46 CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 



An analysis of the stone tube is reported from the Peabody Museum as fol- 

 lows : " Rock seems to be a light volcanic rock, probably a tufa derived from the 

 lava called andesite. Not found nearer than the Rocky Mountain region in the 

 U. S." 



The occurrence of cylinders of stone and of pottery is reported from Florida 

 to Canada. 1 Their use is uncertain, though the weight of opinion inclines to their 



employment in the smoking of tobacco. Fig. 23 

 represents a tracing made from Troano Codex, by 

 H. C. Mercer, Esq., to whose courtesy we are 

 indebted for its use. 



At the time of our second visit (1892) the 

 mound was 14 feet in height and 305 feet in circum- 

 ference at the base. On the summit was the 

 usual plateau. Upon the sides grew live oaks of 

 considerable size, the circumference of the largest 

 being 9 feet at a distance of 5 feet from the 

 "round. The sand of which the mound is mainlv 

 composed seems to have an admixture of clay. 

 Fig. 28. From Troano Codex (full size), rendering it cohesive and difficult to dig. 



On the east an excavation was made with a 

 width of 5 feet at the start, broadening almost immediately to 8 feet, then to 11 "5 

 feet and decreasing to 10 feet and to 8 feet at the end. This trench, at times con- 

 verging toward the base, was 38 feet in length, with a maximum depth of 12 feet. 

 The mound is built on a large deposit of shells which forms its base and 

 extends on every side beyond. At the point where the trench was begun it was 

 necessary to dig through 2 feet of sand to reach the shell deposit. Of these, one 

 foot belonged to the present height of the mound, and the other foot may be consid- 

 ered as a part of the original height before a stratum of sand of that thickness was 

 formed on the surrounding shell deposit. The excavation passed through the cen- 

 ter of the mound which is not entirel}" regular in shape, being somewhat elonga- 

 ted to the north and south. It would seem, judging from the various strata as 

 shown in the plan, that a smaller mound, having its apex to the east of the present 

 center of the mound, had been covered with light brown sand containing a slight 

 sprinkling of shell and a certain percentage of clay, and that this outer layer had 

 not been put on in a way to continue symmetrical stratification. 



About 25 feet from the beginning of the trench, the strata C, D, E, F (see 

 plan) began abruptly. It is highly propable that these layers owe their discontinu- 

 ance at this point to some previous comparatively superficial excavation. The 

 strata B, C, D, E, F, viewed in connection with other mounds, present no remark- 

 able features, with the exception of the " muck " layer, D, which we have seen in 

 but one other mound in the river. No reference to such a stratum existing in any 



1 Annual Report of the Canadian Institute, 1887, page 41. 



