1892.] Investigation at Tick Island. 579 
disturbed by digging but enough was seen to show that they 
were not folded on the abdomen as is often the case. The 
skeleton was of a man, the length of one femur was 16} in. 
One humerus was perforated, of the other the portion neces- 
sary for determination was decayed. One tibia was 14} in. in 
length. The lateral diameter was .82 in., the fore and aft 
measurement at the same point 1.44 in. giving a percentage 
of 57. 
COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE MOUND. 
As was the case during previous investigations no object 
indicating intercourse with the whites was found. Taking 
into consideration the quantity and quality of the pottery it is 
probable that the Tick Island Mound is of more recent con- 
struction than certain other burial mounds on the St. John’s 
in which no pottery is met with, for judging from its almost 
universal association with skeletons in so many mounds we 
must consider it probable that no cause save ignorance of the 
art of its manufatture can explain its absence in other burial 
mounds. 
In a careful investigation of the shell heaps of the St. John’s 
made by me, extending to Lake Washington, during which 
several hundred excavations were made in upwards of sixty 
localities, nothing in anyway indicating the presence of the 
whites was ever brought to light. It will be remembered that 
Prof. Wyman’s investigations had the same result. There are 
then strong reasons to believe that the last shell heap was 
completed prior to the arrival of Europeans. 
` In a large shell heap of the upper St. John’s I was fortunate 
enough to discover under several feet of shell a stratified 
burial mound, particulars of which I hope to publish later. 
From this discovery and from the fact that presence or 
absence of pottery in the mounds as a rule coincides with 
neighboring shell deposits I am inclined to believe that the 
larger burial mounds including Tick Island are contemporar 
with the later shell heaps at least and were abandoned prior 
to the coming of the whites. 
