386 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1934 



building material, and the sand mounds erected nearby for the burial 

 of their dead are also being molested. 



Two sites were excavated : The first, consisting of five small sand 

 mounds, was 1 mile south of Artesia; the second, a single sand 

 mound, was 4 miles north of this town. The excavation of the largest 

 mound at site no. 1 (mound A) revealed a small, low heap of sand 

 on the natural surface of the ground. Upon this had been placed a 

 thin but uniform layer of oyster shells. On top of this had been 

 spread another layer of sand which contained burials. 



The burials were on the whole in a good state of preservation, al- 

 though none had been buried more than a foot below the surface. 

 They had been oriented with some care, for the majority were placed 

 with the head toward the apex of the mound, like the spokes on a 

 wheel. Although oriented similarly, the skeletons were not always 

 lying in the same position. The majority were fully extended, lying 

 on the back. Others were slightly flexed and had been buried on 

 either the right or the left side. A few were placed in other positions 

 but these were exceptions. The burials may be classified under three 

 headings: Complete undisturbed skeletons ; incomplete skeletons (part 

 of the body missing), and disassociated bones. The complete skele- 

 tons form an excellent series of 96 specimens, 35 adult males, 42 adult 

 females, 7 adults whose sex could not be determined in the field, and 

 12 infants. There were as many more individuals represented by 

 disturbed and fragmentary skeletons. These were most prevalent 

 near the apex of the mound where tree roots had disturbed them. 

 From field observations it would appear that the Surruque were a 

 tall people of robust physique. The skulls were large, undeformed, 

 and uncommon!}^ thick, and the long bones were heavy and massive. 



Either the Surruque were limited in material possessions or they 

 were not accustomed to bury many mortuary objects with their dead, 

 for very little material was found in their burial mounds. No whole 

 pieces of pottery were found. The sherds showed that two varieties 

 of ware were common, one a heavy black plain variety, the other 

 similar but decorated with a crude check stamped design. The arti- 

 facts consisted of plummets of stone or conch shell, long bone hair- 

 pins decorated with curvilinear and rectilinear designs, a bone 

 whistle, bone and shell beads, and small bone pendants. In this 

 mound objects of brass and iron as well as glass beads indicated 

 contact with the Europeans and dated the mound as post-Columbian. 



The fauna, like the potsherds, was similar in all the mounds exca- 

 vated. Shellfish were abundant and appear to have formed the prin- 

 cipal article of diet. They included the common Coquina clam, the 

 oyster, and several varieties of conch and scollop. The animal bones 



