98 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



advantages and a beginning was made on that island. A deep trench 

 (fig. 90) was dug into the main mound in order to determine its 

 character and stratification. It is beheved to be a domicihary mound 

 or, since it is the largest in the cluster, that on which the chief's 

 house was probably erected. Dr. Weeden's claim that De Soto and 

 Narvaez landed on this mound seems probable, and if so we can 

 identify it as the Calusa town, Ucita. wdiich according to Bourne 

 " stood near the beach, upon a very high mount made by hand for 

 defense ; at the other end of the town was a temple, on the roof of 

 which perched a wooden fowl with gilded eyes." 



The archeological problems of the southern part of Florida are 

 complex and require more field-work than has yet been devoted to 

 them. We have on the southwestern Florida keys many heaps of shell 

 indicating several types, as eating places, domiciliary mounds, and 



Fig. 94. — Three-pointed stone of the Fig. 95. — Apical view of figure 94. 



fourth type, Alayaguez, Porto Rico. 

 Loaned to the U. S. National Museum 

 by Mr. D. W. May. 



mounds of observation and defense. At the time of the discovery we 

 learn from historical documents that a tribe of Indians called Calusa 

 inhabited these keys and the names of certain towns of this tribe are 

 recorded, but our knowledge of the ethnology, language and customs 

 of the Calusa is scanty. Did the Calusa build the shell heaps or 

 were they an intrusive people ? Did the shell heap people come from 

 the Antilles or were they ]\Iuskhogean? Archeology dealing with 

 material culture can contribute to an answer to this question. 



In the accompanying figure (fig. 93) are shown specimens of 

 true Antillean amulets lately loaned to the United States National 

 ^Museum by Mr. D. W. 'Slay, from ]\Iayaguez on the west coast of 

 Porto Rico. The central figure is a unique carved shell amulet with 

 lateral wings different from any previously described. The other four 

 amulets figured are likewise new. The three-pointed stone belongs to 

 the fourth type, or that characterized by absence of head and legs 

 but with a curved longitudinal depression on the base. 



