Arkansas, and is described by Professor Holmes as 
an " implement or ceremonial stone."2 The Smithsonian collection includes three 
of these implements from Louisiana, and we read of an object of light blue slate 
from Canada suggesting this type though the shank is more elongated.3 
At several points in the mound the crowns of human teeth were found in 
association with copper which had imparted to them a bright green color. This 
inhumation of teeth, unassociated with other human remains, we have noticed in 
but one other mound of the St. John's, namely, Mt. Royal. As we have previously 
stated, Mt. Royal and the mound under discussion were the only two among all 
the river mounds investigated by us which yielded copper showing aboriginal 
design. 
Analysis of the copper from this mound was made by Mr. Garrett, of Booth, 
Garrett and Blair, who returned the following report: 
" The last sample of copper from an Indian mound which you submitted to us 
was almost, if not quite, oxidized through and through, and therefore we could not 
remove the earthy matter from its surface, but treated the whole with acids, etc. 
" The sample consisted almost wholly of copper with traces of lead, and also a 
little iron and alumina, with a little sand ; these last three substances coming from 
the earthy coating. We found no silver in the sample." 
The result of this analysis is virtually the same as that of the copper from 
Mt. Royal. 
Fig. 19. Pendent ornament (full size). 
10p. cit., page 289, et seq., plate XIV, fig. 14. 
2Third Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 479, fig. 152. 
3 Annual Report Canadian Institute, 1887, page 32. 40 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Fig. 20. Hoe-shaped implement (full size). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
41 
Pottery.-The pottery of this mound showed marked peculiarities which will 
be described at length by Professor Holmes. Three small pots, imperforate as to 
the base, were taken unbroken from various portions of the mound. One with 
an upright projection from the side (Plate VIII, fig. 2) closely resembled a class of 
pottery to be described later in connection with the Thursby mound. In this 
case, however, the projection, or handle, did not start from a thick mass at the bot- 
tom and extend upward along the side, but had its origin at the margin of the 
aperture. 
Sherds wrought to resemble rude arrow heads were notably absent in this 
mound, as we have noticed to be the case where the makers of the mounds seem to 
have been well provided with objects of value for inhumation. 
Near the eastern margin of the mound was a solid animal head of pottery 
4-75 inches in length, with a maximum diameter of 2 1 inches. The body was 
wanting (Plate VIII, fig. 3). Professor Cope considers this head as probably hav- 
ing formed part of an effigy of the marsh rabbit. Arthur E. Brown, Esq., Super- 
intendent of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, is strongly impressed with the 
reptilian cast of features, and thinks it not unlikely that the fragment represents 
the head of an Iguana, an animal found in regions south of Florida. 
Near the eastern margin of the mound, just below the surface, was a spool- 
shaped object of pottery with central longitudinal perforation. Length 6'5 inches; 
5 inches and 4 inches in diameter at ends. A broken surface at each extremity 
debars any determination of the use of this curious object (Plate VIII, fig. 4). 
Entirely unassociated, was found a curious pendent ornament of clay, perfor- 
ated for suspension (Plate IX, fig. 1). 
Another remarkable object was a coarse, thick, hollow, truncated cone of pot- 
tery, laterally flattened, 4-4 inches in height, 6'5 inches in greatest diameter, max- 
imum width 4'4 inches. The bottom had been intentionally omitted in manufac- 
ture. On either side of the upper margin were apparently remnants of a handle 
(Plate IX, fig. 2). 
The gem of the collection from this mound was an animal effigy in clay, prob- 
ably representing a turtle. The head was extended, the tail curved upward, the 
body was hollow. The sides and legs were ornamented with lines and dots in a 
pattern common to certain sherds in the mound. Remains of red pigment were 
traceable upon the body. From point of snout to tip of tail this curious effigy 
measured 11'7 inches, its average width being 4 inches, its height 4'5 inches (Plate 
X). 
During the demolition of the mound certain sherds were found allowing of 
partial restoration, the result indicating a gracefully shaped urn (Plate XI). 
CONCLUSIONS. 
The mound in the pine woods near Duval's well illustrates how certain sand 
mounds, resembling each other in a general way, vary in detail. The inhumation 42 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
of teeth unassociated with the jaw; the presence of sheet copper with aboriginal 
designs; the admixture of pulverized hematite with the sand in places, and the 
burial of objects of value, unassociated with human remains, as if through respect 
for the dead in general, would seem to connect the builders of this mound with the 
race that heaped up Mt. Royal. 
On the other hand, the total absence of polished hatchets and the presence of 
curious effigies and forms in pottery are a departure, so far as our investigations 
indicate, from the customs of those who built Mt. Royal. 
Low Sand Mounds Near Volusia, Volusia County. 
The small town of Volusia lies on the right hand bank of the St. Jphn's about 
8 miles above Lake George. Shell deposits line the river's bank, while the Dillard 
grove in the rear is situated upon great ridges and heaps of shell. In woods about 
400 yards northeast of the town was a group of low sand mounds probably five in 
number. The country is somewhat uneven in character and various knolls might 
readily be mistaken as of artificial origin. The mounds lay near together and 
were unstratified, consisting of the same brown sand as the surrounding territory. 
The mound of the greatest altitude had a height of 3 feet 3 inches; the low- 
est was but 1 foot 9 inches in height. 
These mounds were partially excavated during July, 1892, by Charles and 
Barney Dillard of Volusia, this being the only occasion when work was done upon 
any mounds included in this report otherwise than in our immediate presence. 
From the mounds on this occasion were taken many fragments of large vessels 
which we have examined and found to be of coarse yellow clay, made by means of 
the coil by which, it will be remembered, a vessel of pottery was constructed much 
after the manner of a straw hat. These fragments were apparently all of vessels 
having perforations in the bottom, intentionally made previous to baking. Red 
pigment had been used for purposes of decoration. The pottery was otherwise 
unornamented. How much pottery was broken through imperfect methods of 
excavation we are unable to state. Two large fragments (Plate XII, figs. 1 and 
2) and a vessel in perfect condition (Plates XIII and XIV) are now at the Peabody 
Museum. The shading in the illustrations indicates the painted decoration. The 
unbroken vessel has a height of 15'5 inches, its breadth is 19 inches, the aperture 
is 10 inches in diameter; while the perforation at the base, made previous to bak- 
ing, has a diameter of 3*5 inches. This urn-shaped vase is characterized by Pro- 
fessor Putnam as " an entirely new form of utensil for archaeologists to puzzle 
over."1 Another large pot, now in the Wagner Free Institute, Philadelphia, has a 
height of 10'25 inches, a maximum diameter of 15'5 inches with a diameter of 9'5 
inches across the aperture. Through the base is a perforation made previous to 
baking, having a diameter of 2'5 inches. The ornamentation of this vessel con- 
sists of bands laid on with red pigment. One encircles the upper margin. From 
'Report of Peabody Museum, 1892, p. 6. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
43 
this band three others extend vertically, two being surrounded by double curved 
stripes, the other by only one. 
In addition to this pottery, nothing, with the exception of two arrow heads 
and human Teniains, rewarded the search of the Dillards. 
November 13, 14, 15, 16, 1892, were devoted by us to careful work on such 
portions of the mounds as remained. The burials were all of the bunched variety, 
the cranium surmounting the bundle of long bones arranged horizontally. Upon 
at least four occasions-a feature never noticed elsewhere in our mound investiga- 
tion-large fragments of pottery were placed in actual contact on the skull. In 
one case the top of a large vase laid over a skull had somewhat the appearance of a 
hat. When, as was sometimes the case, the cranium lay beneath the bundle of 
long bones this did not occur. One skull showed an ugly perforation, oval in 
shape, '5 of an inch by '32 of an inch, in the right half of the occipital bone and 
occupying the center of the triangle formed by the median line of the bone, the 
right half of the superior transverse line and the lambdoidal suture. The blow 
seemed to have been delivered obliquely. There was no splintering of the inner 
table nor any exostosis, nor were any scratches or cuts apparent on the outer sur- 
face suggesting trepanning. 
No crania were saved in condition for measurement. 
Of G humeri, 4 showed perforation. 
One tibia showed an index of 64'4. 
One femur gave an index of 136. 
Lying in immediate association with a bunched burial were found together 
two arrow heads; three chipped implements of chert, the largest having a length 
of 5 inches; one spear head ; four chips ; two cores ; a fragment of sandstone, and 
three pieces of shell implements. 
Several additional arrow heads were found during the excavation. While 
fragments of large vessels were numerous, admitting of partial restoration, our 
search yielded but one unbroken vessel, a small earthenware pot decorated with 
crimson pigment. In this case a hole had been intentionally knocked in the bot- 
tom, and not made previous to baking. 
In none of the river mounds have we seen pottery approaching the size of that 
from the low mounds of Volusia; while the curious custom of manufacturing mor- 
tuary pottery with intentional perforation of the base previous to baking, a class of 
pottery that could serve no purpose in the land of the living, is especially empha- 
sized in these mounds. We are of the opinion that the breaking in pieces of whole 
pottery when interred with the dead did not obtain with the Indians of the river, 
since vessels when found broken lay in place as crushed by the weight of sand. 
When disconnected fragments have been found with a skeleton they have often 
proved to be of different patterns, and never capable of restoration. The mutilation 
of pottery by perforation at the bottom is referred to by Squier1 as practised by 
1Aborig. Mon. of the State of New York, page 71, foot note. 44 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Florida Indians and by those of Oregon " to remove any temptation to desecration 
of the grave which might otherwise exist." 
Mr. Beanchamp1 tells ns, speaking of later Indians, that " one feature of the 
copper kettles found in the ossnaries, or bone-pits, is hardly creditable to the Cana- 
dian Indians, at least the Hurons. When placed in graves they were almost uni- 
versally perforated at the bottom, to render them useless, and so prevent robbery 
of the tomb." We presume reference is made to the kettles. 
Of this same custom prevailing among the Hurons we read2 elsewhere that 
"after the arrival of the French, brass kettles were often buried with the bones. 
These were purposely damaged at the time of interment by having a large hole 
knocked in the bottom with a tomahawk. As many as twenty of these kettles 
have been found in some ossuaries, especially those of the townships of Medonte. 
Besides kettles, they buried copper and glass beads, wampum, pipes, pottery, copper 
and stone axes, chisels, and, in fact, almost everything to be found in a Huron 
household." 
We are of the opinion that the mutilation of pottery was practised in the 
observance of some sacred rite, rather than for removal of incentive to theft. 
Unbroken articles of great value to aborigines, as we are told, were placed with the 
kettles by the Hurons, while we have observed how mounds, perfect mines of 
wealth, were left unmolested by the Indians of Florida, inspired, doubtless, by a 
superstitious terror or reverence for the dead. 
We are unable to find, however, that Indians other than those of the St. 
John's River, made mortuary pottery with perforation of the bottom previous to 
baking. 
Nothing indicating contact with Europeans was found on the base of the Vol- 
usia mounds. One bead of blue glass was thrown out from the largest mound while 
digging the second course. That is to say, one series of spadefuls had been dug 
from the surface. A spade penetrates about 8 inches. If the bead lay on top of 
the contents of the spade, as to which we have no means of knowing, its depth 
below the surface was 8 inches. If, on the other hand, its position was beneath 
the surface of the second course, it may have attained a depth of 16 inches. 
These mounds are reported by the inhabitants to have been under cultivation, and 
well marked furrows are in the neighborhood. A considerable party working with 
trowels a number of days would, it would seem probable, have discovered beads 
with the skeletons had any existed, and it is our belief that this solitary bead, at 
one time superficial, owed its position when found to the agency of the plow. 
Bluffton. 
Bluffton, formerly Orange Bluff, lies on the east bank of the St. John's, about 
four miles south of Volusia, Volusia County. It has long been under cultivation 
!The American Antiquarian, May, 1890, page 167. 
'Annual Report Canadian Institute, 1887, page 58. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
45 
and many objects of interest have been found in the vast shell deposits now cov- 
ered with orange trees. In addition to many shell heaps there are upon the place 
a conical mound of sand and shell, which has not been thoroughly investigated, 
and a mound of sand somewhat more oblong in form than the usual truncated 
cone. For permission to investigate this mound we are indebted to William Edgar 
Bird, Esq., the owner. Professor Wyman, a score of years ago,1 made a superficial 
examination of one of these mounds and finding skeletons, naturally supposed the 
tumuli to have been erected for purposes of sepulture. While both mounds at 
Bluffton contain intrusive burials, the results of our investigations show that the 
sand mound, at least, had probably been constructed for a different purpose. 
In the month of March, 1879, we were permitted to make a superficial exami- 
nation of the sand mound, and were rewarded by the discovery of the skeleton of 
a man, lying a short distance beneath the surface. In association were a tube of 
stone (Fig. 21) and a fragment of human skull ornamented with incised lines (Fig. 
22). 
Fig. 21. Stone tube (full size). 
Fig. 22. Ornamented fragment of human skull (full size). 
This section of cranium possessed deep interest, since at that time the discov- 
ery of no other ornamented piece of human bone was on record in the United 
States, while but two specimens showing workmanship had been reported.2 
Of this fragment of human bone, now in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, 
Professor Putnam writes as follows : " I have looked up the piece of skull that 
you sent in 1879 from the mound at Bluffton, and enclose an outline of the same 
showing the lines cut upon the fragment. It is beyond question a piece of the 
parietal bone of a human skull. It was probably a circular ornament cut from a 
parietal bone such as I have found several times in Ohio, some of which are very 
elaborately carved and correspond to the shell ornaments of the same circular 
shape. I have also seen one of these circular pieces of parietal, from an Indian 
grave in Ontario, not carved but simply perforated for suspension, so that this cut- 
ting pieces of the human skull for ornaments seems to be rather widely spread- 
say Florida, Ohio, Canada." 
1 " Fresh Water Shell Mounds of the St. John's River, Florida," page 37. 
2 Jeffries Wyman, op. cit., page 63. 
6 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 46 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Aii analysis of the stone tube is reported from the Peabody Museum as fol- 
lows: "Rock seems to be a light volcanic rock, probably a tufa derived from the 
lava called andesite. Not found nearer than the Rocky Mountain region in the 
U. S." 
The occurrence of cylinders of stone and of pottery is reported from Florida 
to Canada.1 Their use is uncertain, though the weight of opinion inclines to their 
employment in the smoking of tobacco. Fig. 23 
represents a tracing made from Troano Codex, by 
II. C. Mercer, Esq., to whose courtesy we are 
indebted for its use. 
At the time of our second visit (1892) the 
mound was 14 feet in height and 305 feet in circum- 
ference at the base. On the summit was the 
usual plateau. Upon the sides grew live oaks of 
considerable size, the circumference of the largest 
being 9 feet at a distance of 5 feet from the 
ground. The sand of which the mound is mainly 
composed seems to have an admixture of clay, 
rendering it cohesive and difficult to dig. 
On the east an excavation was made with a 
width of 5 feet at the start, broadening almost immediately to 8 feet, then to 115 
feet and decreasing to 10 feet and to 8 feet at the end. This trench, at times con- 
verging toward the base, was 38 feet in length, with a maximum depth of 12 feet. 
The mound is built on a large deposit of shells which forms its base and 
extends on every side beyond. At the point where the trench was begun it was 
necessary to dig through 2 feet of sand to reach the shell deposit. Of these, one 
foot belonged to the present height of the mound, and the other foot may be consid- 
ered as a part of the original height before a stratum of sand of that thickness was 
formed on the surrounding shell deposit. The excavation passed through the cen- 
ter of the mound which is not entirely regular in shape, being somewhat elonga- 
ted to the north and south. It would seem, judging from the various strata as 
shown in the plan, that a smaller mound, having its apex to the east of the present 
center of the mound, had been covered with light brown sand containing a slight 
sprinkling of shell and a certain percentage of clay, and that this outer layer had 
not been put on in a way to continue symmetrical stratification. 
About 25 feet from the beginning of the trench, the strata C, D. E, F (see 
plan) began abruptly. It is highly propable that these layers owe their discontinu- 
ance at this point to some previous comparatively superficial excavation. The 
strata B, C, I), E, F, viewed in connection with other mounds, present no remark- 
able features, with the exception of the "muck layer, 1), which we have seen in 
but one other mound in the river. No reference to such a stratum existing in any 
Fig. 23. From Troano Codex (full size). 
1 Annual Report of the Canadian Institute, 1887, page 41. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
47 
A, center of plateau; B, brown sand and shell; C, lighter brown pure sand ; D, " Muck " layer; E, 
brown sand with slight admixture of shell; F, shell; II, brown sand with slight admixture of shell; I, shell 
base; K, apex of shell base, L, balls of sand; M, point where C, D, E, F, were lost; AT, beginning of excava- 
tion. 
other mound of the State has come to our notice. The material, while in the 
mound and damp, could he moulded like wax, and slices cut from it resembled the 
section of a truffle. Some hundreds of yards from the mound is what is termed a 
" muck pond," and from this was probably taken the material which, with an 
admixture of clay and sand formed the stratum. 
The point at which the various strata reached their highest, with the excep- 
tion of the outside covering of brown sand, was distant 8 feet east of the termina- 
tion of the trench, at which point these strata had considerably descended from 
said apex. At the base was a shell ridge (K), probably an irregularity of the 
shell deposit previous to the formation of the mound. 
About 5 feet from the surface, above the apex of the shell ridge (K), were 
found two balls (L), nearly round and about one foot in diameter. They were 
apparently composed of a mixture of sand and clay, with an intermingling of bits 
of charcoal and fragments of calcined shells of Unio. The balls had appar- 
ently been subjected to heat, having a hard outside coating varying from -25 to -5 
of an inch in thickness. They were broken with great difficulty. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
With the exception of intrusive burials which were frequently met with at a 
short distance below the surface, no human bones were found during the entire 
excavation. From intrusive interments three humeri were obtained, all perforated. 
Two tibiae belonging to one body had marked anterior curvature. Their indices 
were 73*8 and 75'8 
IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 
Three broken arrow heads, superficial and probably belonging to the period of the 
burials; a tubular bead of shell 2T inches in length, 3 feet from the surface (Fig. 48 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
24) ; three flint Hakes, various depths ; implement 
of deer horn 5'5 feet down, much resembling the 
wedge of elk horn figured in Plate XVIII, Smith- 
sonian Report, 1886, Part I. 
Pottery.-With the exception of two frag- 
ments on the immediate surface, no pottery was met 
with during the entire excavation. The shell deposit 
of Bluffton is the largest in area of any on the river, covering in all about 35 acres, 
attaining at one point a thickness of 25 feet. In the shell deposits north of the 
mound, pottery is sparingly met with. It is abundant in the great orange grove to 
the south. In the immediate neighborhood of the mound a number of excavations 
had a negative result in respect to the pottery. A natural desire on the part of the 
owner to avoid injury to his trees prevented a more extended excavation, or a total 
demolition of the mound subsequent to which conclusions could be more accu- 
rately drawn. The entire absence of pottery and of burials other than superficial 
in a stratified mound would be an anomaly on the river. 
Fig. 24. Tubular bead of shell (full 
size). 
Small Sand Mound in Pine Woods, Lake County. 
Immediately opposite Bluffton about a quarter of a mile from the western bank 
of the river is a small mound of white sand. Previous investigators have made 
exploration useless. 
Tick Island, Volusia County. 
This interesting mound has been four times investigated by us, the results of 
the first three investigations having been embodied in two articles in the American 
Naturalist, February and July, 1892, respectively entitled "A Burial Mound of 
Florida" and "Supplementary Investigation at Tick Island." In all sixteen entire 
days have been devoted to Tick Island, exclusive of considerable time given to the 
shell deposits in the vicinity of the mound.1 
Tick Island is reached from the St. John's River by turning east and crossing 
Lake Dexter to the mouth of Spring Garden Creek, and by following the course of 
this creek until a tumble-down wharf of palmetto logs is reached, whence a 
path half a mile in length leads to the burial mound. 
Tick Island is separated from the mainland by a narrow waterway, its other 
boundaries being Lake Woodruff and Spring Garden Creek. The Island presents 
in parts a wild appearance, covered as it is with gnarled live oak and towering 
palmetto, with trailing vine and tangled undergrowth, where the presence of the 
rattlesnake imparts a certain risk to exploration. With the exception of one small 
house upon the island, at intervals occupied by the hired man whose care it is to 
look after the orange grove, the nearest point where quarters can be secured is at 
Astor, eight miles distant on the river. 
1 The description of Tick Island and of the earlier investigations are condensed from the articles referred 
to above. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
49 
SHAPE, SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF THE MOUND. 
The burial mound, 17 feet in height (spirit level and tape line measurement), 
in circumference 478 feet, is conical in shape, save to the East, where from the 
summit a gradual slope extends into a winding causeway or breastwork. 
The base of the mound is composed of shells, apparently brought from the 
neighboring shell-fields to serve as a foundation in the marshy soil. 
Across the center of this layer of shells from north to south runs a ridge of 
pure white sand. Above this ridge of white sand is a stratum of dark brown loamy 
sand mingled with shells, while the sides of the ridge are rounded out with brown 
sand in which shells are wanting, thus forming a symmetrical mound. At the cen- 
ter of the mound the brown sand layer was 6 feet 2 inches in depth and the 
white sand layer 5 feet 8 inches, leaving to the shell base a thickness of 5 feet 
5 inches above the level of the margin of the base of the mound. In the northern 
trench the white sand layer was encountered almost at the start. On the western 
side it was found at a distance of 30 feet from the margin, while on the southern 
side it began at 20 feet. 
As has been stated, a long and winding causeway joins the Tick Island mound, 
which on this side, sloping to meet it, is much less steep than elsewhere. 
Mound and Causeway, Tick Island. 
In the rainy seasons, the territory surrounding the burial mound becomes soft 
and swampy, and a causeway to the place of sepulture would prove of great con- 
venience, and for this purpose the causeway probably served. The raised pathway 
terminates at a large bean-shaped shell, or refuse heap, upon which and the adjacent 
acres of shell-fields the Indians doubtless lived. 50 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
The length of the causeway, following its curves, is 392 feet, its average height 
4 feet; the average breadth of base 25 feet, and average breadth of summit 15 feet. 
Leaving one end of the bean-shaped shell heap is a less well defined causeway 
228 feet in length. It skirts a portion of the base of the mound, but its point of 
union, if it ever existed, has disappeared. 
In addition to numerous shafts, three trenches were made : 
1.-From the northern margin, 46'5 feet long, 13 feet broad and 9 feet deep at the 
end. 
2.-From the western margin, 54 feet in length, 8 feet broad, diverging to 14 feet, 
and 10 feet deep at the end. 
