376 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1934 



in tlie hair when the burials were made. Among these bones was 

 found the remains of a cup or bowl made from a human skull. The 

 undisturbed burials were nearly all extended on the back with no 

 regard for direction. 



The second burial period, or the first sand mound, is represented 

 only by disturbed burials. Some of the loAver burials in the sand 

 under the mound may belong to these, as no stratigraphy shows in the 

 white sand and as sand extends down to the muck to an absolute level 

 below that of some of the water-deposited material. These deeply 

 deposited burials in the sand mound are also extended on the back. 



The burials in the second sand mound show the same tj^pe of in- 

 terment. Several near the surface were accompanied by glass beads. 

 Two of the burials near the surface had tubular shell beads with 

 them, and one had been buried with a dagger manufactured from a 

 human femur. Only those burials that were near the surface were 

 accompanied by cultural remains. As these were mostly articles of 

 a post-European nature, a change in burial custom may be indicated. 



Three logs 7 feet long and averaging 4 inches thick, which had 

 apparently formed steps, were located deep in the mound near the 

 northeast side. 



The importance of the Belle Glade site lies in the wide range of 

 the material collected. Here, for the first time in Florida, there is 

 a representative collection of habitation shellmound artifacts, burial 

 furniture, and skeletal material all from one site. The site will 

 also give the opportunity to study any cultural or physical changes 

 that may have taken place within this group. This is a unique op- 

 portunity, as definite stratigraphy is rare in Florida. Another im- 

 portant feature here is the correlation that is possible with the 

 wooden material found by Gushing at Key Marco, which tends to 

 link the two sites together culturally. There can be little doubt that 

 both the Marco site and the Belle Glade site mark former villages 

 of the Calusa Indians. 



MOUNDS ON PERICO ISLAND, MANATEE COUNTY 



On the western side of Perico Island near Bradenton is a group 

 of three shell mounds extending in a north and south direction and 

 approximately 100 yards distant from Sarasota Bay. The most 

 conspicuous mound of the group is a large shell habitation mound 

 about 900 feet in length by 120 feet in width. One thousand feet 

 southwest of this mound is another similar smaller mound. From 

 the southern edge of the large habitation mound a shell ridge ex- 

 tends in a southwesterly direction terminating in a circular shell 

 burial mound, and northeast of this mound is a small burial area 

 on the edge of a mangi'ove swamp. 



