24 SMITHSONIx\.N MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. ']6 



which does not mean, however, that they were of very great antiquity, 

 nor does it signify that some of their descendants might not have 

 gazed with wonder on the soldiers of De Soto. It is possible, 'on 

 the other hand, that the Spanish explorers saw the sons or grand- 

 sons of those who were buried in this cemetery. 



No object of European manufacture has been found in the Weeden 

 graveyard. That is significant for it indicates the white man exerted 

 no influence on the arts of men and women buried there. Whatever 

 we can glean from the remains shows that they were strictly American. 

 Moreover, there is some evidence in the Weeden Mound of a con- 

 siderable lapse of time between the first and the last interments and 

 that two layers indicating distinct kinds of burial and culture may 

 be shown by superimposition. That is important. Who were these 

 people, how long ago did they live, and what became of their descen- 

 dants? These are the perennial unanswered questions. They were 

 Indians, that we know ; but the documentary records we have of their 

 life are insufificient to determine who they were. If any one is to find 

 a key to their manners and customs it must be the archeologist, and 

 we look to renewed research for this key. The author finds the fol- 

 lowing layers in the mound from the surface down: i, Modern; 2, 

 Upper Layer, Muskhogean ; 3, Lower Layer, Cautian (Antillean). 



RELATION OF CUBAN AND FLORIDIAN PREHISTORIC CULTURES 



Of all artifacts collected by archeologists, pottery is among the 

 most satisfactory in comparisons of primitive cultures. Upon it is 

 depicted much that affords explanations of aboriginal life. It will 

 be seen by an examination of the decorations on the upper stratum of 

 pottery from Weeden Island that it belongs to the Georgia-Florida or 

 rather Southeastern North American group in which figures are made 

 by a succession of punctures. This method of making designs readily 

 separates this from the other culture areas of North America, as 

 will be apparent when we compare the designs of the specialized 

 ceramic area of the peninsula of Florida and pottery of the Gulf 

 States, Alabama, and Mississippi and other areas. 



When we compare the Florida pottery with the highest decorated 

 ceramics from the West Indies we find considerable difference 

 between it and that of the Tainan of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and 

 Porto Rico, where ceramic art reached its highest efflorescence, and 

 are unable to refer it to the Antillean area. But the crude pottery 

 of the lower stratum resembles that of the lower stratum of the West 

 Indies. 