3.-Beginning on the southern slope of the mound, 12 feet from the margin of the 
base, 53 feet broad, converging to 11 feet in breadth, 43 feet from the start. 
These trenches all followed the convex base of shell which attained a height 
of from 5 to 7 feet at and near the center of the mound. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
The great Tick Island mound as an ossuary exceeds any other on the St. 
John's of which we have cognizance; for while at Ginn's Grove probably, and 
at Mulberry Mound certainly, more human remains are found on an average in the 
same area, yet the size of these mounds, in nowise comparing with that of Tick 
Island, renders much less numerous the total burials contained in them. 
Superficially in the brown sand layer were skeletons in anatomical order, possibly 
intrusive. Throughout the entire brown sand layer were disconnected bones and 
portions of skeletons in anatomical order. At one place, for example, lay a pelvis, 
one humerus, one clavicle, one unbroken femur, one in fragments, a piece of the 
shaft of a tibia, an os calcis, three cervical vertebra?, a fragment of another 
humerus and a piece of a radius. The breaks were ancient. Jaw bones lay 
some feet away from other portions of the skeletons. It was evident 
that remains taken from the bone house had been interred without any 
attempt at order.1 Some skeletons, however, probably original, were found in ana- 
tomical order in the brown sand, or upper layer. At four feet from the surface, 
not far from the base of the mound, was the skeleton of a young person, as shown 
by unattached epiphyses. The skeleton was in anatomical order throughout. One 
wisdom tooth had made its appearance, while the other three were still embedded 
in the jaw. The first left lower molar was much worn through the dentine, the 
second was so in places; while the right first molar showed dentine in spots. In the 
upper jaw also dentine was apparent in the first molars. This excessive wear, 
remarkable in one so young, has been noticed by us previously in the mounds, and 
is probably attributable to the nature of the food. If the men of Tick Island were 
identical with the makers of the shell heaps, the worn condition of the teeth can 
^he skeletons from which, after exposure, the flesh had rotted or been stripped were stored in the bone 
house against the next date for general interment. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
51 
be really understood, a percentage of sand being contained in the shell fish which 
formed their principal article of diet.1 
In the white sand layer, burials, save at the top and along the shell base of 
the mound, were very infrequent, though toward the center a few were found. 
Both in the shell and above it burials were contiguous at times, and at no point 
were they widely separated. But one layer of bodies extended into the shell. 
The bones were usually in anatomical order, though bunched skeletons were met 
with. The mingling of forms of burial is common on the St. John's as in other 
portions of the United States.2 
Crania.-No crania were saved, all being crushed and decayed beyond hope 
of recovery. No signs of decay were observed in any teeth, though the marks of 
an alveolar abscess were in one case apparent. In the four mandibles preserved 
the teeth are all present. 
Humeri.-During our first two investigations at Tick Island, no notes as to 
human remains were taken, the bones being sent direct to the Peabody Museum, 
Cambridge. 
During the third investigation 46 humeri were recovered ; of these, 16 were 
perforated, giving a percentage of 34'8. 
In the course of the fourth investigation (March, 1893) extreme care was 
taken. In no case was an instrument '' used in the removal of sand from the fossm, 
while a magnifying glass was called into requisition where a shadow of a doubt 
existed as to the nature of the perforation. During the entire investigation a 
trained anatomist was on the ground, and, with three exceptions where determina- 
tion was impossible, all humeri found were included in the classification. 
In the determination of sex, comparison with other portions of the skeleton 
was sometimes employed. In other cases, where the structure of the bone left room 
for doubt, the humerus was uniformly placed in the uncertain class. 
We have thought it well to keep separate the lists of the bones found in the 
upper and lower strata, not through the belief that the upper layer was a later 
addition to the mound or that we consider all its human remains intrusive, but it 
seems best to keep apart the bones from the base which are beyond suspicion. 
Brown 'Sand or Upper Layer. 
Male. 
Female.4 
Uncertain. 
Perforated. 
Not. 
Perforated. 
Not. 
Perforated. 
Not. 
Rights 
5 
4 
1 
3 
4 
Lefts . 
3 
5 
3 
1 
4 
4 
10 
10 
7 
2 
7 
8 
Total humeri 46 ; perforated 25 ; a percentage of 54-3. 
1 We have eaten both Paludince and Ampullarim in the form of soup. 
2 Fifth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, page 108. 
5 Gentle motion in water readily disengages sand from the fossae. 
4 The crushing in transit of one perforated humerus precludes data as to its side and size of perfora- 
tion. The side of one unperforated humerus has been overlooked. These perforated humeri can be seen 
at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 52 
PERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
White Sand Layer. 
Male. 
Female. 
Uncertain. 
Perforated. 
Not. 
Perforated. 
Not. 
Perforated. 
Not. 
Rights 
0 
8 
3 
2 
4 
3 
Lefts .... 
2 
7 
2 
0 
4 
3 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
2 
15 
5 
2 
8 
6 
Total humeri 38 ; perforated 15 ; a percentage of 39'5. 
Grand total of humeri 84 ; perforated 40 ; a percentage of 47'6. 
Size of Perforation. White Sand. Measurements are given in mm. 
Perforated. 
Average 
Diameter. 
Maximum 
Diameter. 
Minimum 
Diameter. 
Oscillation1 
Exponent. 
Male 
2 
4-75 
5 
4'5 
Female 
5 
6-7 
11-5 
2-5 
2-76 
Uncertain . 
8 
5'6 
7'5 
3'5 
1-47 
Brown Sand. Measurements are Aven in mm. 
Perforated. 
Average 
Diameter. 
Maximum 
Diameter. 
Minimum 
Diameter. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
10 
8-25 
12 
6 
1-45 
Female2 
7 
5'6 
9 
3 
17 
Uncertain . 
7 
7-3 
9-5 
4'5 
1'5 
For details as to the perforation of the septum between the olecranon and cor- 
onoid fossae the reader is referred to Dr. Topinard's Elements d' Anthropologic Gen- 
erate, page 1015, et seq., and to an interesting paper by Dr. D. S. Lamb in the 
American Anthropologist for April, 1890, entitled " The Olecranon Perforation," 
from which we have borrowed the subjoined table : 
1 (Translation from " Anthropologische Methoden," by Dr. Emil Schmidt, pages 303-304). 
* * * "The extent of the mean deviation of every member of the list from the general average. For the calculation of 
the same the difference between the general average and each member of the list is determined, considering it of like value, 
whether negative or positive : the sum of all these differences is then divided by the number of individuals in the list. If one 
indicates the individual difference by d, the sum of the individual differences by Sd and the number of the members in the list by 
n, the oscillation exponent corresponds to the formula Sd 
N 
To demonstrate the significance of the oscillation exponent in estimating the value of a list, we shall assume that we 
are dealing with two lists having the same number of members and the same sum, therefore, also the same average ; but which 
are very dissimilar. One of the lists consists of the members 1, 2, 3, 11, 12. 13; the other of the members 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6. The sum 
of each of these lists is 42 ; the average for each is therefore J,2 " But the differences between the individual membe rs of 
the first list and the average are (i, 5.4, 4, 5.6; the sum of these differences is 30; the oscillation exponent is therefore V =5. 
In the second list the differences are 1,1, 0, 0, 1, 1; their sum = 4 ; their oscillation exponent = | = 0'67. The size of the oscil- 
lation exponent shows us, therefore, how closely the members of a list group themselves about the mean : the greater the os- 
cillation exponent, the less uniform (typical) the list, and vice versa." . 
2 hi this list is included as one the sum of a double perforation. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
53 
No. of 
humeri. 
No. of 
foramina. 
Per 
cent. 
Authority. 
89 
48 
54 
A. M. M. coll., . 
Prehistoric Arizona Indians. 
150 
69 
46 
Bull. Anthrop. Soo., . 
Guanches, Canary Islands. (Verneau). 
30 
36-2 
Topinard, . 
Yellow and American races. 
32 
34-3 
Polynesians. 
80 
31-2 
u 
Indian Mounds of U. 8. Wyman, Peabody Museum. 
20 
6 
30 
The author, 
Private collection, mainly negro and mulatto. 
62 
17 
28 
A. M.M. coll., . 
Indian mounds, U. S. 
67 
18 
28 
Pruner-Bey, 
From Vaur^al, France. 
122 
25'6 
Topinard, 
Guanches of Canary Islands. 
156 
21-8 
LL 
Dolmens and grottoes around Paris. Polished stone. 
97 
21'7 
LI 
African negroes. 
61 
12 
20 
A. M. M. coll., . 
Prehistoric Indians, ancient cities, New Mexico. 
28 
14-1 
Topinard, 
Melanesians. 
30 
12'1 
4 L 
Dolmens. De Quiberon. 
66 
10-6 
LL 
Caverns of 1'Homme mort, Lozere. Polished stone. 
388 
10-6 
. L 
Dolmens, Lozere. Polished stone. 
288 
22 
7'5 
A. M.M. coll., . 
Mostly white soldiers. 
27 
2 
7 
Anthrop. Hoc. Paris, . 
Bulletins. From Chamont, stone age. 
16 
1 
6 
A. M. M. coll., . 
Negroes and mulattoes. 
200 
5'5 
Topinard, . 
Parisians from I Vth to XI Ith centuries. 
96 
5 
5 
A. M.M. coll., . 
Contemporary I ndians. 
150 
4'6 
Topinard, . 
Parisians of Cemetery of Innocents. (Hamy and Sauv- 
ages). 
*218 
4'1 
4 4 
Parisians of Middle Ages. (Broca and Bataillard). 
52 
3'8 
IL 
Europeans of America. Wyman, Peabody Museum. 
*218 
7 
3-2 
Bull.Anthrop.Soc. Paris, 
Paris cemetery of XVI Ith century, Broca. 
30 
0 
0 
Topinard, . 
Long barrows of England, bronze age. 
Length and Torsion of the Humerus.-It is quite evident that comparatively 
few humeri can be recovered suitable for measurement for length and for torsion, 
owing to the necessity for the preservation intact of the articular portions. 
All measurements for length of long bones are made with the planchette and 
square.1 
In determining the degree of torsion we have followed the method of Schmidt2 
with a slight variation. This modification has to do with the determination of the 
transverse axis of the elbow joint. To fix this line the bone is held perpendicularly 
with the lower end uppermost, the inner margin presenting itself to the eye. A 
thread, one end of which is held against the inner surface of the bone by the thumb 
of the hand grasping the humerus, is carried over the center of the inner margin 
of the trochlea, stretched along the middle line of the articular surface, and carried 
down the opposite side of the bone to be retained by a finger. The articular sur- 
face is then held directly beneath the eye, and the exactness of the line determined. 
The points at which the thread crosses the articular margins are marked with 
ink and in the subsequent measurement are made to coincide with a straight line 
across the base of the instrument. The head of the bone passes above into a notch 
* Probably same collection. 
1 See Topinard's " figments d'Anthropologie Generale," page 1033. 
2 "Anthropologische Methoden," page 204 et seq. 
1 JOURN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 54 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OE 
in a sliding shelf which holds the protractor with margin parallel to the base line, 
and a needle made to coincide with the line previously drawn across the head indi- 
cates the degree of torsion. 
The results obtained by this method vary from those of Broca, who made use 
of the inter-epicondilar axis in place of the axis of the elbow joint. An objection 
to the use of the epicondyles is their variability in size and direction. 
Humeri (Brown Sand). 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Side. 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male . 
Right 
303 
125° 
Not Perforated. 
Male . 
H 
303 
109° 
H 
Uncertain 
U 
291 
117° 
Perforated. 
Uncertain 
U 
283 
124° 
Il 
Humeri (White Sand). 
Measurements arc given in mm. 
Sex. 
Side- 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male 
Right 
292 
142° 
Not Perforated. 
Male 
Left 
320 
115° 
u 
Femurs.-The index of diameter is taken with the caliper square at the mid- 
dle of the shaft. The percentage is derived at by dividing the antero-posterior 
measurement by the lateral measurement. 
No femurs were measured as to index where the shafts were incomplete, an 
accurate determination of the center of the bone being thus assured. 
Femurs from Brown Sand Layer. 
Number. 
Average Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Minimum 
Index. - 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male . ' 
22 
124-3 
153 
108 
8'18 
Female . 
18 
114 
121 
109 
2'72 
Uncertain 
9 
115'7 
123 
106 
5 
Femurs from White Sand Layer. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Minimum 
I ndex 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Number. 
Average Index. 
Male 
9 
125 
138 
110 
7*2 
Female . 
9 
110 
121 
104 
3-5 
Uncertain 
8 
115 
122 
108 
3-5 THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
55 
For the purpose of comparison we give a table of indices of the femur given 
by Dr. Topinard in his "Elements d' Anthropologic Generate" page 1019, where, in 
addition, can be found full details as to the pilastered femur. 
1 Anonymous femur ....... 158'0 
1 Cro-Magnon ........ 128'0 
5 Great Canaries, No. 5 ...... . 117'5 
5 " " No. 1 ...... . 97'5 
I Minimum of the latter ....... 90'9 
9 Cavern de 1'Homme Mort (polished stone) .... 109 0 
1 Minimum of same ....... 95'6 
15 Grotto of Bray (polished stone) ...... 106'7 
15 Grotto of Orrouy (polished stone) ..... 109'3 
15 Parisians ......... 109.2 
20 African negroes ........ 105'8 
1 Minimum of same . . . . . . .71'8 
13 New Caledonians ........ 127 6 
2 Rachitic femurs ........ 1111 
8 Anthropoids . . . . . . . .79'7 
Attention is called to the maximum index of one femur found at Tick Island ; 
namely, 153. Its mate has been submitted to Dr. Topinard who has kindly fur- 
nished the following note : (translation). 
" Description of a diaphysis of a femur, submitted to me by Mr. Clarence B. 
Moore, from a mound at Tick Island, Florida. 
" Femur from the right side, originally about 45 centimeters in length, belong- 
ing to a subject, male in all probability, about 1'67 meters in height. 
" It has a slight inward curve or bend, the center of incurvation corresponding 
to the junction of the upper and the middle thirds where the two lips of the linea 
aspera begin to separate. 
" The lower end of the specimen is circular, or rather oval, with maximum 
diameter antero-posterior, showing that a good extent of the bone is lacking at this 
extremity. 
" The upper end terminates below the trochanters, and shows the usual Hatten- 
ina: from before backward. 
" The middle two-thirds of the diaphysis are compressed laterally, thus losing 
the prismatic, triangular form ordinarily found at this level. Nevertheless three 
faces and three borders present themselves : an anterior face, narrow, rounded and 
limited by the two anterior borders also rounded ; an external face plane or slightly 
convex; an internal face concave longitudinally ; and a thick posterior border drawn 
out into a pilaster. 
"The breadth of the linea aspera is notable, measuring 8 millimeters. Below, 
the margins separate for their course to the condyles; above, the separation is still 
greater, the internal margin passing toward the lesser trochanter, the external 
toward the greater. 56 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
"To judge by the eye one would place the degree of pilaster at 5 in a table 
limited by the terms 0 and 6. But in the absence of the extremities a misjudgment 
is easy. 
" By determining the minimum width and the maximum antero-posterior diame- 
ter of the bone in the middle region where the femur shows the least thickness the 
following figures are obtained : width 23 millimeters, antero-posterior diameter 35 
millimeters, giving as the index of the transverse section of the femur 152'2, the 
width being taken as 100. 
" The method of the minimum and of the maximum is the one which I employ. 
One might present the objection that it is necessary to take the two measurements 
at the same level. But what level shall we choose ? The mimimum width does not 
occur at the same point as the maximum antero-posterior diameter; it is found ata 
point 45 millimeters higher up. If both measurements are taken at this level we 
have, width 23, antero-posterior diameter 34, index 147'8. If, on the other hand, 
we make both measurements at the level of the maximum antero-posterior diameter 
we have, width 24. antero-posterior diameter 35, index 140'6. The difference is 
appreciable. To escape the difficulty we could take the level midway between these 
two, giving, width 23, antero-posterior diameter 34'5, index 150. 
" I believe this last mentioned point was the one adopted by Mr. Clarence B. 
Moore, as I perceive that it is indicated by a transverse scratch of the finger nail. 
He is perhaps right in principle, but in practice I believe my process the better. 
What is really sought? The relationship of* the most marked transverse flattening 
to the greatest antero-posterior development, the two being in inverse ratio and the 
effect of one and the same case. 
" For that matter the result is practically the same in the present instance 
whether we regard the index as 150 or 152. The femur from the mound at Tick 
Island has one of the most marked lineae asperm of which we are cognizant; it sur- 
passes the femur of Cro-Magnon and approaches the exceptional femur which 
we have cited in our Elements of Anthropology. If the remaining femurs from the 
same mound are as Hat, we could say that it is an important characteristic of the 
race to which they belonged. 
" In conclusion I would remark : 
1. It would be well to arrange a convenient nomenclature for this character; 
to find a term to express it. 
"2. In my Elements of Anthropology 1 followed the method introduced by 
Broca for the determination of t lis index, taking the width as 100. 
"The reverse would be more rational, taking the antero-posterior diameter as 
100. In the case of the femur at hand this would give 65'7, which shows at a glance 
by what percentage the width is exceeded by the antero-posterior diameter."1 
Five measurements for length have been taken. Two are projections on the 
axis of the shaft, one from the head, the other from the great trochanter; two give 
the same measurements with the bone in natural position, while the fifth includes 
1 Dr. Topinard's judicious suggestions were received as we went to press, too late to avail ourselves 
of them. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
57 
the distance between the tip of the great trochanter and the articular surface of the 
external condyle. 
Brown Sand Layer. Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Projected on axis. 
Oblique Position. 
(4rpat Trooh tn 
Head. 
Great Troch. 
Head. 
Great Troch. 
Ext 
Condyle. 
Male 
469 
451 
461 
434 
440 
ll 
450 
438 
445 
425 
430 
Female 
409 
406 
ll 
420 
411 
414 
White Sand Layer. Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Projected on axis. 
Oblique Position. 
Great Troch. to 
Ext. Condyle. 
Head. 
Great Troch. 
Head. 
Great Troch. 
Male 
467 
452 
465 
446 
447 
H 
440 
437 
Tibiee.-The platycnemic (sabre-shaped) or laterally flattened tibia, has long 
been considered a racial characteristic. Its occurrence was reported among the races 
of caves, barrows and mounds, and among early and unmixed races. It is, how- 
ever, notably wanting in the skeletons of Spy.1 Dr. Manouvrier in his 44 Memoire 
sur la Platycnemie chezl' Homme et chez les Anthropoides,"1 an able and exhaustive 
paper, maintains that 44 platycnemia results from the need of a surface upon the 
tibia, broader, more extended, more advantageous for the insertion of the posterior 
tibial muscle. It results from the marked activity of this muscle, and is in no 
wise due to the relative predominance of the muscles of the anterior region of 
the leg, a predominance invoked without proof by various authors. 
44 Platycnemia favors the resistance of the tibia to an antero-posterior flexion, 
but it is not produced through need of this resistance alone. 
44 The function of the posterior tibial muscle, which by its marked activity pro- 
duces or maintains platycnemia in the human species, is not its direct function, which 
is the flexion-adduction of the foot, but, in fact, its inverse function, the immobiliza- 
tion of the leg in those movements in which the weight of the body tends to tilt it 
forward. 
44 The inverse action of the posterior tibial is called for particularly in running 
and in walking over rough and hilly ground. Platycnemia, then, should be looked 
for principally among peoples living in countries more or less mountainous, 
people following the chase." 
* * * (page 542) 44 Thus platycnemia in man could be a character transmitted 
by a climbing anthropopithecus, but it is not a-character of either evolution or func- 
tional inferiority. The resemblance to the monkey is a purely morphological char- 
acter retained, be it observed, by a function essentially human ; it tends to disappear, 
among civilized people, only through a diminution of this activity." (Translated). 
1 La Race Humaine de Neanderthal ou de Canstadt en Belgique, Recherches Ethnographiques sur 
des Ossements Humaines, d6couverts dans les depots quaternaires d'une grotte a Spy et determination de 
leurage gCologique, par Julien Fraipont et Max Lohest." Extrait des Archives de Biologie, tome VII, 
1886, page 656 ; et. seq-See also " Dictionnaire des Sciences Anthropologiques," page 1058. 
2 M6moires de la Soci6t6 d' Anthropologic de Paris. Tome troisifeme, deuxifeine s6rie. Paris, 1883- 
1888.-Page 469 et. seq. 58 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
It is evident that Dr. Manouvrier is a believer in the transmission of acquired 
characteristics, and through this he would doubtless partially explain the marked 
platycnemic character of tibiae from the mounds and shell heaps of Florida, a sec- 
tion the monotonous evenness of which is proverbial. In addition, in a discussion 
on platycnemia following an analysis of the above quoted paper given in advance,1 
to an objection raised as to the level nature of the country where many American 
platycnemic tibiae are found, Dr. Manouvrier explained that the act of climbing 
could not always by itself be considered the cause of platycnemia, and that this 
modification of the tibia was more probably due to the inverse action of the poster- 
ior tibial muscle in connection with running and jumping. According to Dr. Man- 
ouvrier, platycnemia is of somewhat less frequent occurrence and less marked in 
very large tibiae and in the tibiae of women. 
The measurement of the tibia for platycnemia is made at the level of the 
nutrient foramen. The index is ascertained by dividing the transverse diameter by 
the antero-posterior diameter, the reverse of the method employed in the case of the 
femur. Dr. Manouvrier considers as markedly platycnemic all tibiae with an index 
below 55; as hardly perceptible from 65 to 69, and of the ordinary form with an 
index of 70 and over.2 Dr. Schmidt considers within the limits of platycnemia all 
indices under 65.3 
During our second exploration at Tick Island 55 tibiae were measured, giving 
an average index of 63'9. Two tibiae, the most platycnemic, were mates, their 
indices being 51 and 51 7. Unfortunately, these data were obtained by the aid of 
ordinary calipers, which allow in some cases a certain obliquity of measurement. 
On our fourth visit to Tick Island the following results were obtained : 
Brown Sand, or Upper Layer. Measurement with caliper square. 
Tibiae. 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
19 
62-4 
704 
511 
276 
Female 
23 
64 4 
73 6 
54-8 
4'67 
Uncertain 
4 
62.8 
66 8 
59 -9 
2-15 
White Sand, or Lower Layer. Measurements witJi caliper square. 
Tibiae. 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent 
Male 
11 
60-4 
71-8 
53 5 
46 
Female . 
