Clarence B. Moore

“ A canine jaw from another shell-heap examined subsequently, presented features with which Professor Cope was unfamiliar.
On the base of the large sand mound at Tick Island, Volusia County, [10] the skeleton of a dog was found by us, the skull and certain other bones of which, forwarded to Professor Cope, were passed upon as follows by that eminent authority: “The bones you send are those of a dog but of what species I am not sure. It is no wolf or coyote but differs from ordinary breeds of domestic dogs. ”

“ At one point in the marginal, or sandy portion, 1.5 feet from the surface, was a deposit of calcined fragments of bone, some belonging to the turtle. This mound was evidently not a shell heap covered with sand, since the mass of shells, when encountered, did not present a sloping surface but showed an abruptly vertical surface 2 feet in height, very much as though [Pg 55] the shells had been thrown into an excavation.
No human remains or art relics, with the exception of one arrow head, were met with. ”

“ Interments, probably a dozen in all, were, curiously enough, marginal and beneath the slope, no remains being met with in or near the central portion of the mound. Both forms of burial, the bunched and that in anatomical order, were present. In one case the remains were in part calcined, while other portions of the skeleton were charred in places only. No charcoal [Pg 52] or fire-whitened sand lay with these bones which consequently must have been exposed to flames elsewhere. ”

“ No shell-heaps were noticed on the banks.
Numbers of stones and fragments of rock proved to be ballast from timber schooners, and not indigenous to the territory.
NOTES
[1] Mr. Douglass informs us that in his exploration of more than forty sand mounds on the east Florida coast, from the St. Johns river to Miami—a distance of 375 miles by water—he has never found an article of European manufacture.
[2] “Some Characteristics of the Indian Earth and Shell Mounds on the Atlantic Coast of Florida,” The American Antiquarian, March, 1885. ”

“ M. F. Dwyer, of New York, in a cultivated pineapple patch, was a symmetrical mound of white sand, 3 feet 8 inches in height and 48 feet across the base. It was practically demolished. No stratification was noticed. A considerable number of fragmentary human remains, very badly decayed, including a number of isolated crania, were present at all depths. A number of bits of plain earthenware and several stamped in squares, were loose in the sand. ”

“ It would seem that the mounds of this region, considerable in number and some of great size, were mostly erected for other than sepulchral purposes, inasmuch as human remains appear to be absent from the bodies of the mounds though in some cases numerous interments were present near the surface, sometimes associated with art relics of European manufacture, such as glass beads, silver beads and the like. ”

“ Yellow sand with no traces of charcoal or sherds, marked the bottom of the mound and into this again certain small pits had [Pg 19] been dug, as was shown by the darker color of the sand employed to fill them.
Somewhat below the level of the surrounding territory was a stratum over one foot in thickness of sand blackened by fire, containing abundant particles of charcoal. Above this layer were brown sand and white sand intermingled at places, surmounted by a stratum of cherry-colored sand owing its tint to the use of Hematite, of irregular thickness—averaging, perhaps, 1 foot. ”

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

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

“ The margin of the perforation is frequently smoothed as by continued motion against a handle, which would not be so in the case of a club.
3. Some specimens are entirely too small to have been of any avail as weapons of offense.
4. The hole is usually so placed that the handle would not be at right angles to the shell as would be the case with a war club.
5. The perforation is frequently too small to admit a handle of sufficient size to deliver a heavy blow without danger of breaking. ”

“ Light-house Mound, Fernandina, Nassau County
The Light-house [8] mound, in a shell field and in the neighborhood of others, about 150 yards south of the light-house, probably one mile east of the town of Fernandina, was kindly placed at our disposal by Mr. E. D. Lukenbill of the Fernandina Development Company. Our thanks are tendered for numerous courtesies also to Mr. H. L. Linville, port warden of Fernandina.
Fig. 6.—Section of mound northeast of Suarez Bluff.
The height of the mound, which was totally demolished by us, was 12 feet; the [Pg 56] diameter of its base, 75 feet. ”

“ Various high authorities consulted by us express ignorance of the discovery within the limits of the United States of five-chambered vessels other than the two here recorded.
Nothing in these mounds gave any evidence of intercourse with the Whites.
Low Mound at Mulberry Grove, Duval County
About ten miles south of Jacksonville, on the west bank of the St. Johns, is the estate [Pg 29] of A. M. Reed, Esq., known as Mulberry Grove. We are particularly indebted to Mr. Reed for permission to investigate his mound inasmuch as it was under cultivation at the time of our visit. ”

“ The mound, in thick “hammock,” and covered with palmetto and other trees, has a height of 20 feet, a diameter at base of 144 feet. The trench made by Mr. Andrew E. Douglass, [5] was the only previous investigation apparent on the mound.
[Pg 40]
Parts of two days, with nine men to dig, were devoted to investigation. Neither burial nor artifact rewarded our labors—a result similar to that attained by Mr. Douglass.
Two feet beneath the surface, such parts of the mound as were dug into by us, were encased in heavy slabs of coquina. This curious feature was noted also by Mr. ”