THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 167 



CONCLUSIONS. 



While implements of iron, which certainly, and an ornament of gold and one 

 of silver, 1 which possibly, show European contact were found in the vicinity of the 

 surface, nothing at any depth indicated a knowledge of the arts of the white man. 

 In our opinion, Thursby Mound belonged to a period prior to the Discovery. 



Ginn's Grove, Orange County. 



This mound has twice before been examined by us. It was again visited with 

 a force of eight men to dig, and a careful investigation made, with the kind per- 

 mission of J. N. Whitner, Esq., the owner. As before, superficial burials were found 

 and abundance of human remains along the base. Two crania (Academy Cata- 

 logue, Nos. 1784 and 1788) partly imbedded in the shell base were saved in fairly 

 good condition. 



As on former occasions, relics were conspicuous by their absence, and our hopes 

 to find additional earthenware of the superior quality formerly yielded by the 

 mound, were doomed to disappointment. 



On the base, with the skeleton of a child, was a bead of shell about one inch 

 in diameter. 



Beneath the western slope of the mound, on the base, at that point about 2 - 5 feet 

 from the surface, was a portion of a molar of a mammoth (Elephas primigenius 

 Americanus). This fossil tooth was probably prized by the Indians as a stone. 

 Fossil remains have been found by us in Florida, bordering the river and in the 

 neighboring clay. We have seen remains said to have been brought up in seines. 

 Teeth of the mastodon and of the mammoth have been found in the- mounds of 

 Ohio. 



Two feet down was an undecorated bowl about 6 inches in diameter, in frag- 

 ments. 



The mound at Ginn's Grove is the one to which Dr. Brinton assigns a compara- 

 tively modern origin. During the many days of work included in our three visits, 

 with many trained assistants in addition to those handling the spades, we have dis- 

 covered nothing in any way indicating contact with the whites, nor have we noticed 

 marks of disturbance on the base, and we are therefore of the opinion that Dr. 

 Brinton's conclusions may be dismissed as based upon superficial and insufficient 

 evidence. 



Thornhill Lake, Volusia County. 



Reference is made in Part I to two mounds at this point. Eight days of Janu- 

 ary, 1894, were devoted, with a large party of men, to the total demolition of the 

 larger mound and the excavation of the central portion of the smaller one, in which 

 part alone burials were met with in that mound. 

 1 See Part I. 