11 
63-9 
74 4 
57 6 
4-1 
Uncertain 
10 
60 3 
65* 
57' 
2'2 
ORNAMENTS, IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 
From the surface to the base of the mound, associated and unassociated with 
human remains, were found ten arrow heads and two lance points. Of the lance 
points one was rude and massive; the other slender, somewhat resembling what is 
sometimes termed a drill. The material of these points is chert, hornstone and 
chalcedony. Upon two occasions, three arrow heads were found in association each 
time with human remains, once superficially, twice, six feet below the surface. 
1 Bulletin de la SociOte d'Anthropologic de Paris-Tome dixibme; 11 Ie sgrie, Paris, 1887, page 136. 
2 Op. cit., page 130. 
3 Op. cit., page 289. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
59 
Ten and one-half feet from the surface, with a small horn- 
stone arrow head and human remains, was a sheet of mica 3 
inches by 5 inches. This mineral, of comparatively frequent 
occurrence in mounds to the north of Florida, is very infre- 
quently observed in that State. Upon no other occasion, with 
the exception of a minute fragment in Mt. Royal, has it been 
found by us; while Mr. Douglas, in 40 mounds on or near the 
east coast, met with it in but one. There are mines of sheet mica 
in North Carolina. 
But two of the instruments known as " celts " were found 
in the mound at Tick Island. Both were superficial and appar- 
ently unassociated. 
Great numbers of small shell beads were found in connec- 
tion with human remains, almost invariably near the skull. 
Eighteen inches from the surface, near the skeleton of an infant, 
was a barrel-shaped bead wrought from the columella of a large 
marine univalve. Its length was 1'4 inches, with a maximum 
thickness of '8 of an inch. In the perforation at one end still 
remained a small bead of the kind so numerous in the mounds, 
leading to the belief that these larger beads sometimes served as 
central ornaments in strings of smaller ones. Mr. Thruston figures 
a large bead in this association as the probable method of arrange- 
ment .1 
In the white sand layer, with no human remains in associa- 
tion, was a rude pendant ornament of shell, grooved for suspen- 
sion . 
In a mass of brown sand, a " cave " from above, was a sti- 
letto-shaped instrument of bone (Fig. 25). Its length was 9'25 
inches ; its diameter at the top, from which the articular portion 
of the bone had been removed, was 1'22 inches. Below the 
upper margin it was encircled by an incised line while on one 
side, running longitudinally, were three perforations extending 
to the central cavity of the shaft. These perforations had each 
a diameter of '25 inch, and were from '50 to '75 of an inch 
apart. The implement tapered to a flat point. With the excep- 
tion of a fragment, doubtless belonging to a similar object, we 
have met with nothing recalling the stiletto in any of the 
sand mounds of the river, though at Mulberry Mound, a shell 
heap of Orange County, two wrought from the canon bone of 
the deer were found by excavation.2 
Implements of the stiletto shape are by no means infre- 
quent in other sections of this country or in Europe. At the 
National Museum are three implements of bone somewhat 
resembing the implement from Tick Island. They are about 
7'5 inches in length, with rounded points and have but one lat- 
eral perforation. They are decorated with three sets of three 
encircling lines and were found by Dr. J. C. McCormick in a 
Fig. 25. Implement of 
human bone (full size). 
1 Qp. cit, page 31/. 
2 American Naturalist, Aug., 1893. Mulberry Mound. 60 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
mound in Jefferson Co., Tenn. Professor Haynes is of the opinion that objects of 
this type were used in the weaving of baskets.1 
In some of the western mounds we learn of their manufacture from the bone 
of the elk. A peculiar interest attaches itself to the specimen at Tick Island. 
Professor Cope is of the opinion that in all probability this implement was made 
from the delicate femur of a young person or of a woman, from which continued 
scraping has removed all traces of the linea aspera. 
We have seen that objects, probably used as gorgets, were made from the human 
skull, but the record of implements wrought from the shaft of human long bones is 
meager indeed in this country. Professor Wyman reports2 the finding of a worked 
humerus in a Massachusetts shell heap. Professor Haynes exhibited to the Boston 
Society of Natural History3 an implement made from the upper half of a human 
humerus. " The ball of the joint forms the handle, while the shank has been cut 
down one-half and sharpened to a point." 
The use of human bones as implements was not unknown in pre-historic Europe. 
During the first excavation two portions of the human skull were found, one 
with two perforations of about the diameter of an ordinary lead pencil, the second 
with a similar hole in the center and the evidence of another on its margin. 
These perforations are too small to suggest trephining. The fragments were 
probably portions of gorgets or head ornaments. We are told of perforated por- 
tions of crania found in Canada, of one of which we read that it " may have been 
interlaced with brightly dyed grasses, feathers or porcupine quills, and thus worn on 
the breast, or it may have formed a base of* adornment for head gear.4 
Six and one-half feet from the surface, in the white sand layer, with a 
quantity of shell beads, was a lump of galena, coated with carbonate. One foot 
above in the brown sand layer was an interesting deposit of long pins and bodkins 
of bone. With one exception, all were in fragmentary condition, though three per- 
mitted of subsequent restoration (Figs. 26-31). 
One long pointed implement, broken near the head, had been repaired by the 
aid of perforations drilled in either fragment near the fracture, for the purpose of 
attachment through the medium of a cord or sinew for which a groove had been 
worked on either side (Fig. 26). The head of one needle, the point of which was 
unfortunately missing, showed considerable artistic taste (Fig. 27). 
Six feet seven inches from the surface, beneath human remains, was a large 
Fulgur perversum, fashioned into a drinking cup by the removal of the columella 
and the inner whorls. The aperture was turned toward the surface of the mound, 
while above it. as if a species of cover, was a large sherd in fragments. Carefully packed 
within the shell were two small marine shells ; a Fulgur, species canaliculata, and 
a young Murex spinacostata from which the spines had been carefully removed by 
grinding; one bone awl, grooved around the head; a pendant ornament fashioned 
1 Proceedings Boston Society of Natural History, Feb. 15, 1893. 
2 Op. cit., foot note, page 51. 
3 Feb. 15, 1893. 
4 Annual Report of the Canadian Institute, 1887, page 53, tig. 107. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
61 
Fig. 27. 
Fig. 31. 
Fig 30. 
Fig. 28. 
Fig. 29. 
Fig. 26. 
8 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 
Piercing implements of bone (full size). 62 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
from the axis of the Fulgnr, grooved at both ends ami partially cut away 
(fig. 32); two pieces of fungus; a pear-shaped pebble, grooved for sus- 
Fig. 32. Pendent ornament from 
axis of riihpir (full size). 
Fig. 33. "Sinker" of 
quartz (full size). 
Fig 34. Pendent ornament of 
shell (full size) 
pension (fig. 33) ; a Hat pendent ornament of shell 2'6 inches in length, grooved 
at the upper portion with central perforation in the groove (fig. 34), and a small 
fragment of pottery. 
Along the top of the white sand, with the bones of a child and a quantity of 
small shell beads, was a pendent ornament fashioned from the lip of a marine uni- 
valve, having a length of 442 inches, a width of 14 inches. One end was perfor- 
ated. This pendant doubtless served for personal decoration in connection with 
the beads. In association with it were eight marine shells-one Area pexata, one 
Area incongrua^ one Pcctnnculus, and five specimens of Pecten with a fragment 
of another. These shells were all perforated and probably served as a necklace.1 
Pottery.-Twenty-seven feet from the margin of the base in the southern 
trench, 7 feet beyond where traces of the white sand layer were first apparent, was 
the first burial in the white sand layer. At this point the brown sand, or upper 
stratum, was 5 feet 3 inches, and the white sand below. 2 feet 4 inches, in thick- 
ness. Immediately above was a pot with a rounded unperforated base, 7'4 inches 
in height, with a maximum diameter of 7'5 inches midway between the base and 
aperture. Its diameter at the mouth was 5'5 inches. Below the aperture was an 
incised line encircling the pot, surmounting a line of semi-perforations '25 of an 
inch below, while beneath these was a circle of red paint. Near the margin of the 
aperture on either side was a small perforation for suspension. 
'Necklaces of shells were used by primitive man both in Europe and in this country. See M. Riviere, 
"De 1' Antiquite de 1'Homme dans les Alpes-Maritimes," plate XXI, and C. C. Jones, o/. cit, page 518, and foot 
note, 519. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
63 
The finding of* an entire vessel of* any size in the mounds of* the St. John's is 
of* such rare occurrence that special stress is laid upon this discovery. 
Not far distant from the vessel above described, with human remains, was an 
elongated bowl of* graceful pattern, 7'75 inches in length with a maximum width 
of 6*5 inches. Its depth was 3 inches. A portion of* the bottom had been 
knocked out. At either end the rim became concave to the extent of* -25 of an 
inch. When inverted the pot much resembled in shape the carapace of a turtle. 
In immediate association was a fragment of human skull, calcined, and the crown 
of a human molar blackened by fire. 
On the base of the mound was a bit of* pottery, the fragmentary condition of 
which was a matter of regret. In shape it strongly suggested the beak and canal 
of the Fulgur when given the form of a cup (Plate XV, fig. 1). Reproductions 
in clay of* drinking cups of shell are reported from other sections. In this speci- 
men the curve was peculiarly graceful. 
Twelve feet from the surface on the base of* shell was a fragment of a small 
jar with curious ornamentation (Plate XV, fig. 2). 
In former excavations three small pots were found by us at Tick Island. All 
were unperforated as to the base and lay with original burials. Two were undec- 
orated, one of a design previously unreported is figured in the American Naturalist, 
July, 1892. 
On the base also in the various trenches were sherds of excellent material and 
artistic decoration (Plate XV, fig. 3), quite unlike any met with in numerous 
excavations in the adjacent shell heaps. 
Many small bits of pottery placed with bodies had been intentionally given the 
form of an arrow head. We shall refer again to this custom. 
It will be noticed that at the Tick Island mound the perforation of the bot- 
toms of vessels, either by intentional fracture or in construction previous to baking, 
did not obtain to the same extent as in certain other mounds of the river. 
During our extended investigations in the Tick Island mound absolutely 
nothing indicating contact with the whites was met with, nor were objects of pol- 
ished stone found other than superficially. In comparison with the mass of mate- 
rial handled the objects discovered were but few, and when we consider the results 
yielded by the mounds at Dunn's Creek, at Norwalk Landing, in the pine 
woods near Blue Creek, and at Mt. Royal, we are led to believe that poorer and 
probably earlier Indians piled up the sand mound at Tick Island. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
Sand Mound Near De Leon Springs, Volusia County. 
To reach De Leon Springs it is necessary, after leaving the St. John's, to pur- 
sue a somewhat devious course as shown by the map. A considerable shell deposit 
borders the Springs. 64 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
In the pine woods, three-quarters of a mile to the north, is a sand mound in 
the form of a truncated cone. Its height is 9 feet, its circumference 450 feet. It 
is unstratified and is composed entirely of white sand, with the exception of 
pockets of shell, mostly Unionida, found along the base, and of a shell ridge in the 
center having a. height of 4 feet. 
A trench 9 feet in breadth and 35 feet in length was dug along the base 
through the center of the mound. During the entire excavation, with the excep- 
tion of one superficial burial, neither human remains, pottery nor implements of 
any sort were found, though small bits of charcoal were abundant. 
Thursby Mound, Volusia County. 
This mound was visited by us during the winter of 1892 and 1893. It lies on 
the east bank of the St. John's one-half mile north of Lake Beresford, immediately 
opposite the shell bluff of H untoon Island. But 50 yards from the water it is hid- 
den from view by oaks and palmettoes, while on it grow giant live oaks, one 12 feet 
3 inches in circumference 5 feet from the base. A causeway of shell connects it 
with a shell ridge bordering the river. It is the property of Mrs. L. P. Thursby, 
of Blue Spring, favorably known in connection with antiquarian research in Florida 
since the time of Professor Wyman. Permission was readily granted to investigate 
the Thursby mound and the large shell deposits bordering the famous Blue Spring 
some miles farther south. 
The mound is very symmetrical. Its height above the surrounding level is 11 
feet, its circumference 300 feet, its form the usual truncated cone. 
On the northern side was started an excavation 9 feet from the margin and at 
that point vertically 3 feet from the base. Its width at the start was 8 feet, diverg- 
ing to 13 feet and converging to 9 feet at the end, at which point the trench was 14 
feet in depth. Throughout its course, a distance of 25'5 feet, it followed the base. 
The mound lies upon a deposit of shell which extends beyond it on the south and 
west, but is not traceable toward the swamp on the northern side. Upon this shell 
deposit, around the mound, a layer of dark colored sand had formed to a thickness 
of 3 feet, thus encroaching upon the height of the mound which, from the summit 
plateau to the base of shell, upon which were bones, has a vertical height of 14 feet, 
as shown by the excavation. This shell base, it is worthy of remark, did not 
have an ascending slope, as is the case at Tick Island, at Bluffton and at Ginn's 
Grove, but seemed to be perfectly level. 
Upon the base lay about 6 inches of dark brown sand, differing greatly from 
the pure white sand above. At a distance of 22 feet from the margin of the base 
of the mound and 8 feet from the surface began a second layer of shell, with 4 to 5 
inches of brown sand on top, and having 3 feet of white sand between it and the 
layer of brown sand lying upon the shell base. The second layer of shell upon 
which burials were made in the brown sand extended but 6 feet towards the center, 
where all traces of it were lost. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
65 
This stratum was in its turn surmounted by white sand which lay beneath the 
brown sand composing the surface of the mound. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Superficial skeletons in anatomical order were numerous. Original interments 
were mainly confined to the shell base, the first being encountered 22 feet from the 
margin and 9 feet from the surface, and to the shell layer above, though some badly 
decayed skeletons were found in the white sand. Their infrequency of occurrence 
is in marked contrast to the quantities of bodies met with at Ginn's Grove and at 
Tick Island. The bones lay in anatomical order, though it is not impossible that a 
different form of burial exists in other parts of the mound. 
During the first investigation no crania were saved. 
Three humeri from the original burials were imperforate; eleven from super- 
ficial burials showed seven perforations, a percentage of 63'6. 
Five tibim from original burials gave an average index of 62. An equal num- 
ber from interments near the surface showed an average index of 64. 
Our second investigation was confined to superficial portions of the mound. 
Four crania and two calvaria were saved. 
Humeri {superficial}.-Of 21 humeri 13 showed perforation, a percentage of 
61-9. 
Humeri (Superficial.) 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Total. 
Average Perforation. 
Minimum 
Perforation. 
Maximum 
Perforation. 
Oscillation Exponent. 
Male 
3 
61 
4-5 
8 
Female 
3 
78 
35 
10 5 
Uncertain . 
7 
53 
25 
8 5 
1 9 
Of the 13 perforated humeri 7 were from the right side and 6 from the left. 
Grand total of superficial humeri 32, perforations 20, or 62'5 per cent. 
Length and Torsion of Humeri. Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Side. 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male 
Right 
302 
126° 
Not Perforated 
Uncertain 
Left 
304 
127° 
Perforated 
Femora (Superficial) . 
Index. 
■ 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation Exponent. 
Male 
18 
119 
102 
138-4 
7-4 
Female 
9 
113 
102 
125 
6-9 
Uncertain . 
4 
116 
113 
119- 
9. 66 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
Length. Measurements are given in mm. 
Projection on shaft. 
Oblique position. 
Great Troch. to Ext. Condyle. 
Sex. 
Head 
G. T. 
Head. 
G. T. 
Male . 
450 
436 
442 
419 
427 
Tible (Superficial). 
Index. 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation Exponent. 
Male 
15 
63 
551 
77-1 
51 
Female 
2 
592 
537 
64'9 
Uncertain . 
1 
649 
WEAPONS, IMPLEMENTS, ORNAMENTS, ETC. 
With the original burials lay bits of pottery of good material, |some 'showing 
tracesofa red pigment. With the exception of a lance head of chert 5 inches in 
length (Fig. 35) nothing of interest was found with the remains other than super- 
ficially. 
Fig. 35. Lance head of chert (full size). 
Eighteen inches from the surface in the northern slope of the mound was found 
the point of an implement of bone, recalling the entire implement met with at Tick 
Island. Unfortunately, this one was too fragmentary for identification. 
Superficially, with a skeleton in close association, was an axe of iron (Fig. 36), 
and a polished "celt " 3'25 inches in length. It lias been thought by some writers 
that inasmuch as no allusion to these implements of stone can be found in the early 
Spanish chronicles, and as the "celt" escaped the vigilance of the Huguenot writers 
and the pencil of Le Moyne, the supply in Florida had disappeared by inhumation 
prior to the coming of the whites. The finding of a "celt " associated with iron 
leads us to a different conclusion. 
Axes of iron of the type discovered in the Thursby mound are of wide distri- 
bution. They are reported from California,1 from New York,2 and we read that no 
1 U. 8. Geographical Surveys west of 100th Meridian, Vol. VII, page 275. 
2 Aborig. Mon. of State of New York, E. G. Squier, page 78, fig. 21. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
67 
Fig. 36. Axe of iron (half size). 
less than 300 iron tomahawks were ploughed up in a field in Canada.1 We have 
met with them in Florida, also, at Dunn's Creek, at Raulerson's near Lake Harney 
and at the Indian Fields on Lake Ruth. 
With intrusive burials were two small polished hatchets of stone and a small 
" sinker or pendent ornament, grooved at one end for suspension, wrought from a 
pebble. 
Precious Metals.-Superficially, with the skeleton of a woman, in close proximity 
to a cervical vertebra, associated with beads of shell, was an ornament 
of sheet gold, oblong in shape *6 of an inch by '77 of an inch. Its 
weight was 18 grains. Around the margin on one face were indenta- 
tions, while a deeper and larger one occupied the center at the inter 
section of two diagonal lines. Near the center of the margin of one 
of the narrow sides was a perforation for suspension (Fig. 37). 
With a skeleton 6 inches from the surface, in close proximity to the cranium, 
was an ornament of sheet silver. In shape it somewhat 
resembled a crescent though the inner border lacked suf- 
ficient concavity. Its length was 1 *58 inches, its maxi- 
mum breadth '72 of an inch. Its weight was 50 grains. 
In the center was a large indentation made by repeated 
impact of a pointed implement. Around the margin 
were small indentations, of which three, perforate, doubtless served as means of 
attachment to a band or a garment. It was greatly oxidized (Fig. 38). 
Pots and Efftgies of Pottery.-It was reserved for the Thursby mound to 
reward our labors by a find hitherto unreported, we believe, not alone in Florida 
but in any part of the United States. In an oblong space, 6 feet in breadth and 
about 25 feet in length, beginning 18 feet from the center of the summit plateau 
on the southeastern slope and extending to the margin of the base, from 4 inches 
to 1 foot below the surface was a deposit of pottery amazing in number and variety 
of specimens, including pots, dishes, bowls, effigies of animals, of plants and of 
Fig 37. Ornament 
of gold (full size.) 
Fig. 38. Ornament of silver 
(full size). 
\ Annual Report Canadian Institute, 18b7, page 11. 68 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
various other objects. The vessels of pottery, probably with but one exception, 
were of the coil method of manufacture which, it will be remembered, consisted of 
welding together coils of clay. These vessels varied in diameter between D35 inches 
and 4*75 inches. All but two had a perforation in the bottom made previous to 
baking. Many contained coils of clay upon the inner surface of the base from 
which a projection extending along and above the side served as a handle to the 
vessel (Figs. 39-41). Others had parallel bars of pottery along the base, the use 
Fig 39. (full size ) 
Fig. 40 (full size). 
Fig. 41 (full size). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
69 
Fig. 42. Pottery vessel (full size). 
Fig. 43. Imperforate vessel representing section of gourd (full size). 
of which it is difficult to determine (Fig. 44). In all 75 specimens of vessels of 
pottery were recovered, of which but 4 were decorated. In two cases larger ves- 
sels contained smaller ones inverted. 
No less than 48 animal effigies, ranging from 2 to 7 inches in length, were 
recovered in almost unbroken condition. Among these were 8 fishes and 11) turtles. 
Many showed perforations as for suspension. Some were of spirited design, giving 
evidence of considerable artistic feeling. These effigies were submitted to Arthur 
E. Brown, Esq., to whom we are indebted for suggestions as to the identification of 
some of them. Among them were recognizable two species of turtle, probably the 
logger-head and the snapper; several species of eat, including probably the puma 
and the wildcat; bears; squirrels; a wild turkey; possibly a dog, and in all prob- 
ability a beaver. Several otters, also,. were identified, while one effigy somewhat 
resembling that animal, held in its mouth a round object in no wise suggesting the 
fish diet of the otter (Fig. 45). One effigy, though unbroken, offered no clue 
for identification and must be put down as a freak of fancy. The snout closely 
resembled that of a tapir, but in other respects the effigy had nothing in common 
9 JOUEN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 70 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Fig. 44 (full size). 
Fig. 45 (full size). 
Fig. 47. Small pot (full size). 
Fig. 4(5 Decorated pot (full size). 
Fig. 48. Vessel suggesting turtle (full size). 
Fig. 49. Pottery plate (full size). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
71 
Fig. 50. Probably bear (full size). 
Fig. 51. Probably bear (full size). 
with that animal. It cannot be considered a representation from life of any mam- 
mal of Florida past or present (Fig. 52). 
Included among representations of the vegetable kingdom were twelve acorns, 
some exceedingly natural and cleverly represented ; a gourd ; an ear of corn, very 
life-like; possibly the bud of a water lily, and several other vegetables of uncer- 
tain attribution. 
Among the unidentified were 41 specimens, including a large class of objects, 
some resembling a potato covered with knobs (Fig. 53), others with numerous spines 
somewhat resembled the sea urchin or possibly a shell (Fig 54). Their attribution 
is a mystery. Other unidentified specimens were a large bead-shaped object per- 
forated longitudinally (Fig. 63), and an article having the form of a dumb-bell 
(Fig. 64), possibly intended to represent an ear plug similar to those figured by Le 
Moyne. 
In all 292 objects of pottery, whole or but slightly damaged, were taken from 
the Thursby mound, the work being done by hand, owing to the close association of 
the various pieces. In addition to these, 62 fragments representing distinctive por- 
tions of animals and of vessels of especial interest were saved, while 408 sherds, 
mainly portions of bowls and pots showing perforation previous to baking, were 
added to the collection. Innumerable fragments were left upon the surface of the 
mound. 72 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OE 
Fig. 52 (full size). 
Fig. 53 (full size). 
Fig. 54 (full size). 
Fig. 56. Squirrel (full size). 
Fig. 57. Possibly wild cat (full size). 
Eig. 55. Squirrel (full size). 
Fig. 60. Possibly wild cat (full size). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
73 
Fig. 62. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 58. Wild turkey (full size). 
Fro. 59. Possibly puma (full size). 
