714 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



as he speaks of ''small pearls similar to those whieh are brought from 

 Spaiu to barter with the Indians." ' These I thiuk we may safely 

 assume to be shell beads, as it is not likely the Spaniards brought 

 true pearls to barter to the Indians for furs and pelts. Moreover, very 

 few pearls have been discovered in the mounds of that southern sec- 

 tion which have been opened, while on the contrary shell beads have 

 been found in great abundance. 



In one of the mounds of east Tennessee three small copiier sleigh 

 bells were found by the skeleton of a child, in a large mound contain- 

 ing many other skeletons. These are perhaps wliat the early writers 

 call "hawk bells," but have precisely the form of the sleigh bell. The 

 mound in which they were found, as will be seen by referring to the 

 preceding held report, was of considerable size, and there was no rea- 

 son for supposing there were any intrusive burials. In fact, intrusive 

 burials in mounds seldom, if ever, occur in eastern Tennesse; no posi- 

 tive instance has been brought to light by the extensive exi^lorations 

 of the Bureau of Ethnology in this section. 



In another mound in the same section, on which a small pine tree 

 was growing and which presented no indications whatever of having 

 been disturbed, was found a steel-bladed, bone-handled case-knife. 

 This was of the old style, having the end of the blade curved upward. 

 The mound in which it was found had never been plowed, was of com- 

 paratively small size, and about (! feet high. The knife was found near 

 the bottom; there was no intrusive burial in the mound, and if not 

 deposited at the time the mound was thrown up it must have fallen in at 

 a subsequent excavation, though the clayey soil of which it was formed 

 presented no indication of such disturbance. 



Mention is made in the preceding part of this v(dume of a stone hav- 

 ing engraved upon it letters of the Cherokee alphabet, which was found 

 in a mound near the locality of the old Cherokee settlements in the 

 valley of the Little Tennessee. The strange circumstance in this case, 

 which presents a puzzle difficult to solve, is that the evidence seems 

 positive that the mound was at least a hundred years old, and that it 

 was known that it had not been disturbed in sixty years. 



A small mound in Bartow county, (Georgia, on being excavated was 

 found to be composed wholly of clay and to contain no indications of 

 burial. This had not been disturbed since it was built, as was evi- 

 dent from the undisturbed strata, yet at the bottom, among other frag- 

 ments, was a small piece of glazed pottery, which Mr. Hohnes i)ro- 

 nounces of Spanish origin. 



A mound situated on the bank of the Savannah river at Hollywood 

 was I'ecently opened by Mr. II. L. Reynolds, one of the Bureau assist- 

 ants, which contained undoul)ted evidence of contact with European 

 civilization. This is situated in the section wliere most authorities 

 agree in locating the Indian town of Cutifachiqui. visited by De Soto 

 in his famous expedition, and is heretofore raenth)ned. 



' Hiikluyt .Soc. Pub., viil. ix, ji. 180. 



