^94 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



SHELL HEAPS OF CHAELOTTE HAEBOR, FLOEIDA. 



By Dr. M. H. Simons, U. S. N. 



Charlotte Harbor, on the Gulf eoast of the Florida peninsula, is 

 roughlj^ estimated to be 30 miles long and 8 miles wide. It is separated 

 from the open waters of the Gulf by a series of islands, which the con- 

 stant surf is steadily washing away throughout their whole extent. Into 

 the northern extremity of the harbor, Pease Greek empties, and near 

 the southern end the Caloosahatchie Eiver. 



Charlotte Harbor is divided by Boca Grande Pass, and its channel 

 into a northern and southern portion of nearly equal extent. The north- 

 ern half has two channels, an outer between Boca Grande and Gaspa- 

 rilla, and an inner between Pease Creek mouth and Boca Grande. Be- 

 tween these are a tongue ot the mainland and several small keys. There 

 are several extensive mud-flats, dry at low water, which afford feeding 

 grounds for countless numbers of Grallatores, among which the roseate 

 spoonbills are numerous, and the flamingo is not uncommon. On the 

 tongue of land there are many marshy or swampj' spots where G. loil- 

 sonii abound from December to March. I saw no mounds in the north- 

 ern half of the harbor. The southern half contains more than sixty-five 

 distinct keys. Pine Key, the largest, is some 12 miles long and 1 mile 

 wide ; Bird Key, the smallest, contains less than an acre. There are 

 many reefs and shoals exposed at low water, and just awash at high; 

 but the keys counted are from 4 to 6 feet above tide level naturally in 

 the center, and fringed witn a heavy mangrove growth. I have visited 

 twenty-five shell-heaps in this half of the harbor and feel perfectly se 

 cure in stating that there are as many more hidden by the mangrove 

 growth on Pine Key and the keys in the inner channel. 



In the southern part of the harbor there are also two channels. The 

 inner, or Mattacha, runs between Pine Key and the mainland down to 

 the mouth of the Caloosahatchie, and looks as if it might once have been 

 the bed of Pease Creek ; the outer or main channel runs between Pine 

 Key and the outer or barrier keys. Un the islands in the Mattacha 

 Channel, and on that side of Pine Key, there are many accumulations of 

 shells, some of large extent and several feet in thickness, but no conical 

 mounds or ridges were seen. There are works of some description, 

 however, on nearly every key in the outer or main channel, and these I 

 shall now describe, beginning near Boca Grande and working south. 



On the Gulf side of the outer keys there are no shell heaps, but along 

 the inner channel there are six known to me. Their average height is 

 about G feet above mean water , the upper 3 feet of which are of shells 

 and fish-bones ; the surface is irregular and varies from one to several 

 acres in extent ; they have been cut away extensive! 3' by shiftings of 

 the channel. Mondongo Key, about two miles southeast of Boca Grande, 

 is covered to a depth of G to 8 feet for half a mile in length and 100 