Fig. 61. Possibly puma (full size). 74 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
It is interesting to note that while the discovery of a deposit of small perfora- 
ted animal effigies of clay is hitherto unreported within the limits of the United 
States their occurrence in Mexico is mentioned. Clay images from Georgia figured 
by C. C. Jones1 bear no resemblance to the effigies from the Thursby mound. A 
turtle of pottery has been taken from a Tennessee stone grave.2 
Whether the animal effigies from the Thursby mound are representative of the 
fauna of Florida or not it would be difficult to decide. The panther is still met with in 
unfrequented places; the bear is not uncommon ; skins of the otter are a consider- 
able item among the exports of the State ; the wild cat makes the raising of domes- 
tic fowl precarious ; the wild turkey (a separate variety in Florida) still gobbles 
in the woods; squirrels are seen on every side. The beaver was an article of diet 
in the time of De Soto3 and some remained so late as the journey of William Bartram.4 
The existence of the dog on the St. John's in prehistoric times is a matter of 
uncertainty. On the north the shell-heaps of Georgia hold its remains,5 while 
Mexico on the south had a domestic animal resembing it.6 
During the winter of 1892, the writer discovered a portion of the mandible of 
a dog in a shell-heap near the St. .John's River, Florida. Its species lias not been 
Fig. 63. (Full size). 
Fig. 64. Dumb-bell shaped object (full size). 
Fig. 67. Probably snapping turtle (full size). 
Fig. 66. Unidentified (full size). 
1 Op. cit., page 430, et seq. 
2 Thrustoil, "Antiquities of Tennessee," page 165. 
•'"Narrative of the Career of Hernando de Soto," Buckingham Smith's translation, page 132. 
4 " Travels," Dublin, 1793, page 277. 
5C. C. Jones, op. cit., page 196. 
" " Explorations of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee," Joseph Jones, M. I)., page 26. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
75 
Fig. 6o. Possibly beaver (full size). 
Fig. 68. Probably snapping turtle (full size). 
identified. Full particulars, including a note by Professor Cope, can be found in the 
American Naturalist, duly, 1893, from which we make the following extract : 
" Professor Wyman's searches yielded no canine remains,1 nor has the writer 
hitherto upon any other occasion found, to the best of his knowledge, any portion 
of the skeleton of the dog in the river mounds. Wyman was aware of no evidence 
to show the presence of domestic dogs on the river in early times,2 and cites Le 
Moyne's list of animals supposed to have been seen by the French3 (1565), from 
which the dog is omitted. On the other hand, Cabeca de Vaca, Treasurer of the 
expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez (1527) found dogs4 among the natives during 
his wanderings along the coast of northwestern Florida, and in ocher portions of his 
journey. He makes no comment as to their origin, as he doubtless would have done 
had they been pointed out as curiosities, and it is hardly reasonable to suppose that, 
at so early a period, their derivation can have been from a European source. The 
bones of dogs are reported from a shell-heap at Tampa.' The writer learns, how- 
ever, that this discovery was superficial. De Soto, who landed at Tampa, had 
numerous fierce dogs, and found great quantities of dogs among the Indians cf 
Georgia. Bones supposed to be of the dog are in the stone graves of Tennessee."6 
1 " Fresh Water Shell Mounds of the St. .John's River, Florida," page 80. 
2 Loc. cit. 
3 " The Narrative of Alvar Nunez Cabe<;a de Vaca," translated by Buckingham Smith, Washing- 
ton, 1851, page 41, et al. 
4 Loc. cit. 
5 " Tampa Sunland and Tribune," November 18, 1876. 
6 Joseph Jones, M. D., " Antiquities of Tennessee," page 9. 76 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Fig. 69. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 72. Possibly alligator head 
(full size). 
Fig. 70. Possibly dog (full size). 
Fig. 71. Unidentified (full size). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
77 
Fig. 73. Possibly otter (full size). 
Fig 78. Fish (full size). 
Fig. 74. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 75. Probably loggerhead turtle (full size). 
10 JOUR. A. N. S. PHI LA., VOL. X. 78 
CERTAIN SANI) MOFNDS OF 
Fig. 76. Fish (full size). 
Fig. 77. Fish (full size). 
Dr. Dall regards it as presumable that the coyote has been domesticated along 
our southern border from time immemorial, though perhaps as an occasional curi- 
osity in many tribes rather than as a usual companion. During nine years' explor- 
ation he found one dog's skull in an Aleutian shell heap, a prehistoric deposit, and 
only one.' 
The dog has never yet been found fossil in Florida, though the fossil fauna of 
the State would suggest its presence.2 
The late Colonel Jones,3 referring to the Florida Indians as represented by Le 
Moyne.* speaks of "the Hesh of fishes, deer, alligators, snakes, dogs and other ani- 
mals previously smoked and dried on a scaffold. " 
As we have stated, the dog is omitted from the list of animals seen by the 
French, nor is it referred to in any description of the plates. Colonel Jones' state- 
ment, therefore, is based upon no authority beyond a resemblance noticed in cer- 
tain animals represented in the plates. It would be difficult in the work of Le 
Moyne to distinguish a dog from a grey wolf, or from some other quadrupeds of 
Florida, especially as the carcass represented is skinned. 
Fig. 79. Ear of corn (full size). 
Fig. 81. Unidentified (full size.) 
*W. 11. Dall, private letter. 
'Cope 
3Op. ci/., page 12. 
4Brevis Narratio, plates XXII, XXIII, XXIV. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
79 
Fig. 80. Unidentified vegetable 
(full size). 
Fig. 82. Unidentified vegetable 
(full size). 
Fig. 83. Unidentified vegetable 
(full size). 
Fig. 84. Acorn (full size). 
Fig. 85. Acorn (full size). 
Fig. 86- Acorn (full size). 
Fig. 87. Acorn (full size). 
Fig. 88. Acorn (full size). 
Fig. 89. Acorn (full size). 
Fig. 90. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 91. Unidentified (full size.) 80 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Fig. 92. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 93. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 94. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 95. Unidentified (full size) 
Fig. 101. Unidentified (full size). THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
81 
Fig. 90. Unidentified(full size) 
Fig. 99. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 100. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 97. Unidentified (full 
size). 
Fig. 98. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 102. Unidentified (full size). 
Fig. 103. Unidentified (lull size). 82 
CERTAIN SAND MOINDS OF 
During the progress of the investigation a number of sherds were met with 
from vessels of much greater size than any discovered by us in perfect condition. 
They were stamped in squares or in diamonds and were not in association with the 
remainder of the vessels to which they belonged. It was evident that these and 
innumerable fragments of small pots were interred with uninjured objects. 
Beneath a portion of the deposit were found 10 to 12 skeletons of adults. 
They were covered by about one foot of sand which included the pottery. They 
were apparently a, continuation of the interments with which were the gold and the 
silver ornaments. The iron axe was found in a different portion of the mound. 
It will be noticed that nothing indicating intercourse with the civilization of 
Europe was found other than superficially in the Thursby mound. 
H untoon Island, Lake County. 
Immediately opposite the Thursby mound on the west bank of the St. John's 
is Huntoon Island. At this place are great shell deposits, a section being laid bare 
by the action of the river. A short distance from the river bank are two symmetrical 
mounds of shell with a certain admixture of sand Their nature has not been deter- 
mined, though a superficial examination was made by Professor Wyman.1 Unfor- 
tunately for the cause of science, Mrs. Thursby, the former owner, has recently dis- 
posed of the property to Mr. G. A. Dreka of De Land, who refuses permission to 
investigate. 
Sand Mound at Stark's Grove, Volusia County. 
On the southeastern shore of Lake Beresford is Stark's Grove. Near the water's 
edge is a small deposit of shell, while about 40(1 yards from the dwelling is a 
mound of sand about 200 yards east of the lake. Its height is 8 feet, its circum- 
ference 370 feet. On the south a marked depression exists from which the mate- 
rial of the mound was probably taken. The mound bears no mark of previous 
investigation, its owner, Mrs. Stark, to whom we are indebted for permission to 
explore, having carefully preserved it from unsystematic search. An excavation in 
the center showed the mound to be formed of various strata, including shell. At a 
depth of 2 feet lay a skeleton immediately under a 9 inch stratum of shell. With 
it lay a few fragments of pottery roughly ornamented in squares. From the lower 
jaw every tooth was missing and the alveolar process had been entirely absorbed. 
Neither humerus was perforated, while the one tibia recovered gave an index of 84. 
This mound was not sufficiently investigated to admit of final conclusions. 
1 Op. cit. page 26, et scq. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
83 
Sand Mound near Fort Florida. 
Fort Florida, the residence of I). G. Bartola, Esq., is situated on the eastern 
bank of the St. John's, about a mile south of the mouth of the Wekiva Biver. The 
mound lies in the hammock about 300 yards northwest of the river and a quarter 
of a mile northeast of the residence. Its circumference is 240 feet, its height 6*5 
feet. Shell Helds bordering the river are referred to by Wyman. This mound, 
however, escaped his notice, though one opened by him1 is not far distant on the 
river's bank. On the northwestern side of the mound, 11 feet from the margin of 
the base, a trench was carried through the center of the mound at the level of 
the base. The mound was stratified, though the individual layers varied in 
thickness'at different points. 
Thirty-one feet from the margin of the base on the west side of the excava- 
tion, where the strata were clearly defined, above the dark brown sand upon which 
the mound was built, were the following layers : 
Base. 
White sand, S inches. 
Muck, 7 inches. 
White sand, 1 foot 11 inches. 
Paludince mingled with brown sand, 4 inches. 
White sand, 1 foot. 
Black loamy sand, 2 feet 5 inches. 
A deposit of loam on the surrounding territory will account for the apparent 
discrepancy in height. 
Throughout the excavation, sherds of good quality, plain and stamped in 
squares, were met with. 
In the center of the mound were found portions of a human skeleton disturbed 
by a shaft sunk by a previous investigator. 
Sand Mound near Northern End of Lake Monroe. 
(Volusia County). 
Near the railroad bridge crossing the St. Jolin's at its exit from the lake is an 
unsymmetrical mound of sand. It lies back of the hammock land bordering the 
river on the eastern bank. It is not visible from the channel. Its height is 8 feet 
5 inches; its circumference, 275 feet. It is composed of pure white sand unstrati- 
fied. No shell deposit is in the immediate vicinity. Six feet from the margin of 
the base of the southwestern portion of the mound a trench was dug 13 feet in 
breadth, converging to 10 feet at the end and 37'5 feet in length. At a depth of 9 
feet water was reached. Beyond one piece of charcoal, absolutely nothing was 
found denoting human agency in the erection of the mound. An observer, in the 
absence of trees, could, from its summit, sweep the river and the adjacent lake 
1 Op. <if., page 21. 84 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
Ginn's (Jrove, Orange County. 
The burial mound at Ginn's Grove, known as Speer's Landing in the time of 
Professor Wyman, lies on the left bank (going down) of a lagoon, in full view of the 
river, about three miles from Sanford overland, or seven miles by water. It is built 
upon a shell-heap, and shell-heaps and shell-fields lie adjacent. It has twice been 
investigated by us (January 28, 29, 30, 1892 ; January 22-27 inclusive, 1893). 
Upon the first occasion, the mound was the property of Dr. A. C. Caldwell, of San- 
ford ; upon the second, of J. N. Whitner. Esq., of the same place. To both these 
gentlemen our thanks are tendered for cordial permission to investigate. 
The mound which has been superficially dug into by tourists and excursion 
parties from Sanford, is oval in shape. Its circumference is 30(1 feet, that of the 
summit plateau 140 feet. Its height is 10 feet measured from the northern side, 
though a decided depression on the opposite or swamp side would make the height 
somewhat greater. The shell-heap upon which it is built has an upward slope, so 
that between the central portion of the summit plateau and the shell base there are 
but 5'5 feet of sand. The mound is composed of two distinct layers of sand rising 
at about the same angle, the stratum immediately above the shell being of pure 
white sand absolutely free from shell, while the layer above the white is of brown- 
ish sand with shells intermingled. Investigation of the subjacent shell-heap showed 
it to be composed of the ordinary refuse of the shell deposits of the river. It 
extends beyond the mound and was doubtless selected as a point of vantage for the 
erection of the burial place. 
A trench was dug on the northern side, 22 feet horizontally from the margin 
of the base, 145 feet in length, 55 feet in breadth, with a maximum depth of 10 5 
feet, and another on the eastern side beginning at the margin and extending alom>- 
the shell base 00 feet in length, 10 feet in breadth converging to 10 feet at the end. 
Eight men were engaged upon the investigation which, through the white sand 
layer, was carried on mainly with the trowel. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Remains, undoubtedly original burials, lay in the shell in one layer and in 
the white sand immediately above. In nearly every ease, the long bones lay 
horizontally in connection with the cranium, though upon several occasions the 
skeletons were in anatomical order. 
While aware that various forms of burial are sometimes met with in the same 
mound, we are of the opinion that certain skeleton at length or flexed, with all the 
bones of the body in anatomical order, may be the remains of those deceased within a 
short period prior to the time selected for emptying the dead houses or pens. 
Skeletons when deprived of flesh, hold together by means of the ligaments. We 
have seen in Siam, in a walled inclosure, where the bodies of the poor were exposed THE ST. .JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
85 
to vultures and to dogs, human remains, though denuded of flesh, sufficiently ad- 
herent to permit of elevation on a pole. It is probable also that those dying about 
the period of a general interment, were placed without exposure among the bunch- 
ed bones. 
In numbers of cases, vertebra) were found in regular order near the skull. 
Again, many of the smaller bones were present in anatomical order, foot bones in 
connection with the tibia and fibula. In many cases, however, the smaller bones 
were entirely wanting, while at times, single bones wholly isolated were met with. 
Near the center of the mound were 7 crania, some in actual contact, all within 
a radius of 3 feet, while one yard distant were four others in close association. 
With these crania were a certain number of bones not in anatomical order, and by 
no means the full complement of so many skulls. 
While in bunched burials, bones of one individual seemed, as a rule, to be kept 
together, such was not always the case, for upon occasions not only were discrepan- 
cies in size noticeable, but long bones in pairs belonged to the same side of the body. 
Immediately below the surface of this mound were flexed burials in anatom- 
ical order. These we took to be intrusive. 
A number of disconnected bones, ignored in our tables, were found in the brown 
sand at points where considerable disarrangement had taken place through previous 
superficial investigations. 
Crania.-Though heated glue and solutions of shellac were at hand during the 
greater part of our investigation no crania were preserved. No decay was noticed 
in any tooth. 
Humeri.-During the first investigation of 42 humeri, 9 were perforated, a 
percentage of 21'4 
In the course of the second investigation of 73 humeri beneath unbroken strata 
in white sand or in shell, 28 were perforated, or 38'3 per cent.1 
Four humeri belonging to superficial burials showed one perforation. 
Humeri, Original Burials. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Perforated. 
Average 
Diameter. 
Minimum 
Diameter. 
Maximum 
Diameter. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male . • • I 
9 
6-6 
4 
11 
2 5 
Female . • • 
7 
6-8 
5 
9 
Uncertain . 
12 
6'2 
2 
10 
2* 
Of the 28 perforated humeri, 12 were from the right side and 16 from the left. 
1 We have stated elsewhere the great precautions taken by us as to the determination of the perforation of the humerus. 
11 JOUR. A. X. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 86 
CERTAIN SAND MOFNDS OF 
Length and Torsion of Humeri. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Side. 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male 
Right 
303 
128° 
Perforated 
I, 
342 
135° 
304 
118° 
it 
Left 
330 
110° 
Ct 
•* 
304 
114° 
it 
*1 
297 
115° 
it 
Female . 
Right 
290 
115° 
ii 
Male 
it 
327 
137° 
Not Perforated 
i• 
t» 
307 
134° 
it tt 
it 
311 
116° 
it tt 
*• 
Left 
327 
108° 
tt It 
it 
•« 
328 
126° 
it it 
it 
*• 
335 
134° 
it 11 
Uncertain 
•4 
313 
118° 
it ii 
Femora.-Forty-four femora found during the second investigation in the white 
sand stratum or in the shell showed an average index of 112. the lowest 89. the 
highest 132, the oscillation exponent 7'8. 
Length of Femora. 
Original Burials. 
Sex. 
Projection on Shaft. 
Normal Position. 
Great Troch. to 
Ext. Condyl. 
Head. 
Great Troch 
Head. 
Great Troch. 
Male . 
450 
428 
447 
418 
421 
443 
435 
458 
43(1 
432 
<< 
452 
440 
447 
429 
433 
Uncertain. 
418 
409 
416 
399 
402 
Tibia.-Our first investigation yielded 36 tibia' from all depths, giving an aver- 
age index of 64'9. 
Forty-two tibia' from original burials, exhumed during our second visit, gave 
ail average index of 65-2, the lowest being 57. the highest 74, the oscillation expo- 
nent 3 3. 
Length of Tible. 
From superior articular surface to tip of internal malleolus. 
Measurements arc given in mm. 
Original Burials. 
Superficial. 
Male. 
Female. 
Uncertain. 
Male 
37 
38-2 
39-4 
371 
359 
36-9 
36-4 
39-8 THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
87 
IMPLEMENTS AND POTTERY. 
No implements of stone of any sort were found. 
With superficial burials at length were two scrapers of shell. 
With many of the bodies were fragments of pottery to which the triangular 
shape of the arrow head had been given. 
In disturbed and undisturbed strata were fragments of pottery decorated 
with red pigment. 
Seven feet from the margin of the base and 3 feet 10 inches from the surface 
was found what presumably had served as the handle of a vase. The fragment, 3 
inches in length from tip of beak to back of head, probably represented the head of 
a vulture, (Plate XV, fig. 4). The lined decoration was clearly incised. Por- 
tions of the head, represented by shading in the figure, were colored crimson. In 
our experience of technical wTork in pottery in the river mounds this head represen- 
ted the limit of aboriginal endeavor. Unfortunately, as the white sand layer did 
not extend to the point where this relic was found, it cannot be said positively to 
have lain under unbroken strata, ami therefore to be definitely identified with the 
period of the construction of the mound; but as a fragment of a vase similarly 
colored and lined (Plate XV, fig. 5) wras discovered upon the base wuth undisturbed 
layers above, the head is probably contemporary with the mound. 
Six feet from the surface lay 3 skulls in actual contact, forming a species of 
triangle. In association was a fragment of a pot, including a handle terminating 
in the head of a bird, (Plate XV, Fig. 6). Somewhat similar patterns are figured 
from Arkansas.1 
CONCLUSIONS. 
In this mound, though the work was largely done with the trowel, nothing indi- 
cating contact with Europeans was met with. 
Dr. Brinton, it is true, found beads of glass in this mound,2 which led him to 
attribute to it an origin comparatively modern, and this opinion has been widely 
disseminated by Colonel C. C. Jones3 who quotes it on page 236. 
We are inclined to believe the beads to have been superficial: 
1. From analogy. Several mounds in the same section have beads on the 
surface similar to those described by Dr. Brinton. A very careful search by us has 
failed to discover any at greater depth in any of them. 
2. From negative testimony. If the builders of the Ginn's Grove mound 
had possessed such beads, we think some would have been placed with the scores 
of burials exhumed by us. 
3. No mention is made by Dr. Brinton of bunched burials. This form large- 
ly predominates along the base. 
1 Fourth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-1883, Fig. 379, page 386. 
2 "Floridan Peninsula," page 170. 
^Op. cit. 88 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OE 
4. Dr. Brinton states (page 173) that a class of Florida mounds is unstrati- 
fied. citing (linn's Grove as in that class. In point of fact the Ginn's Grove mound 
affords a good example of* stratification. Its lower stratum, it is evident, was not 
reached by him. 
In the same field where the mound at Ginn's Grove stands is a much smaller 
one. A trench run partially through it showed a shell layer 3 feet from the sur- 
face. No implements nor human remains were found. 
Black Hammock. Orange County. 
The name. Black Hammock, is given by Professor Wyman to a shell deposit 
and small mound on a lagoon on the western side of the river, about half a mile 
south of the entrance to Lake Jessup. The name is not now in use. The sand 
mound was superficially dug into by Professor Wyman. Its height is 3 feet 
'J inches, its circumference 17(1 feet. A spear point or knife of chert, and several 
arrow heads were obtained by excavation. At the base of the mound lay quanti- 
ties of bog-iron. Numerous unsystematic investigations have rendered this mound 
valueless for scientific research. 
Thornhill Lake. 
A short distance south of Black Hammock a small creek (see map) leading to 
Thornhill Lake enters the St. John's on the eastern side of the river. Bordering 
the small sheet of water is a sand mound, symmetrical in shape with the usual 
summit plateau. Upon it grow a number of palmettoes. Previous investiga- 
tions have been superficial in character. The mound is 1 1 feet in height, measured 
from the north ; a marked depression on the south would make it appear of con- 
siderably greater altitude. On the north side, 30 feet from the margin of the base, 
a trench 28 feet long by from 8 to 10 feet wide was dug. At the centre of the 
mound the excavation attained a depth of 10 feet, where lay a base of shell, the 
surface of the shell-heap on which the mound was built. The southwestern corner 
of the trench seemed to be at the apex of the mound, and at that point the strat- 
ification was as follows: 
6 inches-Surface layer of brown sand. 
1 foot G inches-White sand. 
5 feet-Brown sand with slight sprinkling of shell. 
3 feet-Pure white sand. 
Below was a conglomerate of charcoal, calcined shell and sand, as hard as 
stone, beneath which was the ordinary debris of the shell-heap. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Skeletons were in anatomical order, bnt 7 in all being met with. These lay 
in the brown sand layer and in the white sand layer below. Several skeletons lay 
upon the back with hands crossed upon the abdomen. In one case the legs were THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
89 
drawn up and stretched widely apart. In another they were Hexed and turned to 
the side. 
No crania were saved. 
Five tibirn, all believed to be original, gave an average index of 63. 
Of 9 humeri, 6 showed perforation, or 66*6 per cent. 
IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 
With the skeleton of a woman 5'5 feet below the surface were fragments of 
bones of edible animals, one Hint Hake and a number of, shell beads near the 
cranium. 
Unassociated at a depth of 6'5 feet was a rude three-sided lance or arrow point 
of chert, 3 inches in length. 
Four feet below the surface, far removed from the other human remains, was 
the lower third of a human humerus, much charred by fire. During the entire 
investigation, no pottery, fragmentary or otherwise, was met with. We consider 
the excavation at this place insufficient to allow any conclusion. 
Fifty yards north of the large burial mound is a smaller one 8 feet 10 inches 
in height, with a circumference of 295 feet. The mound is composed of brown 
sand with a sprinkling of shell, and like its neighbor is built upon a shell deposit. 
