I72 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



Four hundred yards to the west of the large mound is a sand burial 

 mound. This mound had been considerably dug over on the surface 

 by pot hunters, but it was so large that none of the diggers had pene- 

 trated very far. Just east of the mound was a deep circular depression 

 from which the material was taken for its construction. The complete 

 excavation of this mound showed that it had been raised by gradual 

 stages, the burials being of a secondary nature and placed without 

 order. Over 100 burials were removed and a considerable archeo- 

 logical collection obtained. The presence of such articles as a silver 

 tubular bead and an iron ax with burials in the top portion of the 

 mound showed that the latter stages were post-Columbian. No such 

 obiects were found in the lower levels of the mound, where artifacts 

 of any kind were rare. Pottery, except for a few shards, was found 

 only on the surface at the base of the mound where food bowls had 

 evidently been placed as offerings, without interring them. 



From the evidence gathered from the mound and village site it is 

 probable that this village was occupied at the time De Soto visited 

 Tampa Bay and continued to be inhabited for a considerable period 

 subsequently. Because of the fact that it bridges the period between 

 the historic and the prehistoric, it is of unusual interest to archeology. 



