HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



between two boards." 1 It was then placed in a grave, with many 

 ornaments and other objects. Moore drew attention to this occur- 

 rence when describing burials encountered by him in a mound on 

 Creighton island, Mcintosh county, a short distance south of Savan- 

 nah, and consequently not far from the former village on Yamacraw 

 bluff. He remarked on the discovery of traces of wood associated 

 with the skeletal remains, and said : "In seven cases layers of decayed 

 wood or bark, occasionally showing marks of fire, lay above human 

 remains, and in two cases, above and below." 2 There is little doubt 

 of these mound burials having been similar, in all essential details, 

 to that of the Indian who died in London in 1734. 



Farther south, in Florida, was the ancient territory of the Timu- 

 cuan tribes, which occupied the greater part of the northern half 

 of the present state, extending southward to the vicinity of Cape 

 Canaveral, thence across the peninsula to the western coast, reaching 

 the latter near the southern shore of Tampa bay. Within this area 

 are many mounds and other traces of aboriginal occupancy, some of 

 which may, however, precede the coming of the Timucuan group. 

 But it was the custom in this region to bury the dead in mounds, many 

 of which have been carefully examined. 



Near the center of the peninsula, in the present Lake county, is 

 a region which appears to have been comparatively thickly settled. 

 Here are many mounds, shell deposits, and other evidences of the 

 occupancy of the country by native tribes. Some mounds when 

 examined have revealed unusual features. One, about two hundred 

 yards from the right bank of Blue creek, was practically demolished. 

 "Its height was 5.5 feet, its circumference 165 feet. . . . About 

 one foot beneath the surface of the mound, which was otherwise 

 composed of white sand of the surrounding territory, ran a layer 

 of pinkish sand, having a maximum thickness of eighteen inches. 

 . . . Chemical analysis showed the coloring matter to be pulver- 

 ized hematite." Burials were encountered only beneath the unbroken 

 stratum of pink sand. "They were mainly on or below the base and 

 were all disconnected bones, crania greatly preponderating." A mound 

 somewhat smaller than the preceding, and about two miles distant 

 from it, contained many curious burials. "In all, thirty crania were 

 met with. ... At times bundles of long bones were found without 

 the skull, while in other portions of the mound fragments of isolated 

 crania were encountered. At times great bunches of long bones were 

 found with two or three crania in association. . . . Most skeletons 



1 Jones, C. C, Antiquities of the Southern Indians, New York, 1873, pp. 185-187. 

 1 Op. cit., p. 30. 



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