We hope to give full details of these mounds in the second part of this report. 
Cook's Ferry (King Philip's Town), Orange County. 
Cook's Ferry is on the west, or left bank of the river going clown, about five 
hundred yards north of Lake Harney. A large shell heap rises from the water's 
edge, and in the neighboring orange grove is a mound of sand in shape the usual 
truncated cone. The height of the mound is 11 feet 8 inches measured from all 
sides save the S. E., where ground of a higher level reduces the height to 10 feet. 
The trench at its base, described by Dr. Brinton1, is no longer apparent. The 
present circumference of the mound is 245 feet. This mound has been superficially 
dug into in many places, and its surface until recently offered an abundant harvest 
of beads of glass. One of a number of beads from this place was covered with 
pure gold leaf; some others resembled those from Santa Barbara, California, pre- 
sumably derived from the early Spaniards2. From the owner of the mound 
we obtained a number of beads superficially found there, with an ornament of sil- 
ver (Fig. 104), and a disc of metal centrally perforated and encircled near the 
margin by a line of indentations. Quite unexpectedly, an application 
of nitric acid proved the disc to be of gold (fig. 105). These orna- 
ments of precious metal were probably contemporary with the beads, 
and derived from Spanish sources. 
From the southern portion of the mound sand has been hauled 
for fertilizing purposes, leaving bare a portion of the base extending 
inward 10 feet from the margin. At this point a trench 31 feet 
Fig. 104. Orna* 
ment of silver 
(full size). 
1 "The Floridian Peninsula," page 171. 
-'Professor Putnam in letter. 90 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
broad at the beginning, converging to 12 feet across at the end a distance of 31 feet 
from the starting point, was made. Its depth at the cen- 
tre of the mound was somewhat over 1 I feet. In addi- 
tion a considerable portion of the surface of the mound 
was gone over superficially. The mound was not markedly 
stratified. It was mainly composed of brown sand, with- 
out admixture of shell, though rising from the level of 
the base was a mottled layer, composed of an admixture 
of white and of brown sand At the centre of the mound 
this layer was 5'5 feet from the surface. 
Fig. 105. Disc of gold 
(full size). 
Ill'MAN REMAINS. 
Superficial burials were met with, and a limited number on the base. Of the 
base burials virtually nothing remained, while disconnected bones met with in the 
body of the mound were in an ecpially bad state of preservation. No crania were 
saved. 
Four tibiae gave an average index of (O'S; lowest index Gl*6 ; highest G7'l. 
Five femurs gave an average index of 115; lowest index 105; highest 119. 
One humerus saved was unperforated. 
IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 
With the base burials were several arrow heads of chert, while near the base 
unassociated, was a flake of yellow chert slightly serrated (fig. 100). 
Fig. 106. Cutting implement of chert (full size). 
Superficially was found, in connection with human remains, a crescent of chert, 
smooth on one side, with a convex chipped surface on the other. A portion of one 
horn of the crescent was missing, as was an apparent former projection from the 
centre of the outer margin. The present length of* the implement is 3'9 inches. 
It is impossible to determine its nature, the projection formerly extending from the 
outer margin probably excluding it from the category of stone crescents found in 
various portions of the country. Figures 107 and 108 represent both sides of this 
curious object. 
Absolutely nothing indicating contact with Europeans was found on or near 
the base of the mound. THE ST. .JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
91 
Fig. 107. Crescent of chert (full size). 
Fig. 108. Same, opposite side (full size). 
Mansfield's. Volusia County. 
On the eastern shore of Lake Harney, near the palmetto cabin of Mr. Mans- 
field, is an unstratified mound about 2'5 feet in height. Its circumference is 120 
feet. It has been under cultivation. Excavation revealed nothing of importance. 
Raulerson's, Volusia County. 
At the southeastern end of Lake Harney, near where the river enters the 
lake, surrounded by palmettoes are two cultivated shell fields belonging to a man 
named Raulerson. One of these fields is in the form of a ridge, the southern ex- 
tremity of which is a mound 6 feet in height above the level of the marsh to the 
south, and 18(1 feet in circumference. Its height above the remainder of the shell 
ridge is but 1 foot 3 inches. Its shape is regular, save to the south where it slopes 
to the adjoining marsh not over a hundred yards from the shore of the lake. 
The mound has entirely escaped the notice of all previous investigators, and 
in 1875 the writer killed a wild cat in its immediate neighborhood without becoming 
aware of the existence of the mound. It was then thickly covered with palmettoes and 
its presence, or at least its nature, was certainly unknown to a man named Tanner, 
whose cabin formed the only residence on the borders of the lake. At Tanner's 
death the house was occupied by a man named Mansfield, who also was unaware 
of the presence of an artificial formation upon the place. In the summer of 1891 
Mr. Singleton, the tenant, cut down the palmettoes with a view to the cultivation 
of the spot, since shell hammock is highly prized in Florida; but neither plow nor 
grubbing hoe was used upon the surface of the ground, which was, previous to the 92 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OK 
investigations of the writer, filled with the roots of former trees. 1 he mound, 
then, was absolutely virgin. In digging a post hole at the southern margin of the 
mound. Singleton threw out a considerable number of bones. Near these lay a 
gorget of shell scalloped around the edge, with three perforations and three concen- 
tric circles on the face. (Fig. 109). 
Fig. 109. Shell gorget (full size). 
A careful search with trowels was made in the upper portion of the mound, 
where alone were burials, during several days of the winter of 1892, and again in 
the succeeding year. 
The composition of the mound is as follows : 
A-1 ft. 3 in. Composed of a mixture of sand and loam filled with human 
remains. With them were fragments of plain pottery. 
B-1 ft. 9 in. Composed of powdered shell, mainly Unios, and sand, with 
fragments of plain pottery and broken bones of edible animals, 
chiefly the deer. 
C-1 ft. G in. Crushed Unios. some showing marks of lire, with plain pot- 
tery and an implement of shell. 
At a depth of 4 feet the artificial portion of the mound ended. Continued 
excavation showed it to have been built upon a small eminence of white sand and 
minute fragments of marine shell, dating their origin from the period of the sub- 
mergence of the peninsula, and having no connection with the artificial portion of 
the mound. Lt was apparent that numbers of burials had been made upon the 
rounded extremity of a shell ridge which doubtless considerably antedated the super- 
ficial portion of the mound. 
The second visit to Raulerson s was exhaustive. Two preliminary excavations, 
each 9 feet by 4 feet by 2 feet 3 inches deep to shell base showed quantities of 
human bones, often broken and in the greatest disorder without the slightest anato- 
mical connection. In the first excavation not a fragment of a tibia was met with, a 
fact clearly indicating the very unequal distribution of the bones. In a second ex- 
cavation, near a cervical vertebra were found 19 heads of glass. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
93 
Next a considerable portion of the surface of the ground was carefully gone 
over with trowels, laying bare great numbers of split, broken and shattered human 
bones, with fragments of pottery. With disconnected human remains was found a 
handsome carved circular gorget of shell, with a diameter of 4*25 inches 
(Fig. 110). 
Fig. 110. Shell gorget (full size). 
It consisted of a cross in the centre surrounded by a circle within an eight 
pointed star, the star surrounded by a circle scalloped at the edges. In the centre 
of the gorget was a perforation, while near the margin of the outer circle were two 
others, evidently for suspension. This beautiful ornament, unique for Florida,1 or 
at all events for the river, was slightly broken during the digging, while certain 
portions were wanting through earlier breakage. 
(lorgets of shell, with circles, stars and half moons were worn in historical 
1 In this connectinn the reader is referred to "Art in Shell," Second Annual Report of the Bureau 
of Ethnology, 1880-1881, page 185, et seq. 
Mr. Andrew E. Douglass, whose familiarity with the antiquities of Florida and long continued 
personal researches among the mounds of the east coast lend great weight to hisopinion, writes as follows : 
" I have quite a number of shell gorgets, hut not one from Florida, nor have I seen any from that 
State in any collection. Still this is but negative evidence as to their existence as I have not seen so large 
a number in collections, though so far as they have been figured by Holmesand others I have no recollec- 
tion of any attributed to that State. Your find, therefore, appears to be quite unique. Indeed, I remem- 
ber exhuming but one gorget (and that of slate) from any of the mounds I have explored in that State." 
12 JOUR. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 94 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OF 
times by Indians of Virginia.1 We are told that certain gorgets sometimes sold for 
three or four buckskins already dressed.2 
Excavations on the southern, eastern and western slopes of the mound showed 
large numbers of bones entirely unassociated, and in addition burials in anatomical 
order with certainly one of the bunched variety. This interment consisted of the 
cranium with one femur immediately below it. At a short distance on the same 
level, lay the lower jaw, the chin towards the skull. Below this jaw was a 
humerus, while on the other side of the cranium, parallel to each other, were a 
radius, an ulna and a humerus. With one burial in anatomical order were two 
steel or iron fish spears, a chisel of the same metal with a curved cutting edge, and 
a small earthenware pot, undecorated and somewhat crushed. All these lay near 
the cranium, as did a large number of glass beads with one of shell. With another 
skeleton lay the blade of a knife; a portion of an implement resembling an adze ; 
two chisels with curved edge; two fragmentary chisels; a fish spear and a spike, 
all of iron or steel and all greatly affected by rust. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Crania.-A number of crania were saved. 
Humeri.-Of 37 humeri, 13 were perforated, a percentage of 35. 
Femurs. 
Index. 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
I ndex. 
Maximum 
I ndex. 
Oscillation 
Exponent; 
Male 
10 
112 
93-9 
138- 
94 
Female 
2 
108 4 
107-3 
10!) 3 
Uncertain 
3 
107-4 
1023 
112 5 
3'6 
Length and Torsion oe Humeri. 
Measurements are riven in mm. 
Sex. 
Side. 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male 
Right 
313 
132° 
Not Perforated. 
t 
(I 
330 
129° 
ll 
f 1 
It 
297 
117° 
ll 
I 
ll 
312 
135° 
ll 
/1 
Lett 
297 
130° 
I. 
11 
(' 
316 
137° 
ll 
1 " History and Present State of Virginia," cited by C. C. Jones, page 502. 
2 " History of Carolina," cited by C. C. Jones, page 503. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
95 
Length of Femurs. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Projection on axis. 
Oblique Position. 
Great Troch. to Ext. 
Condyle. 
Head. 
G. T. 
/ 
Head. 
G. T. 
Male. 
449 
427 
446 
418 
420 
H 
445 
426 
443 
420 
420 
H 
467 
452 
465 
441 
445 
H 
465 
456 
462 
447 
449 
U 
462 
454 
460 
447 
448 
Female 
413 
404 
410 
395 
398 
ll 
415 
409 
411 
399 
402 
Uncertain . 
427 
409 
422 
399 
402 
Il 
419 
404 
415 
395 
397 
Tibice.-On the first visit 7 tibiae gave an average index of 63.9. 
The final investigation yielded the following results : 
Total. 
Average Index. 
Mimimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent 
Male 
6 
69-8 
64'6 
73-9 
26 
Female . 
•5 
68- 
65'3 
71-7 
2-2 
Uncertain 
2 
69-5 
67'7 
71-4 
Length of Tibial 
From superior articular surface to tip of internal malleolus. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Male. 
Female. 
Uncertain. 
360 
340 
340 
360 
Persimmon Mound, Volusia County. 
About two miles north of the Indian Fields on the right hand side of the river 
going down is a large lagoon 400 yards distant from the channel (see map). On 
the bank of this lagoon is a shell deposit covering about 5 acres. This field has 
been under cultivation. At its eastern end is an eminence not differing in composi- 
tion from the remainder of the field. On this knoll an excavation 8 by 9 feet was 
made. Its depth was 7 feet through the shell deposit. One foot below the surface 
at the northern side of the excavation a layer of white sand 3 inches in thickness 
at this point sloped to the southern side, increasing in thickness until at 3 feet be- 
low the surface its diameter was 1 foot. At the southwestern corner it dis- 
appeared. Upon this sand lay about eight skeletons, though the close pack- 96 
CERTAIN SANI) MOINDS OF 
ing of the shell around them prevented an exact determination either of 
their number or. in every case but one-an ordinary Hexed skeleton-of the posi- 
tion of interment. During the entire excavation not a single fragment of pottery 
was found, nor was an implement of any sort brought to light. 
II IMAX REMAINS. 
Four humeri showed one perforation. 
Four tibim gave an average index of 58.3. 
No crania were saved. 
It is perhaps hardly fair to class as a burial mound a shell knoll but slightly 
raised above the level of the surrounding shell, as was the case with Persimmon 
Mound. The conditions of interment in many respects recalled those in the great 
shell-heap at Orange Mound not far distant, an account of which we have given 
in tin1 American Naturalist for July, 1893. 
Indian Fields, Brevard County. 
Some ten miles south of Lake Harney in a direct line, but fully double that 
distance by the winding stream, the only means of access, are the Indian Fields, a 
large shell deposit said to have been cleared and cultivated by the Indians. 
At this spot is a burial mound of sand 5 feet in height and 375 feet in circum- 
ference at the present time. It is probable that frequent excavations made at vari- 
ous times have increased the circumference at the expense of the height. The sur- 
face of the mound showed many beads of glass. No serious investigation was at- 
tempted, as the search of casual explorers had rendered it of little value. 
Long Bluff, Orange County. 
Long Bluff, on the west bank of the St. John's, has an extensive shell deposit 
of no great depth. Some distance from the water is a mound of sand 3 feet in 
height and 75 feet in circumference. Partial examination yielded nothing of in- 
terest. 
Mulberry Mound, Orange County. 
Mulberry Mound is an island lying on the west bank of the St. John's but a 
few hundred yards below where the river leaves Lake Poinsett. The island is 
mainly composed of a large shell-heap rising abruptly from the river's edge. It 
has been fully described by us in the American Naturalist, August, 1893. 
In connection with the shell-heap, 45 feet northwest is a burial mound of sand 
and shell having a circumference of 300 feet and a height of 8 feet 3 inches. 
Six days (1892-1893) were devoted to this mound with a party of eight, work- 
ing mainly with the trowel, the portion of the mound containing burials being vir- 
tually demolished. The mound was composed of the following layers : THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
97 
Three feet three inches-Brown sand with a certain intermingling of shell 
containing skeletons. 
One foot-Layer, black in color, river mud and sand intermingled, with vir- 
tually no shell. The river mud was not a deposit, being above high water mark 
and was evidently brought to start the burial mound, probably from the strip of 
black loam connecting the two mounds. On the upper surface of this layer were a 
certain number of burials, or rather bodies placed upon it had sunk in. There 
were no bones in the lower portion of the layer. 
Two feet-Shell, crushed and whole, with a certain percentage of sandy loam, 
the regular debris of the shell-heap. No human remains. 
Two feet-Shell, crushed and whole, same as layer above in composition, but 
percolation of water had rendered the mass almost a solid conglomerate. In this 
layer were found four or five human bones. 
Two feet-Under water; crushed shell and sandy loam; plain pottery. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Beneath a summit plateau 35 feet in diameter M ere the greater number of skele- 
tons, all in anatomical order though in various forms of flexion. Beginning at 6 
inches from the surface, skeletons lay in a matted mass intertwisted above and below 
each other until at places it was impossible to distinguish bones belonging to one 
skeleton from those surrounding it (Fig. 111). 
Eks. 111. Stratum of intermen s, burial mound, Mulberry Mound. (From photograph by author). 98 
CERTAIN SAND MOCNDS OF 
Interments did not continue throughout the mound, the sides of which had 
been extended and raised to protect the burials from the river at high water. 
With a female skeleton, somewhat over 4 feet from the surface was a number of 
fragments of human bones charred and calcined, including portions of the upper 
maxillary, of the femur, a metacarpal bone, one of the phalanges and other frag- 
ments unidentified. As cremation previous to interment was not practised in the 
case of any burials met with in the mound, this case can hardly be considered as be- 
longing to that form. The skeleton in immediate association was unaffected by fire. 
Toillustrate one of various forms of flexion we quote from our field notes : 
" Skeleton C. lay 4 feet from the surface in a dorsal position with head turned to 
one side, arms parallel with body, forearms Hexed upward with bones parallel with 
humeri, thighs Hexed over abdomen, legs Hexed on thighs, making tibiae parallel 
with femurs; vertebrae and ribs beneath with pelvis in proper position. To a casual 
observer this skeleton would have seemed to be a bunched burial as the bones of 
the extremities lay side by side." 
Tibice {firstvisit).-During our first visit 66 tibitv gave an average lateral in- 
dex of 66'2. 
Humeri {first visit) -Seventy-six humeri from all parts of'the mound showed 
40 perforations, a percentage of 52'6. Of these 23, coming from a depth of 2'5 
feet from the surface or less, showed 13 perforations, or 56.5 per cent. 
Fifty-three humeri, believed to be undoubtedly original burials, contained 27 
perforations, a percentage of 50'9. 
Crania.-During our second investigation two calvarias were saved, one super- 
ficially and one of especial interest being from the very base of the mound. As 
previously stated, all crania will be described by Dr. Harrison Allen in Part 11 of 
this report. 
Humeri {second visit).-Upon our second visit (February, 1S93), if possible 
more care was taken than before in respect to determination of the olecranon per- 
foration. Fossm were cleared by the aid of water. A magnifying glass was called 
into requisition, and three perforations of* doubtlid origin were discarded from the 
list. All perforated humeri may be seen at the Museum of the Academy. 
Of 41 humeri possibly intrusive1 20 were perforated, giving a percentage of 
48'8. The perforations were distributed as to sex as follows : Male, 6 ; female, 6 ; 
uncertain, 8. 
Of 23 humeri from original burials, 11 showed perforation, a percentage of 
47'8 ; the perforated humeri being male, 7 ; female. 3; uncertain, 1. 
1 Among these humeri are included many doubtless from original burials, since, as we shall see, no 
certainly intrusive interment was found at a depth greater than 18 inches, while all bones within 2'5 feet 
from the surface are classed as possibly intrusive. THE ST. .JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
99 
Length and Torsion of Humeri, Possibly Intrusive. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Sex. 
Side. 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male . 
Right 
307 
125° 
Not Perforated. 
44 
Left 
314 
131° 
4 4 
H 
4 4 
303 
120° 
Perforated. 
Uncertain 
44 
309 
121° 
4 4 
44 
44 
284 
118° 
44 
Female 
Right 
298 
115° 
Not Perforated. 
Length and Torsion of Humeri, Original Burials. 
Measurements are riven in mm. 
a 
Sex. 
Side. 
Length. 
Torsion. 
Male . 
Right 
298 
119° 
Perforated. 
H 
Left 
294 
130° 
u 
Uncertain 
Right 
284 
127° 
Not Perforated. 
u 
u 
299 
131° 
14 
Femora, Possibly Intrusive. 
Index. 
Number. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
19 
108-2 
92 
121 
5'5 
Female . 
10 
107-5 
96 
127 
7-3 
Uncertain 
4 
111-6 
104 
130 
9-3 
Femora, Original Burials. 
Index. 
Number. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
I ndex 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
9 
103-9 
78-3 
115 
8-7 
Female . 
10 
107-7 
97 
117 
6-6 
Uncertain 
4 
106-3 
96 
127 
10-2 
Length of Femora, Possibly Intrusive. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Projection on shaft. 
Oblique Position. 
Great Troch. to Ext. 
Condyle. 
Sex. 
Head. 
G. T. 
Head. 
G. T. 
Male 
459 
441 
453 
425 
432 
u 
425 
412 
422 
403 
405 100 
CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 
Length or Femora, Original Burials. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Projection on 
shaft. 
Oblique 
Position. 
Great Troch. to Ext. 
Sex. 
Head. 
G. T. 
Head. 
(1. T. 
Condyle. 
Uncertain . 
418 
400 
414 
390 
394 
H 
417 
398 
413 
389 
391 
I4 
423 
406 
416 
390 
39.5 
Tibiae, Possibly Intrusive. 
Index. 
Number. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
Index. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
10 
70-2 
66-6 
73-9 
19 
Female . 
15 
66 • 7 
60'7 
75' 
3-2 
Uncertain 
3 
64-4 
58'3 
70 
4- 
Tibll, Original Burials. 
Index. 
Number. 
Average Index. 
Minimum 
Index. 
Maximum 
1 ndex. 
Oscillation 
Exponent. 
Male 
11 
(16'3 
60 
73-1 
3-4 
Female . 
5 
62 
o5'5 
65'6 
3- 
Although determination of sex was arrived at in our presence, often aided by 
the possession of other bones from the same skeleton for comparison, it has been 
thought best in this case to apply to the tibia? the method used by Dr. Manouvrier 
in bis exhaustive paper on platycnemia, which paper is referred to at length in our 
account of the Tick Island mound. 
The learned Doctor takes the sum of the lateral and antero-posterior diameters 
of each tibia? and arranges the sums thus obtained in sequence from the greatest to 
the least. This list he divides into three equal parts, considering the first third as 
males ; the second third as uncertain, though mainly undersized men ; while the 
bones of females are presumed to be included in the last portion of the list. The 
preponderance of males over females he attributes to the greater fragility of feminine 
bones. 
Forty-four tibiae from Mulberry Mound give the following results by this method : 
Total. 
First Third 
(Male). 
Second 'Phi rd 
(Uncertain). 
Last Third 
(Female). 
Possibly Intrusive . 
28 
69-9 
68-2 
65'2 
Certainly Original . 
16 
67'6 
66 
60*5 
The average of the 44 tibia?, irrespective of sex. gives an index of 66'8. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
101 
Length of Tible. 
From articular surface to tip of internal malleolus. 
Measurements are given in mm. 
Positively Intrusive. 
Male. 
Original Burials. 
Sex Uncertain. 
351 
329 
336 
These bone measurements from the small sand mound adjacent to the great 
shell-heap, known as Mulberry Mound, are of considerable importance, since on the 
St. John's River no other burial mound can with certainty be attributed to the per- 
iod of the shell-heaps. As before stated, Mulberry Mound is an island shell-heap, 
the nearest solid ground being two miles distant, and it is therefore most unlikely 
that Indians living far away should resort to this shell-heap for purposes of sepul- 
ture. Nor is the supposition tenable that later Indians living upon the shell-heap 
erected the entire burial mound. These Indians relied upon agriculture mainly as 
a means of support, and it is certain that the limited area of the shell-heap could 
not have supported over a single family at one time. That later Indians did in- 
habit the shell-heap we shall presently see, but they must have been few in number, 
and consequently contributed but a small quota to the interments in the mound. 
Certain points relative to the long bones from Mulberry Mound are worthy of 
remark : 
1-The low index of the femurs. 
2-The high index of the tibiae. 
