FLORIDA. 109 



second, of such rude workmanship and eccentric forms that no industrial or ordi- 

 nary use could be made of them by any one. 



Another view may be taken of this group of exceptional facts. It may be 

 noted first, that the perforating and making of perforated vessels used in burial and 

 the placing of sherds, shaped and unshaped, with the dead is confined, mainly at 

 least, to Florida and the Gulf coast, and that these practices pertain to compara- 

 tively recent times. It may further be observed that articles of European make, 

 Venetian beads, Spanish olive jars, articles of metal, etc., are found in many 

 mounds of this region, thus indicating the very general practice of mound-building 

 during the period following the arrival of the Spaniards — a period extending over a 

 hundred years or more. Considering these points I would suggest the idea that 

 possibly this whole group of extraordinary mortuary practices may have grown up 

 in post-Columbian times. The most prolific sources of gain known to the Spanish 

 were the cemeteries of the aborigines and the seekers of El Dorado and the Foun- 

 tain of Life wei*e the princes of grave robbers. It would be but natural that peo- 

 ple possessing the ready resources of the southern Indians, finding the graves of 

 their fathers ruthlessly desecrated by the invaders in their mad search for gold and 

 pearls, should, while still preserving the spirit of their mortuary customs, cease 

 to consign to the ground any articles of real value. Notwithstanding the 

 seeming improbability of this theory, for the time appears too short to have per- 

 mitted the construction of such numerous and important works, it will be conceded 

 that the inroads of hordes of avaricious and merciless strangers must have exer- 

 cised a powerful influence on the habits and customs of the native tribes and such 

 phenomena as these mentioned would seem a not unnatural result. 



As to the use of earthen vessels as receptacles for the bones and ashes of the 

 dead we have little information. In the Appalachian districts to the north it was 

 a somewhat usual practice to place the bones or portions of the bones of deceased 

 persons in large vases which were carefully covered with a lid or inverted bowl 

 when buried. 



Age. — From numerous and very careful examinations of the phenomena of the 

 shell mounds and deposits, the conclusion is reached by Mr. Moore that the earliest 

 occupants of the St John's were without pottery and that sufficient time has 

 elapsed since the earlier period of occupation for the development of the art, as in- 

 dicated by successive stages of advancement in shell-deposit remains. This would 

 be the order of things if events conformed to the ideal scheme of evolution. 



In a number of cases where there is a succession of layers in the midden de- 

 posits the lower strata are without pottery. Resting upon these are beds contain- 

 ing only the rude forms of ware characterized by thick walls, clumsy shapes and 

 plain surfaces or incised-indented decorations of primitive character. In the su- 

 perior beds this pottery gives way to less rude forms having characters typically de- 

 veloped in the leading groups of ware found in superficial deposits and on the sur- 

 face. 



With respect to the absence of pottery from certain deposits or portions of de- 



14 JOURN. A. N. S. PHILA., VOL. X. 



