MOUNDS OF THE UNITED STATES BUSHNELL. 683 



It was related some years ago by an old member of the tribe to the 

 late James Mooiiey, and was in part : 



The town house was always built ou the level bottom lamls by the river in 

 order that the people might have smooth ground for their dances and ball 

 plays and might be able to go down to water during the dance. When they 

 were ready to build the mound, they began by laying a circle of stones on the 

 surface of the ground. Next they made a fire in the center of the circle and 

 put near it the body of some prominent chief or priest who had lately died — 

 some say seven chief men from the different clans. . . . The mound was 

 then built up with earth, which the women brought in baskets. . . . 



This explains the origin and use of many of the larger mounds in 

 the southern country. 



In addition to the mounds just mentioned, other types of works 

 are encountered in the same valleys. Some were burial places ; others 

 resulted from the gradual accumulation of camp refuse, such as wood 

 ashes, broken earthenware vessels, bones of animals which had served 

 as food, as a result of the restricted area having been occupied as a 

 camp site for many years, possibly for generations. The origin of 

 such elevated sites should be considered accidental rather than inten- 

 tional, although they often served as burial places for the dead. 



Mounds are found in eastern Georgia and are very numerous on 

 the mainland and islands below the mouth of the Savannah. Many 

 on the islands of St. Catherine, Ossabaw, and Sapelo have been ex- 

 amined, and, together with traces of native settlements, appear to 

 be quite old. Few objects of European origin are discovered in 

 contact with native artifacts, and it is evident that the presence of 

 Spanish missions, established along the coast before the close of the 

 sixteenth century, quickly influenced the manners and ways of life 

 of the native people, many of whom moved inland and sought new 

 homes. However, some small mounds in this region owe their origin 

 to the later occupants of the coasts, and a small structure which stood 

 a few miles south of the Savannah River, in Chatham County, Ga., 

 covered a single human skeleton resting upon the original surface, 

 and with it had been placed implements of stone and other objects 

 of native workmanship, together with a sword of European make, 

 the latter proving the burial mound to have been erected within 

 historic times. 



STRANGE WORKS IN FLORIDA HIDDEN BY THE DENSE VEGETATION 



Southward were the Timucua tribes, whose many villages at the 

 time of the coming of the Spaniards were scattered throughout the 

 northern half of the peninsula of Florida, north of Tampa and Cape 

 Canaveral. Many interesting mounds stand within the bounds of 

 the Timucua country of four centuries ago, and it is quite evident 

 the builders followed certain established rules and customs while 