3-The fact that in platycnemic tendency females exceeded males. 
■I-The unusually high average occurrence of perforation of the humerus. 
To those accepting the theory of Dr. Manouvrier that lateral flattening of the 
tibiae is largely brought about by unusual activity on steep or rough territory, the 
absence of lateral flattening in the male tibiae, and the small development of the 
lineae asperae of the femur will serve as additional evidence, since the males of Mul- 
berry Mound must have spent their time mainly in canoes. The greater platyc- 
nemic tendency among the women is not difficult to explain under the same theory, 
as the constant ascent and descent of the steep sides of the mound imposed upon 
those remaining upon the shell-heap the greater portion of their time, would be pe- 
culiarly conducive to a lateral flattening of the shin bone. 
IMPLEMENTS, ORNAMENTS, ETC. 
With the calcined bones already referred to, in immediate association with the 
skeleton of a woman, was the closed shell of a small tortoise, which probably had 
served as a rattle. 
13 JOURN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 102 
CERTAIN SANI) MOUNDS OE 
But three arrow points were met with ; one superficially, two with original 
burials. 
With the lowest layer of bodies were two fragments of tobacco pipes of clay. 
(Figs. 112 and 113). 
Fig. 112 
Fig. 113 
A somewhat similar fragment was found at considerable depth in the adjoin- 
ing shell-heap.1 
Six inches from the surface, near the cervical vertebrae of a woman, were a 
considerable number of small white glass beads. 
One foot down, with the skeleton of a child of about 6 years of age, were a 
pair of shears; a sheet of glass 3'5 inches by 5'12 inches, iridescent from age; an 
ornament of loosely woven copper or brass wire; a number of friable beads of 
glass; a glass button placed in a small cardium, and a large bead of pressed clear 
gl ass. 
Near by, 1 foot below' the surface, singularly enough with the skeleton of a 
woman, were an iron implement with blade 8 inches in length ; an iron ferule ; a flat 
implement of iron 2 inches by 5 inches, and two iron fish spears 7 inches and 9'75 
inches in length respectively. All were badly corroded. 
Eighteen inches below the surface, with a male skeleton, was a knife of iron 
or of steel on which the bone handle still remained. 
Pottery.-We have more than once had occasion to speak of fragments of pot- 
tery buried with the dead, upon which the shape of the arrow head had been in- 
tentionally conferred. This custom, we have noticed, prevailed where, probably 
through poverty, little else in the way of implements or ornaments was interred. 
It was especially noticeable at Mulberry Mound where not a single vessel of pot- 
tery, whole or in fragments, was found during the entire excavation (Figs. 114 
and 115). 
1 American Naturalist, August, 1893. THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 
103 
Fig. 115. 
Fragments of pottery shaped to imitate the arrow head (full size). 
Fig. 114. 
It will be remarked that nothing indicating other than aboriginal workmanship 
was found below 18 inches from the surface of the burial mound. 
Fort Taylor, Brevard County. 
On the southwestern shore of Lake Winder, visible from the lake, is a sand 
mound covered with forest trees. Its present height is 14 feet, its circumference 
475 feet. The summit plateau has been increased and the height possibly lessened 
to make room for a house which formerly had a position on the mound. Many ex- 
cavations had previously been made and surface finds of silver plates reported. 
We have not seen them. 
An excavation was begun 19 feet from the margin of the base, at which point 
it was estimated that surface wash and debris thrown down by former investigators 
would be avoided. The mound is built upon shell. Fourteen feet from the start- 
ing point and 8 feet from the surface was encountered a layer composed entirely of 
Unios, 4 inches in thickness. At this point began skeletons, lying upon the shell. 
The bodies were Hexed and at some points were almost in contact. They were 
badly decayed. The mound was of brown sand unstratified, with the exception of 
the layer of shell already mentioned. Its shell base had sloped upward two feet 
at the point of termination of the trench, which was there 12 feet in depth. 
HUMAN REMAINS. 
Of three humeri, one showed perforation. 
Four tibiae gave an average index of 64'6. 
POTTERY, IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 
With the exception of sherds, some of which had been shaped rudely to re- 
semble the arrow head, no pottery was met with, nor were any implements what- 
ever found. EARTHENWARE OF FLORIDA 
COLLECTIONS OR CEARENCE H. MOORE 
W. H. HOLMES 
EZinn. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
THE LEVYTYPE COMPANY. 
1894- EARTHENWARE OF FLORIDA: 
COLLECTIONS OF CLARENCE B. MOORE. 
W. II. Holmes. 
Exploration has not yet gone far enough on the peninsula of Florida to give 
archaeologists a firm grasp on the problems of its prehistoric art. The general na- 
ture and range of the remains are pretty well understood, as they form no marked 
exception to the rule in this latitude, but little has been done in the study of those 
details that must be relied upon to assist in assigning the art remains to particular 
tribes and stocks of people, in correlating them with culture features of neigh- 
boring regions and determining questions of chronology. The extensive and 
careful researches of Mr. Clarence B. Moore seem destined to fairly initiate this 
important work, and there is every reason for hoping that results until now appar- 
ently unattainable may step by step be brought about. 
It is on the ceramic evidence perhaps more than any other that we must depend 
for the solution of problem of time, people and culture, and to this branch of inves- 
tigation the most careful and painstaking attention must be given. Unfortunately 
the present paper had to be prepared rather hastily and under conditions not calcu- 
lated to yield the most satisfactory results. The collections utilized represent a 
limited number of localities and their discussion necessarily lacks the peculiar 
lucidity that characterizes the presentation of actual personal research in the field. 
Historic Aborigines.-The group of tribes occupying Florida during the period 
of discovery and conquest by the Spanish, belonged to what is known as the Tamu- 
quanan linguistic stock. These people have now entirely disappeared and little is 
definitely known of their arts or history. Other tribes have since occupied the terri- 
tory but none have been permitted to remain save a band of Seminoles some 200 
strong who now occupy portions of the Everglades. There appears to be but the 
most meagre record of the making or pottery by any of the historic tribes of the 
peninsula, yet pottery making was the rule with the southern Indians and we may 
fairly assume that most of the tribes found in possession were potters, and that 
much of the earthenware now found in the mounds and shell-heaps belonged to 
tribes of the historic linguistic stocks of the general region. 
There are traces of several rather imperfectly defined groups or varieties of 
ware in the State, a fact which may in the end prove to be of very considerable im- 
portance in ethnic history. The Tamuquanan peoples are doubtless fully repres- 
ented, but Muskogean influence must have been felt, and at least one of the princi- 
pal varieties of pottery found on the peninsula was more highly developed than 
elsewhere with this more northern people. It seems that even the Algonkian fam- 
ily may possibly be represented in certain fabric marked wares of the northeast. 106 
EARTHENWARE OF 
There are traces of intrusive ideas and probably of peoples from the west, and in 
time evidences of Carribean influence will probably be made apparent. As it 
stands, however, we have such slight historic knowledge of the native ceramic art 
of Florida that no part of its products can be fully and definitely connected with 
any tribe or stock of people. 
Uses of ceramic evidence.-The most important archaeologic function of the cera- 
mic art relates to the history of American occupation rather than to the history of 
particular peoples. The wares imbedded in the successive layers of midden refuse 
give hints of change and progress, and the absence of sherds in the subordinate 
strata point probably to a time when pottery was not used, or to a period so remote 
that it has totally disappeared. We may reasonably hope that ceramic evidence 
will materially assist in determining the origin and succession of peoples and in ar- 
riving at a somewhat definite chronology of events. These wares are as yet too 
meagerly represented in our collections to afford valuable data illustrative of the 
evolution of the art. The specimens at hand do not appear to extend either above or 
below, in artistic grade, the wares of historic tribes and the aesthetic features are so 
varied and confused that they cannot readily be placed with reference to any 
scheme of aesthetic development. 
General characteristics.-The pottery embodied in the collections here con- 
sidered comprises a number of varieties or groups not yet fully defined. There are 
specimens rivalling the best work of the lower Mississippi region, and others so 
rudimentary as to hardly deserve the name of earthenware. One group is wholly 
unique, consisting in the main of toy-like forms of rude workmanship and exhibit- 
ing decidedly abnormal if not non-Indian characters such as might be given by 
modern natives practising a degenerate art. 
In general the pottery of the shell deposits appears to be rude, while that of 
the mounds, save the wares mentioned above, and usually that scattered over 
dwelling sites, is of a higher grade, often exhibiting neat finish, varied and refined 
forms and tasteful decorations. 
Technology.-The clay used, considering the whole state, seems to have had a 
wide range of composition and to have been subject to varied methods of treatment. 
The inferior wares show poorly selected materials and rude treatment and the better 
grades are characterized by finely prepared paste. Much of the ware is of unusually 
low specific gravity as if rendered porous by weathering or the decay of some of 
the denser ingredients, 
o 
The tempering materials are also varied. Much of the shell-deposit ware 
seems to have been tempered with fibrous vegetable matter, such as pounded grass 
or bark, thought by Wyman to be palmetto fiber, which burned out in firing or has 
disappeared through decay leaving the paste light and porous. In some parts of 
the State rather coarse sand or pulverized rock was employed and rarely pulverized 
shell was used. In many sections the paste is exceptionally free from tempering 
ingredients, being fine grained and chalky. 
The vessels were built usually of wide coils which in many cases were so FLORIDA. 
107 
poorly welded together that the vessels tend to fall to pieces along the jointage. In 
some of the ruder pieces the coils are still traceable, especially on the inner surfaces 
where neat finish was difficult or unnecessary. The walls of the ruder wares are 
thick, clumsy and uneven, those of the better varieties thin, uniform and evenly 
dressed. The finish is also varied, ranging from the roughest hand-modelled sur- 
faces through variously roughened to well polished surfaces. In many cases a thin 
coat, of finer clay has been applied to the exterior to hide the coarse materials and 
render polishing easy. 
The baking or firing seems to have been of several grades and varieties; 
usually, however, the surfaces show the mottlings characteristic of the open air 
treatment common with the tribes of the United States. As a ride the paste has 
been somewhat whitened to a greater or less depth by volatilization of vegetable 
elements, the interior of the mass remaining dark or black. In some localities de- 
cided reddish and yellowish tints are seen, a result of oxidization of the iron con- 
tained in the clay. 
The forms are diversified in the extreme. The larger vessels of the class de- 
voted to culinary operations are simple in outline, ranging from deep round-bot- 
tomed bowls to wide-necked pots. These larger vessels have been especially sub- 
ject to breakage and few are recovered in their entire state. The smaller more 
trivial articles are well preserved. Small bowls • and cups of toy-like appearance 
are common. A bowl with roundish body and constricted lip is typically Flori- 
dian. Bottles are rare while eccentric forms are rather common. Handles are varied 
yet of somewhat exceptional occurrence, as if exotic, and feet or added bases of any 
sort are rarely seen, the bottoms being rounded, conical or slightly flattened. Squarish 
outlines and fiat bottoms are sometimes met with. Animal forms are rather com- 
mon and occasionally a shell or fruit is imitated. 
Decoration is varied and even heterogeneous, so much so that it can be prop- 
erly described only in connection with the detailed study of groups. It includes 
fabric and cord marked surfaces, stamped surfaces, incised and indented figures of 
many styles and rarely painted figures. The exterior surfaces of vessels otherwise 
plain have, in some sections, received a wash of red ochre. Decorative effects were 
also secured by roughening the surface in various ways as by pinching up the soft 
clay with the finger nails and by modelling ridges and nodes in low or high relief. 
The lip or rim is often embellished by notching, waving and scalloping. 
The textile impressions so characteristic of the earthenware of the eastern and 
northern United States, and found to some extent in Florida, have never been well 
understood. The most commonly accepted theory is that the vessels were modelled 
in baskets or other textile supports and that impressions from these, made upon the 
plastic material, were rendered permanent by baking. This assumption is not sup- 
ported by the facts. It is doubtful if baskets were ever used as molds to shape the 
clay in, and it is not even certain that shallow trays were employed to support the 
incipient vessel and assist in turning it while the walls were built up as was the 
custom in the pueblo country. In all the thousands of cases that have passed 108 
EARTHENWARE OF 
under my observation the textile impressions are in disconnected patches or in pat- 
terns produced by the application of cords held in the fingers or wrapped on rou- 
lette-like modelling tools. The woven textures were wrapped about the hand or a 
paddle and used as stamps to weld the clay together and at the same time decorate 
the surface. 
Use.-The uses to which the earthenware of Florida has been devoted are 
probably about as usual in the general region. There were vessels for use in the 
full range of domestic operations-cooking, carrying, containing, eating, drinking, 
etc.; there were others for ceremonial occasions and for burial with the dead. 
There were also figurines representing animals to be used as toys or as ceremonial 
appurtenances. There were also pipes ar 1 beads as well as other objects of unusual 
shapes not assignable to any known use. 
The employment of earthenware in burial is of special interest. The dead 
were buried in ordinary graves and in sand mounds and exceptionally in shell 
mounds, and here as elsewhere it was customary to deposit various utensils with the 
bodies. The vase for food, medicine or property was a universal accompaniment of 
the departed savage throughout America, and the tens of thousands of specimens 
now gracing our museums are there by virtue of this well known custom ; but 
there are some curious and interesting features connected with the practice. Over 
much of the country the vessels were deposited entire and are so recovered by our 
explorers, but in some sections, notably along the Gulf coast and in the Florida 
peninsula, a practice had arisen of breaking the vessel before consigning it to the 
ground. Two explanations may be given of this proceeding; first, that since the 
vessel was usually regarded as being endowed with the spirit of some creature of 
mythologic importance, it was appropriate that it should be " killed '- before burial 
that the spirit might be free to accompany that of the dead person ; second, that 
the vessel might not be of value to possible robbers bold enough to desecrate the 
graves for their store of utensils. 
The facts brought out by the recent explorations of Mr. Moore add new fea- 
tures of interest. In cases it is apparent that the vessels were not only broken be- 
fore burial but that fragmentary vessels were used ; and again that, as in the Tick 
Island Mound and elsewhere, sherds only were buried, serving as substitutes for and 
representing the entire vessel. An exceptional feature of these phenomena is the 
presence in some of the burial mounds of sherds broken out to rudely resemble 
notched spear and arrow points. It would seem that the economic mourners had 
reached a point of thrift at which the sherd was made to represent the vessel 
formerly used, and that, enlarging its office, the sherd was modified in shape 
that it might also represent and take the place of such implements of stone and 
other materials as were formerly freely devoted to the service of the dead. 
Still more remarkable is the practice, which seems to have become pretty gen- 
eral in Florida, of making vessels especially for burial purposes; first, in close imi- 
tation of the real vessels but with open bases so that they did not need to be broken 
or " killed " when inhumed and at the same time did not encourage robbery; and, FLORIDA. 
109 
second, of such rude workmanship and eccentric forms that no industrial or ordi- 
nary use could be made of them by any one. 
Another view may be taken of this group of exceptional facts. It may be 
noted first, that the perforating and making of perforated vessels used in burial and 
the placing of sherds, shaped and unshaped, with the dead is confined, mainly at 
least, to Florida and the Gulf coast, and that these practices pertain to compara- 
tively recent times. It may further be observed that articles of European make, 
Venetian beads, Spanish olive jars, articles of metal, etc., are found in many 
mounds of this region, thus indicating the very general practice of mound-building 
during the period following the arrival of the Spaniards-a period extending over a 
hundred years or more. Considering these points I would suggest the idea that 
possibly this whole group of extraordinary mortuary practices may have grown up 
in post-Columbian times. The most prolific sources of gain known to the Spanish 
were the cemeteries of the aborigines and the seekers of El Dorado and the Foun- 
tain of Life were the princes of grave robbers. It would be but natural that peo- 
ple possessing the ready resources of the southern Indians, finding the graves of 
their fathers ruthlessly desecrated by the invaders in their mad search for gold and 
pearls, should, while still preserving the spirit of their mortuary customs, cease 
to consign to the ground any articles of real value. Notwithstanding the 
seeming improbability of this theory, for the time appears too short to have per- 
mitted the construction of such numerous and important works, it will be conceded 
that the inroads of hordes of avaricious and merciless strangers must have exer- 
cised a powerful influence on the habits and customs of the native tribes and such 
phenomena as these mentioned would seem a not unnatural result. 
As to the use of earthen vessels as receptacles for the bones and ashes of the 
dead we have little information. In the Appalachian districts to the north it was 
a somewhat usual practice to place the bones or portions of the bones of deceased 
persons in large vases which were carefully covered with a lid or inverted bowl 
when buried. 
Age.-From numerous and very careful examinations of the phenomena of the 
shell mounds and deposits, the conclusion is reached by Mr. Moore that the earliest 
occupants of the St John's were without pottery and that sufficient time has 
elapsed since the earlier period of occupation for the development of the art, as in- 
dicated by successive stages of advancement in shell-deposit remains. This would 
be the order of things if events conformed to the ideal scheme of evolution. 
In a number of cases where there is a succession of layers in the midden de- 
posits the lower strata are without pottery. Resting upon these are beds contain- 
ing only the rude forms of ware characterized by thick walls, clumsy shapes and 
plain surfaces or incised-indented decorations of primitive character. In the su- 
perior beds this pottery gives way to less rude forms having characters typically de- 
veloped in the leading groups of ware found in superficial deposits and on the sur- 
face. 
With respect to the absence of pottery from certain deposits or portions of de- 
14 J0URN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 110 
EARTHENWARE OF 
posits. no one is better qualified to speak than the explorer, Mr. Moore, who is con- 
vinced from the consideration of many observations both archaeologic and biologic that 
only the one explanation can be given. Without questioning this conclusion I may 
venture to offer the following points for consideration : (1) It seems that deposits 
of this class may have been made by tribes not using pottery, although surrounded 
by pottery-making peoples ; (2) that the shell fishers concerned may have been pot- 
tery makers but not practising the art on the fishing grounds, and (3) that vessels 
may have been made for temporary use on the fishing sites of such inferior quality 
as to disintegrate and disappear in a brief period. In this connection I would ob- 
serve that some of the shell utilizing sites in the incipiency of their occupation 
were probably not well fitted for permanent occupation, and hence but temporarily 
resorted to. Such conditions of occupation would not encourage the practice there 
of the ceramic art. 
Another factor to be considered in this connection is the fact, brought out by 
my examination of the shell deposits of Maryland and Virginia, that a ruder, 
coarser variety of ware, comprising mostly large vessels of peculiar shape, finish and 
decoration, was made for use on the midden sites and confined very generally to 
these sites, although the same peoples seem to have made much better pottery and 
of distinct varieties for use elsewhere. 
In many cases articles of European origin have been found in the mounds of 
Florida, and mound building must have continued for many years after the arrival 
of Europeans, but numerous mounds of the same class and containing the same native 
articles yield no foreign relics whatever, and in the great shell mounds and middens 
such relics are confined to the immediate surface. Ample proofs are found that cen- 
turies of pottery making preceded the coming of the whites and this fact coupled 
with that of the absence of pottery in the inferior strata of many of the accumu- 
lations goes to show that the peninsula had been occupied for a very long period. 
VARIETIES OR GROUPS OF WARE. 
The earthenware of Florida is more than usually diversified in its characters, 
no other like area within my knowledge yielding an equal number of distinct forms. 
Convenience of description demands a separation of these wares into a number of 
groups, but this is as yet a difficult task as the criteria for classification are not well 
made out. If a single character were sufficient to distinguish a group the work 
would be simple, but it is generally necessary to consider a number of characters. 
Thus it is not the use of a particular clay or tempering material, a given range of 
form or size, a peculiar color or kind of decoration that distinguishes a group, but 
an assemblage of two or more of these characters in a way distinct from any other 
assemblage of these characters. 
If we take the earthenware of one culture-province and place it alongside of 
that of a neighboring province we observe that there are marked and easily recog- 
nized dissimilarities. The combination of features in the one is unlike the combina- 
tion in the other although many of the characters in the two groups are alike or re- FLORIDA. 
111 
semble each other closely, and some of the vessels of the one group may even be 
duplicated in specimens of the other. We observe also that the diversity of charac- 
ters within a given limited area is often so pronounced that the wares may be as- 
sembled in well marked groups. The significance of this pronounced diversity is 
not always easily ascertained, as the differences may arise from a number of causes, 
as for example, differences in the material available within the area, differences in peo- 
ple through intermingling or successive occupation, differences in uses to which the 
utensils were devoted by a single people or to differences in period of the same 
people. 
Manifestly the first step in the study of the ceramic remains of the region 
should be the separation and analysis of the groups or varieties of products. Then 
as research goes on, the significance of these groups with respect to questions of peo- 
ple, time and culture will become apparent. 
For present purposes these Florida wares may be segregated under the follow- 
ing heads : (1) Florida wares proper, including chalky ware, extemporized ware, 
gritty ware, midden ware, etc.; (2) South Appalachian stamped wares and (3) 
Gulf coast wares. The limitations of these varieties, geographically or otherwise, 
are not well marked, one grading imperceptibly into the others, features combining 
in such ways that many specimens occur that cannot be definitely assigned to any 
one of the groups. 
Chalky Wares.-The groups or varieties of ware especially characteristic of 
Florida are somewhat difficult to designate fully, although easily identified by one 
familiar with all the southern wares. What appears to be the most important 
variety is characterized by the peculiar color and texture of its paste. In typical 
specimens the color is a light yellowish gray upon the surface and very dark or 
black within the mass. This contrast of color is due to the imperfect volatilization 
of the carbonaceous constituents of the clay, save upon the surface. The texture 
of the paste is very fine and chalky and it is quite possible to identify the ware by 
the sense of touch alone. 
Varieties of this ware are numerous. Many specimens are quite plain, the sur- 
face having been carefully smoothed with the polishing tool. Occasional vases of 
a limited range of form have been painted red, giving a suggestion of western influ- 
ence, the use of color being much more general in the Mississippi valley than else- 
where. Another variety exhibits incised and punctured decorations of peculiar 
types. The figures are in cases elaborated entirely in indentations of' varied shapes 
and sizes; again solid lines are used alone or both lines and indentations appear to- 
gether. Often the outlines of the figures are wide and deeply incised. The pat- 
terns are in rare instances partly worked in low relief; generally they are highly 
conventional. Very frequently stamps were used in finishing the pottery of the St. 
John's province, the plain rather minute reticulated pattern being the favorite. The 
stamped wares are described separately. 
The chalky pottery appears to be connected in some of its characters with mid- 
den ware proper as well as with the extemporized variety. In form the vessels of 112 
EARTHENWARE OF 
this group exhibit great variety. The bowl was a favorite shape. Sometimes the 
body was hemispherical and again it was conical. A common form is a deep bowl 
of graceful outlines with much constricted lip. 
