NO. 



13 ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN FLORIDA FEVVKES I3 



The burials were thickly crowded together, one above another. 

 facing upward, downward, and laterally. There was apparently no 

 uniformity in the position in which they were laid. Cross sections 

 of a vertical hole excavated in the sand in which the skeleton was 

 dropped are seen in plate 7, D. Above the skeleton was often placed a 

 layer of oyster or other shells and a thin layer of sand. Tn some 

 instances only sand covered the interment. 



The roots of the trees growing on the mound sometimes pene- 

 trated the earth through the skull and often filled the cavities of 

 the long bones. These roots were often so numerous that the exterior 

 of the long bones was covered by them. 



Lieut. A. W. Vogdes, of the Fifth Infantry, U. S. A., who in 

 1876 published an account of the Vogdes Alound near Tampa, found 

 evidences of cannibalism in prehistoric times. The skull and bones of 

 a dog and split tibia (possibly for marrow) of a human being also 

 occur. Fragments of charcoal are now and then found scattered 

 through the mound but evidences of fire pits are difficult to discover. 



Diseased and broken human bones, sometimes healed or grown 

 together, were found in the mound. There were two infant skele- 

 tons, one of a foetus. A similar foetus was described by Mr. Clarence 

 B. Moore.' Perhaps the most exceptional interment of a baby's 

 skeleton was the use of a large bivalve mussel shell for a coffin. 

 One of these w-as found in the Weeden Mound. 



The situation of many human crania found below the surface will 

 be shown on a chart to be published later where the depth below the 

 surface is also mentioned. The vertical wall of the trench is in some 

 cases showai (pi. 5, A) with the skulls projected from the bank. As 

 the skeletons were very fragile and easily fell into fragments if 

 handled just after they were found, it was customary to leave them 

 exposed to the sun and air a few days after they were found or until 

 they hardened. This also gave visitors an opportunity to " see the 

 remains " before they were transferred to paper " nail bags " in which 

 they were kept, numbers being added to each bag to show the 

 locality and depth at which they were found. 



Plate 6, A, shows two skulls in situ near a hole in the bank out 

 of which the large black bowl (pi. 21, C) was taken. These two 

 skulls rest on the top of the lower layer of stratification, the bowl 

 being probably a mortuary ofifering belonging to the " lower stratum." 



^ The works of Mr. Clarence B. Moore on Florida archeology have been 

 of greatest aid to the author in the preparation of this article and he takes this 

 opportunity to express his appreciation of them. 



