178 CERTAIN SAND MOUNDS OF 



extent, irrespective of association with skeletal remains, a comparatively central 

 deposit was made of objects of aboriginal art, often placed in comparative proximity 

 to the surface. It is evident, then, that mounds of this class on the lower river, 

 long under cultivation, have lost a great majority of their mortuary deposits, a 

 point to be kept in mind in considering their comparative poverty. 



Another point to be noticed is the almost total absence of incised decoration in 

 the earthenware of the lower river, which in nearly every case was plain or deco- 

 rated through the medium of the stamp, and that certain stamped ornamentation of 

 complicated design, unknown on the upper river, 1 was not infrequent in the sand 

 mounds within a dozen leagues of the river's mouth. 



The absence of skeletal remains in condition for preservation is a marked 

 feature of the mounds of the lower river. Indeed, with the exception of one skull 

 from the mound near Julington Creek, no human remains other than fragmentary 

 were encountered by us. 



In many instances, it will be remembered, tumuli of the upper river were built 

 upon shell-heaps, while a certain percentage of shell is often found scattered 

 throughout the sand. It is from such mounds, where lime salts from the shells act 

 as a preservative agent, that human remains may be looked for in comparatively 

 good condition. From the down-river mounds, then, in a region where no shell- 

 heaps are found, but little in the way of skeletal remains was to be expected. 



East Palatka, Putnam County. 



This mound, on the river's edge in a bearing orange grove, has long been under 

 cultivation. Its present height is 5 feet 7 inches ; its present base diameter, which 

 probably considerably exceeds the original, is 61 feet. 



The original mound was dug through by permission of Mr. Hanna, superin- 

 tendent of the grove, and subsequently refilled. 



The mound was not distinctly stratified, though along the base ran a layer of 

 sand with numerous bits of charcoal, having a darker color than the remainder of 

 the mound, which is whitish sand sprinkled throughout with minute pieces of char- 

 coal. Toward the centre of the mound was a dark layer of sand near the base, 

 about one foot in thickness, surmounted by a somewhat similar layer not directly 

 in contact. 



HUMAN KEMAINS. 



Human remains, too fragmentary through decay to determine form of burial, 

 were found in six or seven instances. 



STONE. 



Two feet from the surface, with human remains, was an unsymmetrical imple- 

 ment with rounded edge, about six inches in length, probably used as a hammer. 

 Two arrow heads were found separately on the base and four superficially. 



1 We have found one specimen of this pottery, superficially, in a mound about ten miles south of 

 Palatka. 