Extemporized Ware.-The explorations of Mr. Moore on the St. John's have 
brought to light a form of earthenware not heretofore observed in any locality and 
likely to give rise to considerable discussion. It is found in the sand mounds, gener- 
ally at no very considerable depth although in some cases as in Mt. Royal it occurs 
with original burials throughout the mass of the mound. It consists of vessels or 
pseudo vessels, vessel-like articles, animal figurines, and various objects of eccentric 
shape all of rude construction and finish. As a rule these objects have the appear- 
ance of toys made by hands unskilled in the manipulation 01 clay and practically 
untrammeled by the traditions of native art. 
The clay used was generally crude and untempered, the construction was care- 
less and hasty and the baking was slight. The few specimens worthy of being 
called vessels are so crudely made that they would be of little service in any of the 
usual oflices of a vessel. As a rule the vessel forms were perforated beneath while 
the clay was yet soft, the opening being left rough as cut or punched or dressed down 
rudely after the manner of the normal opening at the opposite end. They- repeat 
in a measure the forms of the real pottery but with many trivial variations. 
Decoration is confined to the most elemental incised and indented figures and re- 
lieved features. 
The animal forms are rarely so well modelled as to render the idea of the 
modeller intelligible. The panther, wolf or dog, the squirrel, turkey, turtle, fish, 
etc., are more or less forcibly suggested. The size is usually small, and the clumsy 
forms, modelled with the unaided fingers, are solid or nearly so, the more massive 
portions having been roughly perforated with a stick to prevent cracking and falling 
to pieces in the process of baking. Vegetal forms are extremely rare in the normal 
native art of the United States, the gourd appearing in some cases as a model for 
earthen vessels, but here a number of attempts have been made to represent acorns, 
Howers, buds, ears of corn and the like. A large number of unclassified forms, 
equally rude with the preceding resemble cylinders, cones, beads, the hour glass, 
the druggist's mortar, etc. Seeking among the ceramic products of the United 
States in our Museums I find occasional examples of small rudely made toy-like 
figures, that may possibly fall into the same general class as these Florida 
figurines. 
The most satisfactory evidence of the close relationship of this pottery with 
the normal wares of Florida is its occurrence in a number of mounds at considerable 
depths with original burials and associated intimately with a wide range of relics. 
Besides this there are many features of the ware that approach in appearance or 
manner of treatment the ordinary pottery, and we may safely infer that it was made 
by potters of the later period of occupation for a special purpose not requiring care- 
ful finish. 
As a rule native art furnishes few examples of trivial work-of objects or uten- FLORIDA. 
113 
sils having no definite, serious function. I can think of but two ways of explain- 
ing their existence; (1) the objects may represent a development of the idea of 
substitution in burial, articles of value being reserved for further use ; and (2) they 
may be the product of idle fancy operating after the normal traditions of the native 
art had been lost sight of and possibly in mere wantonness. In the latter case, how- 
ever, they would hardly be employed in burial. 
Midden Ware.-The shell deposits of the St. John's furnish varieties of ware 
said to be confined almost exclusively to these deposits, and supposed to especially 
characterize the middle period of their accumulation, the earlier period being with- 
out pottery and the later having many varieties such as appear on the surface in 
great plenty. This pottery has been recovered only in the shape of sherds and can- 
not be studied to the best advantage. Among the fragments I find evidence of 
considerable variation in texture, treatment and ornamentation. One variety is 
characterized by a rather fine-grained paste preserving the warm gray colors of the 
baked clay. The surfaces are finished with the rubbing tool and are plain or 
have been rather carelessly embellished with patterns of incised straight and 
curved lines. Another, and the most notable variety, is characterized by the 
unusual appearance of the paste which has been tempered with a large percentage 
of fibrous matter, probably cut and finely broken palmetto fiber. This tempering 
substance has been destroyed by fire or decay leaving the paste highly vesicular and 
porous and of low specific gravity. Generally these sherds show the decided effects 
of use over fire. The walls are thick and uneven and the surfaces rudely rubbed 
down. The forms appear to have consisted mainly of bowls with variously re- 
curved, incurved and otherwise modified rims, and rounded or flattish bases. The 
diameter varies from a few inches to a foot or more. Examples restored from the 
fragments which are sufficiently large to indicate the shape and suggest the true 
character of the ornament are shown in Fig. 1. 
Fig. 1. Restored shapes of midden ware, Tick Island mound. 
They are from the Tick Island mound and appear typical of what is assumed 
to be the earliest pottery making period. The execution of the designs is decidedly 
rude, the incised lines being deep, wide and irregular. The designs themselves, 
however, seem to comprise not only the archaic forms, seen in a and b, but running 
scrolls such as occur in the most advanced groups of southern pottery. The 
angular interspaces are filled in with indentations as seen in c. There is as yet no 
absolute measure of the value of particular decorative motives in determining the 
degree of culture progress, but elaborated scroll work can hardly be called archaic 
and we must conclude either that this ware does not represent the earliest use of 114 
EARTHENWARE OF 
pottery among the shell-mound peoples or that the decorative art had already 
been practised and matured in arts that preceded the employment of clay. It may be 
remarked further that the shapes so far as restored are nearly identical with the pre- 
vailing shapes of the highest art period of Florida. The evidence of age furnished 
by conditions of stratification and animal remains may be entirely satisfactory, but 
determinaton of period and status of culture based on the character of the art con- 
tents of kitchen refuse must be accepted with caution. This fiber tempered pottery 
was found by Wyman at Old Town, Old Enterprise, Watson's Landing, Silver 
Spring and Palatka, but no details of occurrence are given. Mr. Moore obtained 
specimens from Tick Island, Orange mound, Huntington's, Mulberry mound and 
many other localities,1 all the phenomena being observed with the most careful 
scrutiny. 
Stamped Ware.-The use of the figured stamp and of a variety of figured sur- 
faces in finishing and decorating pottery was common in Florida. The most typical 
development of the stamped decoration appears to have taken place in Georgia, 
but extended into the adjoining States. The use of the wooden paddle-stamp so 
common at one period in this region is now confined to a single people-the Chero- 
kees-who to a limited extent practise the art of their ancestors and predecessors. 
Whether the stamp belonged to that tribe originally or was adopted from tribes of 
Muskogean or other stock is not determined. 
The highest development of the stamp was in connection with South Ap- 
palachian wares which had certain well-defined and persistent features of material 
and shape. Passingout of the central area yielding this ware, features of form, ma- 
terial and design change as the result of change of physical environment or people. 
Toward the Atlantic the material changes from a purely silicious paste and temper- 
ing to a shell tempered clay, and in the Florida peninsula the stamp was chiefly 
used in decorating the variety of ware made of a fine porous clay without visible 
tempering. In Florida also there is a change from the large oblong conical pot 
found farther north to a deep bowl like vessel of medium size and the stamps them- 
selves seem as a rule less artistic and complex. 
The stamped ware of the St. John's indicates the almost exclusive use of a 
paddle-stamp the face of which was carved by means of stone, shell or bone knives 
in checkered patterns, consisting of shallow grooves crossing each other sometimes 
at right angles and again at oblique angles and numbering generally from five to 
twelve1 to an inch. The square or lozenge shaped spaces between the crossed lines 
being in relief left, when applied to the soft clay, regularly arranged groups of pits 
as shown in Fig. 2. The Cherokee paddle-stamp, Fig. 3, has the surface character- 
istics of the St. John's stamps. A modern Cherokee stamped vase is illustrated in 
Fig. 4, and the paddle used in decorating it is shown in the same connection. 
The use of the stamp in the South Appalache-Florida province may or may not 
be indigenous. It certainly does not connect along the Gulf coast with Mexico 
1 " Certain shell-heaps of the St John's River, Florida, hitherto unexplored." American Natural- 
ist, July and August, 1893. FLORIDA. 
115 
Fig. 2. Sherd of stamped ware, Florida, 1. 
Fig. 3. Cherokee paddle- 
stamp, modern Cherokee. A. 
Fig. 4. Stamped vase and paddle-stamp used, modern Cherokee. | 116 
EARTHENWARE OF 
although it may have entered by way of Cuba or the Bahamas. It is the most 
general use of this method of ornament known, but represents a much lower grade 
of development than the stamped work of more southern countries. It is, how- 
ever, much in advance of the practices of the more northern tribes who employed 
various improvised stamps to manipulate and diversify the surface of their earthen- 
ware. 
Gulf Coast Group.-Prominent among the Gulf coast groups of ware is a 
variety typically developed in the region of Pensacola. It is characterized by 
varied and symmetric forms, gritty but fine-grained paste and tasteful incised pat- 
terns including the current scroll, the latter being treated in cases exactly as in the 
midden ware of Tick Island. No typical examples of this pottery have been found 
on the St. John's, but traces of its peculiar characters occur in a number of cases. 
WARES DESCRIBED BY STATION OR LOCALITY. 
The collections to be considered represent localities distributed along the St. 
John's from Palatka on the north to Lake Washington on the south, a distance of 
upwards of 100 miles. They were derived from midden shell deposits, from sand 
mounds and to a slight extent from camp and village sites on or near the river. For 
convenience of description and reference the pottery of each station or locality will 
be presented separately. 
Dunns Creek Mound.-The Dunn's Creek sand mound, the lowest and most 
northern station represented in the collection, furnished a considerable series of ves- 
sels and fragments of vessels covering a wide range of material form and decoration, 
but nearly all of the specimens are of the well-known varieties found in mounds 
and on village sites over a large part of the State. Articles of European origin were 
associated with many of the burials. 
Among the best preserved pieces are a number of bowls, mostly of small size 
belonging to the ordinary earthenware of the Florida region, characterized in this 
section by a light yellowish gray surface, dark interior paste, line grain and low specific 
gravity. This variety of ware is generally finished with a stamp though sometimes 
incised. The bowls or cups are shallow or deep and have upright, expanding or 
contracting rims which are scalloped, notched or otherwise embellished. In one 
case the lip is thickened and prolonged in heavy projections on opposite sides. 
Usually the bottom has been perforated subsequent to baking. The ruder pieces 
of this ware, Figs. 2 and 3, Pl. Ill, seem to connect it with the remarkably rude, 
extemporized pottery of which so many specimens have been collected by Mr. 
Moore. A good example of the latter ware is presented in Fig. 1. Pl. 111. It is 
so rude that we are hardly justified in calling it a vessel, although it has a rudely 
excavated cavity or bowl. The fresh looking surface is light yellowish gray in color 
and the soft, brittle paste where broken is a deep black. • The rim projects considerably, 
is scalloped on the edge like the corolla of a flower and has deeply incised decora- 
tive lines on the upper surface. The body is long and roundly conical and is encir- 
cled by four petal like figures relieved by removing the clay from the interspaces to FLORIDA. 
117 
a considerable depth by carving while the clay was unbaked. The general surface 
is slightly rubbed down with a polishing stone. Although considerably mutilated 
this cup is not perforated below. 
A variety of pottery resembling the Pensacola ware in texture and decoration, 
is represented in this mound by a number of fragments. The paste is dark brown 
and of gritty texture. The vases have been of medium or rather large size and 
apparently of somewhat eccentric form, and have been elaborately decorated in in- 
cised lines and indentations arranged in figures that owing to their fragmentary 
state cannot be fully made out. The larger fragment shown in Fig. 1, Pl. II, con- 
tains part of a figure very neatly traced and clearly defined by filling the inter- 
spaces with fine parallel or hatched lines. I take the figure to be a highly conven- 
tionalized life form, and judging by hints obtained from other specimens in the col- 
lection the original is possibly a bird. Comparison may be made with Fig. 4, Pl. 
XV. Other fragments are shown in Figs. 2,3 and Pl. II, 4. Ware of this general 
character and decorative treatment extends westward to Alabama and northward 
into Georgia. 
Several fragments of painted pottery representing deep bowls or pots, one of 
which has a widely and abruptly expanding rim, were obtained from the base of the 
mound. The red color has been applied with a brush in a thin wash covering the 
rim in one case, and extending a short distance down the neck or body of the ves- 
sel. The surface has a moderate polish and the paste is brown and gritty. Speci- 
mens of similar ware are found all along the Gulf coast from Cedar Keys to Mis- 
sissippi. 
Two pipes made of coarse yellowish clay were found at a depth of six feet. 
They are shown full size in Figs. 2 and 3 of Mr. Moore's paper, page 14. 
Objects of this class are exceedingly rare in Florida, only one specimen, and 
that a fragment, has so far been reported from a shell heap. The specimens figured 
are of the same make as the ordinary pottery, one being plain and the other embel- 
lished with the form of a bird perched on and forming a part of the bowl. In gen- 
eral shape they correspond closely with the prevailing style of pipes in the south 
and west. 
Mt. Royal.-Mt. Royal, a sand mound near the outlet of Lake George, 555 feet 
in circumference and 16 feet high, furnished examples of nearly all the ordinary 
varieties of ware found in this part of Florida. They are not always typical but 
may be described under the heads of extemporized ware, stamped ware and incised 
ware. Fragmentary stamped ware was found upon and near the surface. Vessels 
were buried with the dead throughout the mound, nearly all being broken, 
probably by the weight of the sand. 
The Mt. Royal collection contains a large number of the crudely made articles 
classed under the head of extemporized ware. There is great diversity of shape and 
many features are wholly eccentric. The size is small and the workmanship of the 
rudest possible kind, as if the objects had been made in haste as an offering to be 
cast into the grave with the dead, or as if they were the mere product of unskilled 
15 JOURN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 118 
EARTHENWARE OE 
hands and idle fancy. It is quite certain that articles so rude and fragile could have 
served no purpose in the arts; that they were not intended for use as utensils is sup- 
ported by the fact that in most cases the vessels were made perforate. The paste is 
crude clay so slightly baked that many of the specimens fairly fall to pieces of their 
own weight. 
The practice of perforating vessels on consigning them to the grave was com- 
mon along the Gulf coast and across northern Florida, but the making of vessel 
forms with perforated base has not been observed outside of Florida, and was first 
made known to anthropologists by Mr. Moore in the American Naturalist. One 
specimen only of this class, from Franklin County, Florida, is found in the 
National Museum. 
These pseudo vessels take the form mainly of cups and bowls, some being shal- 
low and of simple shape, others deep and with incurved or widely expanding mar- 
gins. Many are eccentric in outline, and the rims are scalloped or triangular, 
square or oval, and furnished with rude handles and projections of various kinds. 
Fig. 3, Pl. Ill, illustrates an average specimen with widely expanding saucer- 
like rim. The clay is gray and somewhat mottled on the surface and dark within. 
The rudeness of the work is well expressed in the cut. The perforation in the base, 
made whilst the clay was still soft, is three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Near 
the upper margin of' the rim on opposite sides are two small perforations apparently 
for purposes of suspension. Fig. 1, Pl. IV, represents an equally rude piece, an ob- 
long cup with base broken out. It was recovered at a depth of six feet in the 
mound. 
Fig. 3, Pl. IV, illustrates a unique piece also quite rude, but signalized by an 
incised pattern, a disconnected meander composed of short parallel lines one half an 
inch apart, the space between being filled in with impressions made by a minutely 
notched tool about one-half an inch across the edge. In this case the top of the 
vessel has been partially closed, as shown in the cut. The entire surface of the top 
is ornamented with scattering impressions of the notched tool mentioned above. 
The perforation in the bottom is one-half an inch in diameter and was made proba- 
bly after the top was closed, by punching from below, as the edges of the clay are 
turned inward. The work is such as might be expected of an aimless dabbler in 
pottery making. 
The small cup shown in Fig. 2, Pl. IV, was found at a depth of fourteen feet 
in a layer of sand artificially reddened with oxide of iron, and accompanied by many 
fragments of chert apparently the refuse of arrow making. The rim is pressed in 
at the four sides and rudely embellished with a border of indentations made with 
the same tool used in marking the upper surface of the specimen just described. 
The base has a perforation about three-fourths of an inch in diameter punched from 
below while the clay was soft; the edges have been somewhat rounded off as a 
finish. 
Plate V illustrates four additional pieces of this ware, all being originally per- 
forate or with bases broken out. In one case the perforation has been cut out with FLORIDA. 
119 
a knife while the clay was soft. Fig. 2 is engraved one-half actual size and repres- 
ents a small vase with expanding rim, angular shoulder and rough finish. Figs. 1, 
3 and 4 are part of a series of small perforate cups of most varied shapes found in 
a large pocket of bright red sand on or below the base of the mound 7 feet 6 inches 
deep. Six of these cups were set one within another and somewhat fixed together 
as if baked in that position and not separated until removed from the mound. Two, 
Figs. 3 and 4, have perforate handles and resemble dippers or ladles. The rims of 
others are furnished with pointed projections. This set of cups was protected by a 
large dish which had crumbled beneath the weight of sand. 
Some of the smaller vessels have been slightly rubbed down with a polishing 
tool, and one or two appear to have been discolored by use. One rude piece resem- 
bles a large tobacco pipe bowl; it is reddened and somewhat polished. Another 
appears to be a bead of irregular, cylindrical form, some two inches long and roughly 
perforated. Of the same ware is the cup-like piece shown in Fig. 1, Pl. VI. It is 
irregular in outline, thick, clumsy and perforate, the rims of both ends being finished 
in the same careless manner. Another of like form and in fragments was found 
with it. 
Of somewhat better quality are the two small cups given in Figs. 2 and 3, Pl. 
VI. The bottoms were not made perforate and the finish indicates that they were 
intended for actual use. They do not, therefore, properly belong in the extemporized 
group, though made, no doubt, by the same hands. One was found at a depth of five 
feet and the other at six feet. Corresponding closely in style to the preceding, al- 
though originally perforate, is the cup illustrated in Fig. 1, Pl. VII, while the pe- 
culiar piece given in Fig. 3 of the same plate is of the ruder type. 
The stamped ware of Mt. Royal and vicinity is of the ordinary variety found 
in this section characterized by a light surfaced paste dark within and of low speci- 
fic gravity. The stamped figures are usually of the simplest type. Specimens 
found in place in the mound or associated with burials are as a rule rather rude, one 
piece only, the fragment of a large vessel, showing careful work. Specimens found 
on the surface, usually in small fragments, exhibit much greater variety and many 
pieces show excellent finish. 
Vessels of this class are nearly all bowls, varying from a shallow, widely flar- 
ing shape to a globular body with constricted lip. A few pieces give indications of 
eccentric contour and in cases the lip is expanded into handle-like projections on 
two opposing sides. Few specimenshave exceeded a foot in diameter and the walls 
are thin, and but for a thickening of the rim, would be extremely fragile. The in- 
terior surface and rim are rather imperfectly polished down and the stamp was ap- 
plied to nearly the entire exterior surface. Usually the pattern was a small checker, 
but curved lines are seen in some of the pieces. 
Pottery apparently of the same make as the stamped ware is in cases undeco- 
rated and again is embellished with incised lines exclusively. The rim of a rather 
rude bowl about six inches in diameter done in the latter style is shown in Fig. 2, 
Pl. VII. The interior and rim are rudely finished with the polishing tool, the ex- 120 
EARTHENWARE OF 
terior having been well rubbed down. A row of incised triangular figures filled in 
with indentations is carried around the rim. The piece was found at a depth of 
134 feet and is partially reddened with the oxide of iron in which it was enveloped. 
The occurrence of typical specimens of the stamped ware with original burials 
throughout this mound is a fact worthy of especial notice, for it is a ware widely 
distributed in Florida and southern Georgia, characterizing in all probability the art 
of' the people found in possession of the region by the Spanish. 
Among the sherds of ordinary stamped ware from this locality, but not indi- 
cated as coming from the mound, are some bits of heavy, silicious, gritty ware 
marked with textile surfaces or indentings resembling fabric imprints, and a few bits 
seem to be cord marked. This ware has analogies with the Algonkian pottery of 
the middle Atlantic region, but the paste is not unlike that frequently seen in typi- 
cal Appalachian and Floridian wares. 
Mound in Pine-woods, Blue Creek.-This mound contained a number of unique 
pieces belonging mostly to the rude extemporized variety and having the appear- 
ance, as in other cases, of hurried work by unskilled hands. The paste is dark 
within and light gray without, and the finish was left to the unaided fingers or re- 
ceived a very hurried rubbing with the polishing tool. 
A few small fragments of the ordinary square-pitted stamped ware, probably 
from the surface, are in the collection and one vase represented by considerable frag- 
ments belongs to the cruder incised pottery; there is an appearance of carelessness 
in the work, and another cup of the same ware is so rudely made and finished as to 
apparently connect the makers of the better finished vessels definitely with the 
fabricators of the extemporized toy-like articles. The vase of cruder incised ware 
referred to above is somewhat pot-shaped with wide long neck and base approaching 
the conical shape, and the rim was supplied with two tongue-like projections as 
seen in the plate. The diameter is about six inches and the height nearly the same. 
The walls are thin and moderately smooth and the color is brown with traces of red 
paint. The decorative design is rather elaborate, covering a large part of the vessel, 
and consists of figures of unusual shape executed in incised lines and small deep in- 
dentations. It is illustrated full size in Pl. XI. A fragment showing somewhat 
similar treatment is given in Fig. 3. Pl. IX. 
The extemporized ware comprises several vessel-like articlesand unique shapes 
and two examples of animal figurines, all hastily constructed of ordinary clay and 
slightly baked. Two rude dipper or ladle-like cups are given in Fig. 2, Pl. VIII, 
and Fig. 1. Pl. IX. Fig. 4, Pl. VIII illustrates, three-quarter actual size, a rudely 
made article resembling somewhat in outline a druggist's iron mortar. It is solid 
with the exception of a rude perforation. A projecting part of undetermined shape 
has been broken away from the top. Any attempt to assign this object to a definite 
use is vain for so far as we can see it is a mere work of fancy. The same may be 
said of several other pieces, two of which appear in Fig. I. Pl. VIII, and Fig. 2, Pl. 
IX. The former, a rude scalloped cup finished with an ordinary hatched stamp, 
came from a mound about two miles distant. The animal figures consist of the un- FLORIDA. 
121 
couth creature shown in Pl. X, and the head of a larger specimen of like character 
given in Fig. 3, Pl. VIII. These are about as rude as could be made. 
Volusia Sand Mounds.-The pottery obtained from a number of small sand 
mounds near Volusia, Volusia County, is exclusively of the painted variety and, 
with the exception of a small cup which had a hole broken in the bottom, comprises 
only vessels of large size. These vases were made perforate, finished at both ends 
with equal care and well polished and painted with stripings of red in simple pat- 
terns. 
