ETHNOLOGY. 391 



the base, flattened and worn by attrition for ages; there having been 

 two growths of live-oak upon it, as stated by an old Spanish inhabitant 

 of the place. The soil composing the mound was of a light sandy, yel- 

 lowish loam. 



We commenced the examination by cutting a trench 4 feet wide directly 

 through the center, from the apex to the base, and then another trench 

 at right angles to the former. The excavation revealed a number of 

 relics, and the mode of burial of the mound-builders. They must have 

 commenced by digging into the surface of the ground about 2 feet ; 

 then, partially filling the excavation with oyster-shells, thej' placed their 

 dead on these in a sitting posture, their legs bent under them, with their 

 faces to the east, and their arms crossed upon the breast, and next 

 spread over them a stratum of earth. It is evident that in the succes- 

 sive burials the earth was reopened, and the additional bodies were 

 I)laced close either to the back or side of those which had been previ- 

 ously interred, until the whole of the first layer was complete; then the 

 circumference of the mound was walled in by a compost of marsh-mud ; 

 and then another layer of oj^scer- shells was placed over the heads of the 

 first layer of bodies, and a continuation of the mud wall, until the 

 superincumbent layer completed the mound to its apex. 



Full three centuries must have rolled their tempests over this aborig- 

 inal repository of the dead. I quite expected to find everything like 

 mortal remains returned to dust. But in this I was in error, as through- 

 out the mound parts or complete portions of the bony structure still 

 remained ; those on the southern or sunny side being in a more perfect 

 state of preservation. Counting the remains existing in the different 

 layers of this ancient tumulus, it must have contained about four hun- 

 dred individuals. 



As we proceeded with our work, the interior of the mound presented 

 many objects of interest to the ethnologist. We could not, however, 

 secure many of these, since they crumbled, except the teeth, to dust as 

 soon as exposed to the air. I had therefore to study them mostly in 

 the earth, carefully scraping it away with a knife. 



The conformation of the crania found in this mound appears to differ 

 somewhat from that of the present Indians; the facial angle less, 

 with superior depth of the frontal region, and greater capacity for the 

 anterior lobes of the brain ; the outer surface of the skull somewhat 

 oval, smooth, and regular; frontal sinuses large; high cheek-bones; 

 cavity of the antrum large ; orbital cavity of the eye deep and large ; 

 occipital protuberance very large, with a great development of the 

 organs of philoprogenitiveness ; superior depth of the base of the infe- 

 rior maxillary bone; rough serratures and deep depressions for the 

 attachments of powerful muscles of that bone. 



The teeth of many of the crania of this mound were, without ex- 

 ceptions, in a perfect state of preservation, the vitrified enamel of 

 these organs being capable of resisting exposure for centuries. These 



