THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 27 



Pottery. — In that portion of the main trench bordering on the margin of the 

 mound numerous sherds were met with of good material and mainly of the stamped 

 variety. As we believe them to be of a later period washed from the surface and 

 ploughed under during cultivation, they will not be particularly described. 



Vessels of pottery were encountered in every portion of the mound, at times 

 singly and again in association with other objects or with each other. The material 

 was of fairly good clay, baked by exposure to fire, with no apparent admixture of 

 shell. As before stated, the presence of pottery, as a general rule, marked an 

 interment. 



So great is the pressure exerted by masses of sand that in numerous instances 

 vessels of pottery were crushed beyond recovery. Others, again, allowed of restora- 

 tion ; while a considerable number were recovered intact. As before stated, but two 

 vessels of pottery were broken by contact with the spade, the absence of roots being, 

 of course, a favorable factor in the work. Unbroken pottery in the river mounds 

 is a somewhat unusual occurrence, and beyond the large superficial deposits in the 

 Thursby mound and the specimens from Dunn's Creek our explorations have been 

 rewarded by but few examples of pottery not in a fragmentary condition. 



A number of vessels of patterns entirely new on the St. John's were found 

 during the work, and will be particularly described. 



One point in connection with Mt. Royal deserves special notice. Almost uni- 

 versally in the river mounds each burial is accompanied by small pieces of pottery, 

 to which, in many cases, the shape of the arrow or lance point has been intention- 

 ally given. We have previously referred to this custom in the American Natural- 

 ist, February and July, 1892, in articles descriptive of the great Tick Island mound. 

 In the Mt. Royal mound, bits of pottery with the skeletons were absolutely want- 

 ing, and such isolated fragments as were found had no connection with human 

 remains, and were probably of accidental introduction. We are of the opinion that 

 the former inhabitants of Mt. Royal, of greater possessions than the majority of 

 those who built the other river mounds, were not compelled by poverty to confine 

 themselves to the interment of sherds with the dead. 



Small pots of conventional forms were numerous in all portions of the mound, 

 but vessels of any size were absent and no fragments were found except superficially 

 to indicate the use of an}^ of considerable size. Thirteen feet from the surface and 

 7 feet north-east of the center of the mound was a vessel much resembling a half- 

 barrel in shape. The bottom was missing. Its height was 7'5 inches. Its 

 diameter at the aperture was 10' 75 inches, at the base 6 - 5 inches. The external 

 decoration was stamped. This vessel was the largest found and the depth at which 

 it was discovered showed stamped designs to have been in use at the inception of 

 the mound. 



Two feet below the surface was a vessel of yellow clay, 3*35 inches in height, 

 65 inches in diameter at the top, and 4*75 inches in diameter at the base, which 

 was intentionally perforated at the center. Near the upper margin of the vessel on 