The illustrations presented in Plates XII, XIII and XIV, convey a very excel- 
lent notion of such vessels as were recovered in a complete or approximately com- 
plete state. Figs* 1 and 2, Pl. XII, are thought to represent portions of two dis- 
tinct vessels, although the dimensions and painted design are closely identical and 
one represents the mouth proper of a vase and the other apparently shows the base 
of a vase perforated by cutting away the point of the elongated cone. The 
painted figures, a vertical cheveroned band in one case and a like band and two 
small circles in the other, are in red on the smooth yellowish gray ground of the 
paste. 
The vase shown, one view in Pl. XIII and another in XIV, is of the painted 
ware and of unusual size, being 19 inches in greatest diameter and 151 inches 
high. It has a globular body with constricted mouth 10 inches in diameter 
and an opening in the base 31 inches in diameter, both apertures being sym- 
metric and neatly finished. The surface is polished in the usual way and is 
decorated with a design in red paint consisting of bands about the apertures 
connected by six broad vertical bands as shown in Pl. XIII. 
A somewhat similar piece is 101 inches in height and 151 inches in diameter. 
The upper opening is 91 inches in diameter and that in the base 21 inches. The 
decoration consists of broad lines in red arranged in three festoons around the upper 
part of the globular body. 
A point of especial interest with respect to these vases is that though of the 
usual type of ware, of large size and thoroughly finished, yet they are perforate and 
were originally made so. This gives rise to the question whether or not the per- 
foration could possibly have served a utilitarian purpose, such as the straining of 
liquids, or whether in this instance, as is certainly the case with the rude ex- 
temporized ware, the perforation had reference only to the use of the vase as a 
mortuary object shaped in accord with the dictates of superstition. 
Tick Island Sand Mound.-The pottery obtained from this mound is mostly 
in a fragmentary state. In the main it seems to correspond with the more or- 
dinary ware found in the mounds and on the surface, being of like grade and 
character from the lowest to the highest occurrence. The mound was composed 
of three separate more or less lenticular bodies of material. The lower consisted 
of a compact mass of shells and yielded no relics. The layer of sand above con- 
ained vessels and fragments of vessels deposited as usual with the dead, and the 122 
EARTHENWARE OF 
surface layers were filled with sherds disseminated as if forming a part of the 
material used in building the mound. 
Three small vessels were found near the head of a child's skeleton and aside 
from these and two other pieces, one of which was perforated, the pottery deposited 
with the dead was in fragments and, from the fact that few pieces were found that 
could be joined together, would seem to have been fragmentary when deposited. 
The occurrence of fragments modified in shape before consignment with the dead 
would seem to indicate that their employment was probably not, exclusively at 
least, as representatives of the actual vessels ordinarily used in burial, but intended 
to subserve some other superstitious end. Some of these pieces were broken into 
rude triangular shapes and many are so proportioned as to suggest the shape of a 
spear or arrow point, as seen in Fig. 7. The practice of substituting imitation or 
Eig. 7. Sherds broken to resemble projectile points in outline. 
representative articles for real tools and utensils as suggested by Mr. Moore, appears 
to have been common in the Florida region, but was not generally in vogue with the 
natives of the United States. The construction of vessels perforated when made 
is sufficient indication of the existence of the idea of substitution, and the use of 
mere fragments could, it seems, readily follow, but the shaping of the pieces to imi- 
tate arrow heads would indicate the existence of ideas of which we have secured 
no fully satisfactory understanding. 
Among the fragments are portions of well made vessels of the prevailing 
later Floridian types. One specimen from the base of the mound, shown in Fig. 1, 
Pl. XV, appears to have formed part of a bowl or ladle modeled in imitation of a 
conch-shell The workmanship is neat and the surface well polished. Fig. 
3, represents part of the lip or rim of a deep bowl about which a scalloped collar in 
low relief had been modeled and a like fragment is illustrated in an article by Mr. 
Moore published in the "Naturalist" for July, 1892 (Fig. 1, p. 576). FLORIDA. 
123 
Otdy one specimen (Fig. 8) was found, that seems to belong to the extemporized 
Fig.*8. Rude fluted cup, unperforated. 
variety (Fig. 2, " Naturalist," July, 1892). This occurred with the crumbling bones 
of a skeleton buried at the base of the middle or white sand stratum of the mound. 
We thus have from this mound all the varieties of ware characterizing the later 
periods of native occupation save the stamped pottery. 
The absence of articles made by the whites is noted by Mr. Moore, and this 
may be regarded as good evidence that the work was done before the Columbian oc- 
cupation, but it should be noted that in other sand mounds the varieties of ware 
found here are associated with foreign art, thus connecting the builders of this 
mound with historic tribes, in all probability of Tamuquanan stock. 
Figs. 9 and 10. Fiber-tempered pottery with archaic decorations. 
Tick Island Shell Mound.-A ridge shaped shell mound, a few hundred yards 
south of the great Tick Island burial mound, yielded many fragments of pottery of 
a variety differing from any of those described above. Although pretty generally 
ornamented it is rude in construction and finish, and pertains, no doubt, to the 
culinary operations of the shell fishers. In form the vessels, now in sherds, appear 
to have been simple bowls and pots of medium size with thick walls and moderate 124 
EARTHENWARE OF 
symmetry. Restorations are given in Fig. 1. It is noticed that the clay was tem- 
pered with some vegetable substance like pounded grass or palmetto liber which has 
entirely disappeared leaving the mass quite vesicular. A somewhat analogous effect 
sometimes results from the burning out or decay of pulverized shell. The use of 
shell was exceptional in the valley of St. John. In cases a coating of fine clay 
applied to the surface, a common device, has reduced the porosity of the walls. 
The ornamentation of this ware is generally of archaic type, consisting of in- 
cised lines and indentations arranged in simple rudely executed patterns. The 
specimens illustrated in Figs. 9 to 12 ("Naturalist. July, 1893) convey an excel- 
lent notion of the character of this pottery. 
Figs. 11 and 12. Fiber-tempered pottery with archaic decorations. 
The shapes, the treatment of the rims and some features of the decoration are 
repeated in the prevailing Floridian wares, and one piece of excellent quality found 
at a depth of seven feet is neatly incised and has the lip turned out at one point; 
and it therefore seems possible as already suggested that these shell-bank wares may 
have been constructed on temporary resorts for purely culinary uses by peoples mak- 
ing better pottery for other purposes elsewhere. The point could be determined bj 
a detailed and extended study of the association, or lack of it, of these wares with 
other varieties of pottery. 
Ginn s Grove Mound.-The few pieces from this mound belong to the highest 
type of Florida pottery, the variety which connects directly along the Gulf coast 
to the lower Mississippi in an unbroken chain, the links of the chain varying some- 
what with the regions. In Fig. 4, Pl. XV, we have illustrated a fragment, the head of 
a bird, perhaps an eagle, well rounded and treated in a conventional yet remarkable 
manner. The hooked bill is seen in profile, and the eye, modeled in low relief, is 
surrounded by a peculiar figure colored white and outlined in a broad smoothly in- 
cised line, the color of the head being red. The incised line of the outline is con- 
tinued down the curved beak to indicate the mouth. The outlining in a smooth in- 
cised line and the use of the angular indentations seen above and behind the FLORIDA. 
125 
eye are Floridian ceramic features, while the coloring and the general shape are 
more typically western. The head has been broken, no doubt, from the rim of a 
bowl which was probably a handsome specimen of southern ceramic art. The frag- 
ment shown in Fig. 5, is of the same style of ware and probably belonged to the 
same or to a similar bowl. Fig. 6, represents a rudely modeled bird's head broken 
from the rim of a bowl on which it was placed to face inward. It belongs to the 
same general type as the preceding. 
Figs. 13 and 14. Pottery of fine paste from the shell heap. 
Thursby Sand Mound.-From the Thursby mound on the St. John's River 
near Lake Beresford, Volusia County, Mr. Moore secured a unique collection of up- 
wards of three hundred articles of clay comprising vessels and vessel-like objects, 
animal figurines and vegetal and conventional forms. Nearly all are of the extem- 
porized variety and extremely rude in execution. The clay was hastily thrown 
into shape with the fingers almost without attempt at refinement of form or surface 
finish. The rudeness and newness are so marked that at first I was inclined to 
question their aboriginal origin and antiquity, but their manner of occurrence, as 
described by Mr. Moore, their practical identity with other specimens found in as- 
sociation with original burials in a number of mounds, and their relations techni- 
cally with some of the ordinary varieties of earthenware seem to sufficiently estab- 
lish their status as an integral part of the native art of Florida. They were con- 
fined to a deposit occupying a considerable area on the side of the mound, but none 
were at a greater depth than 12 inches beneath the surface. Nothing was found in 
association with them, but a little higher on the mound at a corresponding depth 
was an ornament of sheet gold and near this a similar object of sheet silver. In 
another part of the mound and near the surface were found in association an iron 
axe and a stone hatchet. This evidence together with that furnished by the shal- 
lowness of burial and the fresh appearance of the articles furnish conclusive proof 
of a comparatively recent origin. 
16 JOURN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 126 
EARTHENWARE OF 
Fig. 15. Ladel-like form, possibly intended to represent a bivalve mollusk. 
Fig. 16. Rude cup imitating a conch-shell. 
Fig. 17. Animal shape. FLORIDA. 
127 
The vessels and vessel-like objects number about seventy-five and are generally 
of small size, the cup-like forms ranging from 2 to 6 inches in diameter. With few 
exceptions they are quite shallow and all but two were made perforate. Four are 
slightly and rudely decorated with incised marks and indentations. Their descrip- 
tion is rendered difficult by the variety of shape and feature. The ample illustra- 
tions presented in Mr. Moore's report serve to convey a vivid idea of their peculiar 
characteristics. All are decidedly mere " sports " rather than serious or legitimate 
art. Some of the shallow cups have handle-like projections and others have 
modeled within the cup, forms which suggest the body of a mollusk such as a clam 
or oyster with a tongue-like appendage projecting over the rim of the vessel, Fig. 15. 
Others are noded and spined or supplied with appendages suggesting the extremi- 
ties of animals, Fig. 1G. 
The animal figures, some fifty in number and varying from 2 to 7 inches in 
length, include a wide range of forms, but so rude is the work that it is difficult to 
determine the originals with certainty. The forms most clearly suggested are the 
panther, bear, cat, squirrel, turkey, turtle and fish. The otter and beaver are sug- 
gested and in the mouth of one of these forms is held what appears to be a stick. 
In other sections of the country as along the gulf, in the Mississippi Valley and on 
the northwest coast, the animal thus treated is identified as the beaver, the stick 
held in the mouth being suggestive of the building operations of that creature. 
Characteristic examples are presented in Figs. 17 and 18. The former representing 
perhaps a dog or wolf and the latter apparently a turkey. 
Vegetal forms are here seen for the first time, in the ceramic art of the eastern 
United States, save as embodied in the shapes of actual vessels. The acorn is rep- 
resented a number of times and an ear of corn and a bud-like form appear in two 
or three cases. 
Fig. 21. Spool-shaped specimen. 
There are a number of formal shapes, some resembling beads, Fig. 20, one 
with rudely excavated spiral grooves; others are spool-like, pear-shaped and top- 
shaped. 
The occurrence of this menagerie-like collection of rudely-modeled objects of 
clay is wholly unique in primitive art. If we explain the existence and use of such 
articles as a phase of mortuary practices developed in the region, we still fail to sug- 
Fig. 20. Bead with spiral grooves. 128 
EARTHENWARE OF 
gest any tenable theory for their presence as a superficial deposit or cache in the side 
of a mound unassociated with human remains. 
Orange Mound.-Orange mound is a somewhat crescent-shaped mass of shells 
and sand in the centre of which several bodies were inhumed.1 Pottery of the por- 
ous variety, stamped and plain, occurs on the surface and in the superficial loam to 
a foot in depth. From one foot in depth to a depth of about five feet pottery of a 
distinct type, the midden ware, occurs imbedded in Ampullaria shells and associated 
with beds of ashes. The remaining 10 feet of deposits were without pottery. This 
midden ware is rudely made and coarse in texture. It was tempered with vegetable 
fiber which has now entirely disappeared leaving the mass quite porous. The ves- 
sels are of medium size, in shape deep bowls or shallow pots, the walls thick, reach- 
ing in cases nearly t of an inch, and the surfaces roughly rubbed down and deco- 
rated very generally with archaic patterns of rudely incised lines. In cases the 
decoration extends over the upper margin of the squarish lip. Typical specimens 
Figs. 21 and 22. Fiber tempered ware with archaic decorations. 
of the sherds are presented in Figs. 21 and 22. This variety of ware was found in 
Tick Island and other mounds and always in the shell deposits, and is thought to 
represent the earliest pottery making period. The lower layers of the deposit are 
without pottery. 
1 American Naturalist, July, 1893. INDEX TO PART I. 
PAGE. 
Analysis of copper 34, 39 
Arrow heads imitated in pottery 
27, 63, 87, 102, 103, 108, 122 
Bartram, John 17 
Bartram, William 17 
Beads of calcite 38, 39 
Beads of copper or copper coated . . . 30, 31, 32, 33 
Beads of glass 13, 44, 94, 102 
Bead of pottery 28 
Beads of shell 25, 38, 47, ,59 
Beads of steatite 12 
Black Hammock, mound at 88 
Bluffton, mound at 44 
Bone pins 60 
Bones, condition of 8 
Brinton, Doctor 87 
Brown, Arthur E 41, 69 
Brown, Professor 22 
Burial, form of 6 
Calcite, ornaments of 25, 38, 39 
Ceremonial implements 22 
Chisel of stone, unique form 22 
Composition of mounds 6 
Cook's Ferry, mound at 89 
Cope, Professor 32, 41, 60, 75 
Copper 13, 30, 38 
Copper, analysis of 34, 39 
Copper and copper-coated beads . . . . 30, 31, 32, 33 
Copper breast-piece 32 
Copper piercing implement 32, 33 
Copper, remarks as to 33 
Copper-coated ear plugs 33 
Copper-coated jaw of fox 32 
Crescent of chert 90 
Dall, Doctor 30, 78 
De Leon Springs, mound near 63 
Dog, its presence along the St. John's .... 75 
Douglass, A. E 12, 14, 19, 24, 33, 93 
Drinking cup from fulgur 11, 12 
Dunn's Creek, mound on 7 
Dunn's Creek mound, pottery of 116 
Duval's, mound near 36, 37 
Ear-plugs, copper-coated 33 
Earthenware, age of 109 
Earthenware, baking of 107 
Earthenware, character of 106 
Earthenware, decoration of 107 
Earthenware, forms of 107 
Earthenware, groups of 110 
PAGE. 
Earthenware, structure of 106 
Earthenware, tempering of 106 
Earthenware, uses of. 108 
Effigies of pottery 67 
Effigy, earthenware, of turtle 41 
Fort Florida, mound near 83 
Fort Taylor, mound at 103 
Fragments of chert 25 
Fragment of pottery imitation of shell drink- 
ing cup 63 
Fidgurs 20 
Galena 29, 60 
Ginn's Grove, mound at 84 
Ginn's Grove mound, pottery of 124 
Glass 11, 102 
Gold ornament 67, 89 
Goldsmith, Doctor 22 
Gorgets 16, 22, 92, 93 
Gorget from human skull 45 
Hammer stone 25 
Hawk-bell 13 
Haynes, Professor 60 
Hematite, sand colored with 8, 19, 36, 37 
Historic aborigines 105 
Hitchen's Creek, mound near 35 
Hoe-shaped implement 39 
Holmes, Professor 30, 39, 41 
Hone of banded slate . .■ 12 
Huntoon Island, mounds on 82 
Indian Fields, mound at 96 
Iron implements 11, 66, 94, 102 
Isolation, occasional, of implements in 
mounds 12, 16, 21 
Jones, Colonel C. C 24, 26, 39, 74, 78, 87 
Jones, Doctor Joseph 21, 24, 26 
Lake Monroe, mound near 83 
Lamb, Dr. D. S 52 
Laudonnihre 32 
Le Moyne 31, 32, 33, 66, 71, 78 
Manouvrier, Doctor 57, 100 
Map 9 
Mercer, H. C 46 
Mi ?a 59 
Moorehead, W. K 26, 30, 31 
Mortuary pottery 43, 44 
Mound in pine woods 37 INDEX TO PART I.-Continued. 
PAGE. 
Mound in pine woods, pottery of 120 
Mounds included in Part 1 7 
Mounds, structural features of 6 
Mount Royal 16, 117 
Mulberry Mound 96 
Murphy Island, mounds at 15 
Norwalk Landing, mound near 15 
Orange Mound, pottery of 128 
Paddle-stamp, for earthenware 114 
Pearls 26, 32 
Perforation, intentional, of base of vessels . . 
11, 12, 13, 28, 29, 42, 43 
Perforation in base of vessels made previous to 
baking 29, 42, 43, 63, 108 
Persimmon Mound 95 
Pilsbry, H. A 26 
Pins of bone 60 
Pins of shell 11 
Pipes 13, 102 
Putnam, Professor 42, 45 
Quartz crystal • • • 22, 25 
Rand, T. D • • • 22 
Rau, Doctor 24, 30 
Raulerson's, mound at 91 
Rivibre, Doctor 19, 26 
Silver ornament 67, 89 
Silver pendant ornament 11 
PAGE. 
Sinker '. 24 
Skull gorget 45 
Skulls surmounted by pottery 43 
Spade-shaped ceremonial implements .... 22 
Squier 43 
Squier and Davis 18, 26, 30, 39 
Stark's Grove, mound at 82 
Steatite, beads of 12 
Stiletto-shaped implement of bone 59 
Teeth, human, interred with copper . . .31, 38, 39 
Thornhill Lake, mound at 88 
Thruston, G. P 24 
Thursby Mound 64 
Thursby Mound, earthenware of . 125 
Tick Island, mound on 48 
Tick Island Mound, pottery of 121 
Tobacco pipes 13, 102 
Topinard, Doctor 52, 55 
Tube of pottery 28 
Tube of stone 45 
Verneau, Doctor 19, 26 
Vertebra, perforated ••.... 26 
Volusia, mounds near 42 
Volusia mounds, pottery of 121 
Vulture, head of, in pottery 87, 124 
Wilson, Thomas 24 
Wright, David 16 
Wyman, Jeffries 5, 15, 18, 45, 75 JOUHN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE II. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. SHERD, DUNN'S CREEK MOUND (FULL SIZE.) 
2. SHERD, DUNN'S CREEK MOUND ("THREE-QUARTERS SIZE.) 
3. SHERD, DUNN'S CREEK MOUND (fULL SIZE.) 
4. SHERD, DUNN'S CREEK MOUND <FULL SIZE.) JOURN ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE III. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. EARTHENWARE VESSEL, DUNN'S CREEK MOUND (fULL SIZE.) 
2. EARTHENWARE VESSEL, DUNN'S CREEK MOUND <FULL SIZE.) 
3. EARTHENWARE VESSEL, MT. ROYAL (THREE-QUARTERS SIZE.) JOURN ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE IV. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. OBLONG EARTHENWARE BOWL, MT. ROYAL (FULL SIZE.) 
2. DECORATED EARTHENWARE VESSEL, MT. ROYAL (FULL SIZE.) 
3. DECORATED EARTHENWARE VESSEL, MT ROYAL <FULL SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE V. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
L TUREEN-SHAPED EARTHENWARE VESSEL, MT. ROYAL (pULL SIZE.) 
2. EARTHENWARE VASE WITH FLARING MOUTH, MT. ROYAL (ONE-HALF SIZE.) 
3. EARTHENWARE BOWL WITH PERFORATED HANDLE, MT. ROYAL (pULL SIZE.) 
4. EARTHENWARE BOWL WITH PERFORATED HANDLE, MT. ROYAL (FULL SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE VI. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT OF POTTERY WITH APERTURE AT EITHER END, MT ROYAL (FULL SIZE.) 
2. SMALL EARTHENWARE BOWL, MT. ROYAL (fULL SIZE.) 
3. SMALL EARTHENWARE BOWL, DECORATED, MT. ROYAL (pULL SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE VII. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. EARTHENWARE POT, MT. ROYAL < FULL SIZE.) 
2. DECORATED FRAGMENT, MT. ROYAL (tWO-THIRDS SIZE.) 
3. EARTHENWARE DISH, MT. ROYAL (pULL SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE VIII. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. SMALL SEMIVOID VESSEL OF POTTERY, MOUND AT DUVAL'S, (FULLSIZE.) 
2. VESSEL OF EARTHENWARE, MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S, (pULLSIZE.) 
3. HEAD OF EARTHENWARE ANIMAL EFFIGY,MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (FULL SIZE.) 
4. SPOOL-SHAPED OBJECT OF POTTERY, UNIDENTIFIED, MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (THREE-QUARTERS SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE IX. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. SMALL UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT OF POTTERY, MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (FULL SIZE.) 
2. UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT OF POTTERY WITH BASE APERATURE, MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (THREE-QUARTERS SIZE.) 
3. SHERD, MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (TWO-THIRDS SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE X. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
ANIMAL EFFIGY OF POTTERY. 
MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (TWO-THIRDS SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE XI. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
PORTION OF VASE. 
MOUND TWO MILES WEST OF DUVAL'S (pULL SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE XII. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. FRAGMENT OF EARTHENWARE VESSEL DECORATED WITH RED PIGMENT, MOUND NEAR VOLUSIA (oNE-HALF SIZE.) 
2. FRAGMENT OF EARTHENWARE VESSEL DECORATED WITH RED PIGMENT, MOUND NEAR VOLUSIA (oNE-HALF SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD, NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE XIII. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
VESSEL OF EARTHENWARE, 
DECORATED WITH RED PIGMENT. APERTURE AT TOP AND BOTTOM, MOUND AT VOLUSIA (TWO FIFTHS SIZE.) JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE XIV. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
SAME AS PLATE XIII, SHOWING BOTH PERFORATIONS. JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILAD. 2ND SER. VOL. X. 
PLATE XV. 
MOORE: FLORIDA SAND MOUNDS 
1. FRAGMENTS OF EARTHENWARE VESSEL, TICK ISLAND MOUND (FULL SIZE.) 
2. FRAGMENT OF EARTHENWARE VESSEL, TICK ISLAND MOUND (FULL SIZE.) 
3. DECORATED SHERD, TICK ISLAND MOUND <FULL SIZE.) 
+. EARTHENWARE HEAD OF VULTURE, GINN'S GROVE MOUND (FULL SIZE.) 
5. DECORATED SHERD. GINN'S GROVE MOUND (FULL SIZE.) 
6. HANDLE OF EARTHENWARE VESSEL, GINN'S GROVE MOUND (FULL SIZE.)