FOSSIL HUMAN REMAINS AT VERO, FLORIDA 7 



The native vegetation is distinctive on the beach, on the flat- 

 lands, and in the stream valley. The beach is characterized by 

 spruce pine, Pinus clausa, and by an undergrowth of shrubs in 

 which evergreens predominate. The flatlands support a scattered 

 growth of long-leaf pine, Pinus palustris, the undergrowth being 

 chiefly saw palmetto. In the stream valley is found a dense 

 timber growth consisting chiefly of hardwood deciduous trees and 

 the cabbage palmetto. The outlines of the valley and of the beach 

 may be very definitely followed by the vegetation, which is con- 

 trolled in turn by the soil and by the drainage conditions. 



The drainage canal, which starts at sea-level on the Indian 

 River, extends due west about one mile before entering the valley 

 of the stream. After following the stream a distance of about 

 1,000 feet, and having passed under both the railroad and the 

 public road, the canal leaves the valley near the union of the two 

 tributaries, cuts through the beach, and extends inland in a general 

 southwesterly direction about 12 miles. The water level in the 

 canal at low-water stage at the locality where the fossils were 

 found is probably not more than 1 foot above sea, although upon 

 crossing the beach the water level is lifted by means of a spillway 

 to approximately n feet above mean sea-level. The land surface 

 for a distance of 12 or 15 miles inland probably nowhere exceeds 

 an elevation of 20 or 25 feet, except Ten Mile Ridge, which is 

 34 feet above mean sea-level. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE SECTION THROUGH THE STREAM VALLEY 

 INCLUDING STRATA NUMBERED I, 2, AND 3 



The section through the stream valley, as exposed in the canal 

 bank, includes three more or less well-marked divisions, which in 

 the present, as in the preceding papers, may be numbered 1,2, and 

 3, No. 1 being at the base of the section and No. 3 at the top. In 

 No. 3 of the section are found human remains and artifacts, 

 vertebrate, land and fresh-water invertebrate, and plant fossils. 

 In No. 2 are found human remains, flint spalls, and probably also 

 bone implements, as well as vertebrate, land and fresh-water 

 invertebrate, and plant fossils. From the basal member of the 

 section, a marine deposit, no human remains have been obtained. 



