ARTIFICIAL SHELL-DEPOSITS. 247 



the mass, are crabs' claws, and the bones of the turtle, shark, drum-fish, deer, 

 and sea-birds, occurring as named, the bones of the turtle being most plentiful. 

 Broken pottery of a very thick, heavy pattern, without ornament, is scattered 

 about the sites of former fires. Stone ornaments and arrow-heads are sometimes 

 found on the surface, but never, to my knowledge, in the interior of these 

 mounds."* 



Very large shell-heaps were seen by Mr. Walker at Shaw's Point, on the 

 mouth of Manatee River. They extend five hundred and sixty-four feet along 

 the shore, and are from fifteen to twenty feet in altitude at the highest points. 

 The sea having encroached on one side of a heap, a perpendicular section was 

 presented, enabling INIr. Walker to distinguish the old fire-places, which were 

 gradually brought to a higher level, proportionate to the increase of the heap. 

 A representation of this section, accompanying his report, shows this very 

 plainly.f 



Not the least interesting observations made by Mr. Walker are those rela- 

 ting to the gradual progress in the manufacture of pottery found in the shell- 

 heaps of Florida. He presents a diagram (reproduced on the following page), 

 showing a section of a shell-heap at Cedar Keys, which he thinks a fair repre- 

 sentation of the interior of Floridian shell-deposits in general, if the unusually 

 thick laj'-er of soil near the middle of the mass is excepted. This section was 

 produced by cutting through the mound in opening a street. Fragments of 

 pottery are pretty uniformly distributed throughout the heap from the bottom to 

 the top ; but an entire vessel, to Mr. Walker's knowledge, has never been found 

 in any of the shell-heaps of Florida. The three stages marking the progress 

 in the ceramic art are thus characterized by Mr. Walker: — 



" In all the large shell-heaps examined hitherto I have invariably found 

 pottery in the lowest stratum of shell, and, in many instances, in the soil beneath 

 the foundations, which I regard as conclusive evidence that the aborigines were 

 acquainted with the art of fabricating earthenware pots long before they began 

 these vast accumulations of shell. The art, however, was in its rudest state. 

 The fragments are thick, heavy, and coarse, the composing clay often containing 

 a mixture of coarse sand or small pebbles. The utensils were of large size, as 

 shown by the curves of the fragments, and rudely fashioned, and they were 

 destitute of all attempt at ornament. The rims were plain, and were not thick- 

 ened or re-enforced to increase their strength. This style is found generally for 

 about three or four feet in height, and may be said to represent the first stage. 

 Above this a gradual change is perceptible, the two styles overlapping, so that 

 it is difficult to say where one begins and the other ends. 



* Walker: Report on the Shell-Heaps of Tampa Bay, Florida; Smithsonian Report for 1879 ; p. 418. 



t Ibid.; p. 416, etc. 



