456 CERTAIN ABORIGINAL REMAINS OF THE N. W. FLORIDA COAST. 



Mound near Basin Bayou, Chootawhatchee Bay, Walton County, Fla. 



This mound was in thick scrub, about one-quarter mile in a westerly direction 

 from the first habitation on the western side of the bayou, on property of Mr. 

 George Berry, of Portland, Fla. The mound proper had a diameter of base of 40 

 feet, a height of 6 feet 6 inches. A graded way 28 feet long and 20 feet across, 

 where it joined the mound on its S. W. side, was about 3.5 feet lower than the 

 mound where it united with it. 



A hole involving half of the central part of the mound had been dug previous 

 to our visit. 



The mound, with the exception of certain marginal parts, was dug through by 

 us. Careful search failed to discover that dark line which we usually recognize as 

 marking the base. The outer part of the mound at the N. E. side was composed 

 entirely of black, loamy sand, rich in organic matter, having a maximum depth of 

 6 feet. This did not seem to be midden material, but muck from swampy ground 

 near by. The remainder of the mound was of yellow sand, with black sand above 

 it in varying depths, but nowhere approaching the depth of the black sand at the 

 side of the mound. 



While the former digger doubtless disturbed certain burials, yet, as the excava- 

 tions made by him converged considerably, it is not likely a large percentage was 

 affected. It is probable that certain burials had disappeared through decay, as, in 

 addition to some scattered bones, but four burials were met with by us. Three of 

 these consisted of decaying fragments of skull with friable pieces of long-bones, all 

 between 6 and 7 feet in depth. A number of long-bones in fragments lay together. 



Five and one-half feet from the surface was a bowl 3 inches in diameter, with 

 perforate base. No remains were found near it, though it is likely a burial had 

 lain with it. 



No artifacts were with burials, practically all objects met with by us being 

 near the bottom of the deposit of black loam on the northeastern side of the mound, 

 in which were no burials. 



Near together were four undecorated bowls all with base-perforation and all 

 slightly broken in addition. Near them lay many pieces of mica. 



Several fragments of excellent yellow paste lay somewhat scattered. Pieced 

 together, they showed a fragment 7.5 inches in height, of a cylindrical vessel with 

 fiat base. The design, carefully made with a blunt point, is symbolical. The head 

 of a duck stands out in relief for a handle (Fig. 48). Most careful search was made 

 for the remainder of this vessel throughout the entire deposit of dark sand, and we 

 are forced to believe that the fragments obtained by us represent all that was in the 

 mound, and that this portion of the vessel, as Mr. Fewkes says of another class of 

 objects, "should come under the group of sacrifices called substitutional, or symboli- 

 cal, a part for the whole." l 



A number of scattered fragments formed part of a pot decorated with crimson 

 paint. 



1 " Property-right in Eagles among the Hopi," American Anthropologist, October-December, 

 1900, p. 690. 



