ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS, 23 
ceremonial “killing” of vessels, in a region where it was seldom practised. This 
“killing,” as the reader probably is aware, was done to free the “soul” of the 
vessel that it might accompany the spirit of the owner on his journey. This 
custom was practised chiefly by aborigines of Florida and southern Arizona, 
sometimes by knocking a hole in the bottom of a vessel, sometimes by cutting 
a hole in it, after the completion of the vessel. Ceremonial vessels in Florida 
also were often made for mortuary rites, with a hole moulded in the base during 
the process of manufacture, similar to some of those present in this mound, and 
some vessels even had additional openings made in the body.! 
Fic. 3.—Pipe. Vertical section. (Full size.) 
Burial No. 2. "This pit, an irregular ellipse, 10.5 feet by 7.25 feet and only 
2 feet in depth, contained skeletal deposits including thirty-three skulls. 
Near a skull was a bicave ear-plug of hard earthenware, 1.3 inch in diameter, 
flaring on what was no doubt the side presented in front when the ornament was 
in use. Both faces bear a black polish now somewhat impaired. The circum- 
ference is comparatively rough. Presumably the remaining ear-plug had fallen 
from the skull before burial, or possibly had been lost in the process of reburial, 
which probably had been practised in this mound, to which custom we shall have 
occasion to refer later in connection with this place. 
Lying above a group of six skulls was a bowl of earthenware, unbroken and 
! The fullest details as to the “killing” of vessels are given in our reports on the archeology 
of Florida and of nearby regions. 
