20 CERTAIN ABORIGINAL MOUNDS OF THE GEORGIA COAST. 



which dropped into small pieces upon removal. In some cases the covering 

 of wood was simply thrown over. In one instance, however, in the case of a 

 child buried 2 feet deep beneath the extreme southern margin of the mound 

 which at that point was about on a level with the surrounding territory, the skele- 

 ton was covered by a coop 26 inches in length, 14 to 16 inches in breadth, lying 

 northeast and southwest. In this case the top consisted of flat pieces placed trans- 

 versly and not of logs laid longitudinally as in the case of the coop in Mound B. 



Beneath one burial was a thin layer of ashes, while another was surmounted 

 by a layer of oyster shells, 6 to 8 inches in thickness. 



No artifacts were present with the burials. A few sherds lay loose in the sand. 

 Superficially and near no human remains was a copper bead apparently of European 

 manufacture. 



The curious burials present in Mounds B. and C. in Lawton's field, where 

 skeletons were enclosed in pens, must not be considered as representative of the 

 coast since nowhere else have they been met with by us. We have it on excellent 

 authority that in mounds farther up the Altamaha this form of burial was in vogue. . 



Townsend Mound, McIntosh County. 



This mound, about one mile east' of Darien, was placed at our disposal by Mr. 

 J. S. Townsend, of Darien, the owner, to whom our cordial thanks are tendered. 



The mound, which, it is believed, had sustained no previous investigation, is 

 reported to have been under cultivation in ante-bellum days, and at that time, to 

 have been ploughed over for considerable periods. 



Its present height is 3 feet 8 inches ; the diameter of its circular base, 42 feet. 



With the exception of a few square feet surrounding two live oaks on extreme 

 marginal portions, the mound was completely dug through. 



The mound was composed of yellowish-brown sand, without stratification. 

 In various parts were layers of oyster shells. In the central portion was an irregu- 

 lar layer of these shells, 3 feet in thickness at places. Occasionally, near human 

 remains, were pockets of sand dyed pink or red, with hematite. 



HUMAN EEMAINS. 



This mound, a perfect charnel house, teemed with skeletal remains from 

 margin to center, human bones being met with at fifty-nine points, and it 

 probable that these interments represented the remains of fully seventy-five 

 individuals. 



Interments varied as to depth from .5 of a foot to 4.5 feet from the surface. 



Three forms of burial prevailed : cremation, the bunched burial and the burial 

 in anatomical order. Deposits of portions of human bones, charred and calcined 

 by fire, were noted at five points in the mound. Once charred remains lay associ- 

 ated with many bones unaffected by fire. We shall refer to this farther on. 



In all, 18 bunched burials were present, some representing parts of but one 

 individual, others being layers of bones in absolute confusion, one such having a 



