BOSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETEKIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 119 



of the mounds appear to have been erected over an area previously 

 excavated, a detail lacking in the old drawing, which, however, 

 should not be accepted as being very accurate. But the scene de- 

 picted may be the very beginning of the erection of such a structure. 

 This may show the nucleus of such a work, prepared soon after 

 the death of a great man whose tomb was later to be reared. But 

 in regard to this most interesting question nothing can now be 

 stated with any degree of certainty. 



Moore has given a very graphic description of the construction 

 of a mound examined by him which stood in Duval County, Florida, 

 not far from the banks of the St. Johns. Its diameters were 63 

 feet and 58 feet, and its height, then greatly reduced by cultivation, 

 was only 2 feet 2 inches. He wrote : " It was evident that the mound 

 had been constructed in the following manner. First, a fire was 

 built en the surface, possibly to destroy the underbrush. Next, a 

 pit of the area of the intended mound was dug to a depth of about 

 3 feet. In a central portion of this pit was made a deposit of 

 human remains with certain artifacts. . . . Then the pit was 

 filled M'ith the sand previously thrown out, through which was plen- 

 tifully mingled charcoal from the surface fire. During the process 

 of filling, various relics but no human remains, were deposited, and 

 covered by the sand. When the pit was filled to the general level, 

 a great fire was made over its entire area as was evidenced by a well- 

 marked stratum of sand discolored by fire and containing particles 

 of charcoal, extending entirely through the mound at the level of 

 the surrounding territory. I^pon this the mound proper was con- 

 structed and various bunched burials and art relics introduced. 



" In all human remains were encountered eleven times, once at the 

 base of the pit, the remainder in the body of the mound. The burials 

 were of the bunched variety, but small portions remaining." (Moore, 

 (6), pp. 27-29.) 



Objects of shell, stone, pottery, and copper were recovered from 

 the mound, which was entirely destroyed. Traces of great fires 

 are characterstic of many mounds along the St. Johns, but whether 

 they were supposed to have served some practical purpose, or were 

 ceremonial, can not be told. 



The mounds of this part of Florida often present some very in- 

 teresting features. One of evidently quite recent origin was discov- 

 ered about one-half mile north of Bayard Point, which is on the left 

 bank of the St. Johns nearly opposite Picolata, in Clay County. Its 

 height was about 4 feet 9 inches, diameter 4.5 feet. It was formed of 

 unstratified whitish sand, with occasional pockets of charcoal. Asso- 

 ciated with the several burials were objects of European origin. 

 " Somewhat south of the centre of the mound was a male skeleton 



