REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 49 



and also that memorials of the early inhabitants of the Scandinavian 

 peninsula have been recognized in the extensive heaps of shells, 

 mostly those of the oyster, which were for a long time considered as 

 formations of the sea, but which have been shown by the Danish 

 savans to be the accumulated household refuse of populations who 

 lived in ages ascending beyond the records of history. The indica- 

 tions of the artificial origin of these accumulations consist in the 

 total absence of stratification which always characterizes marine de- 

 posits, and in the fact that the rubbish contains rude flint imple- 

 ments, charcoal cinders, and the bones of various animals, some of 

 which are, at present, extinct in the districts in which these mounds 

 exist. 



In our own country, besides the well-known Indian mounds con- 

 structed for special purposes, such as for sepulture and religious 

 observances, and as monuments of events, there are found on various 

 parts of the coast shell mounds, which, like those of Denmark, are 

 composed of the refuse of the repasts of the aborigines, and which 

 will undoubtedly reward the research of the archaeologist with inter- 

 esting facts in regard to the ancient inhabitants of the land we now 

 inhabit. Among the first essays in this line are those of Mr. Charles 

 Rau, of New York, published in the last report of this Institution. 

 They relate to an examination of mounds of this kind on the shores 

 of New Jersey. These indicate the places where the aborigines 

 were accustomed to feast upon the spoils of the neighboring beach, 

 remarkable for the abundance of oysters, clams, and other edible 

 mollusks. The places selected for this purpose were at some dis- 

 tance inland, and sufficiently elevated to be out of reach of high 

 tide. The direct evidence that these shell accumulations are of an 

 artificial character consists in the presence of numerous fragments of 

 pottery and stone implements. 



In one of the heaps and in the adjacent fields Mr. Rau obtained 

 more than 300 specimens of Indian manufacture, consisting of stone 

 axes, arrows and spear points, flint knives, and many pieces of broken 

 crockery. The axes are of greenstone, or of sandstone, of the usual 

 shape, and encircled by a groove for -the attachment of a handle.. That 

 the manufacture of arrow heads was carried on in this place is evi- 

 dent from the great number of flint chips and unfinished arrow heads 

 which lie scattered among the shells. These places were probably 

 camping grounds at certain seasons of the year. It is said that 

 similar shell-beds occur on Long Island, where the shells are used 

 for burning lime. They also exist in Georgia, on the coast of Mas- 

 4s 



