THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 



47 



Section ef'Movnel trf Bluffton. 



A, center of plateau; B, brown sand and shell ; C, lighter brown pure sand ; D, " Muck " layer ; E, 

 brown sand with slight admixture of shell ; F, shell ; H, brown sand with slight admixture of shell; I, shell 

 base ; K, apex of shell base, L, balls of sand ; M, point where C, D, E, F, were lost; N, beginning of excava- 

 tion. 



other mound of the State has come to our notice. The material, while in the 

 mound and damp, could be moulded like wax, and slices cut from it resembled the 

 section of a truffle. Some hundreds of yards from the mound is what is termed a 

 "muck pond," and from this was probably taken the material which, with an 

 admixture of clay and sand formed the stratum. 



The point at which the various strata reached their highest, with the excep- 

 tion of the outside covering of brown sand, was distant 8 feet east of the termina- 

 tion of the trench, at which point these strata had considerably descended from 

 said apex. At the base was a shell ridge (K), probably an irregularity of the 

 shell deposit previous to the formation of the mound. 



About 5 feet from the surface, above the apex of the shell ridge (K), were 

 found two balls (L), nearly round and about one foot in diameter. They were 

 apparently composed of a mixture of sand and clay, with an intermingling of bits 

 of charcoal and fragments of calcined shells of Unto. The balls had appar- 

 ently been subjected to heat, having a hard outside coating varying from - 25 to - 5 

 of an inch in thickness. They were broken with great difficulty. 



HUMAN REMAINS. 



With the exception of intrusive burials which were frequently met with at a 

 short distance below the surface, no human bones were found during the entire 

 excavation. From intrusive interments three humeri were obtained, all perforated. 

 Two tibiae belonging to one body had marked anterior curvature. Their indices 

 were 73*8 and 75*8 



Three broken arrow heads, superficial and probably belonging to the period of the 

 burials ; a tubular bead of shell 2 - l inches in length, 3 feet from the surface (Fig. 



