# Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Mounds in Alachua County, Florida

MOUNDS IN ALACHUA COUNTY, FLORIDA.
By James Bell, of Gainesville, Fla.
There are at least fifty mounds within 20 miles of Gainesville, Florida. The accompanying sketch gives the location of six which have been examined, and of which the descriptions are given in this paper.
Fig. 1.
Mound No. 1 was 7 feet high and 30 feet in diameter, and located in a cleared field which has been plowed over for the last twenty years.
​A shaft was sunk below the original surface. Openings were also made in the sides. But no relics whatever were found.
Mound No. 2 is situated in the same field 300 yards north of No. 1. It was at the time of its examination 10 feet high and about 95 feet in base diameter. Like No. 1, it had been much plowed over. A shaft was sunk in it below the base and extended laterally, but nothing was found excepting a few fragments of charcoal and pottery.
Fig. 2.
—Mound No. 3—looking north (1 and 2 shafts: 4, 4 Pottery.
Mound No. 3 is upon a hummock near its edge. It measures 12 feet in height, and 105 by 70 feet in base diameter. Being situated on the slope of the hummock, the summit of which overlooks the mound, this work seems to have escaped observation. A family living only 30 yards distant were very much surprised to find it a burial mound. Two large trees were growing on the top at the time of my visit, and the entire surface was covered with a dense growth of bushes and grape-vines. The accompanying sketch will convey a clear idea of its appearance. A shaft 6 feet in diameter was sunk to the original surface. After digging down about 10 inches broken pottery was encountered in great quantities, but so much shattered that it was impossible to restore a single vessel.
Fig. 3.
Mound No. 3—looking west.
The first bones were found about 15 or 18 inches from the surface. This stratum extended over the mound for a space 30 feet in diameter. There appeared to be three tiers of bones about a foot apart. The bodies had not been buried here; the bones seemed to have been thrown in promiscuously.
Being compelled to abandon my work for a season, other persons dug ​into this mound and recovered some valuable pottery. One large basin was made in imitation of a duck with wings and bill exposed.
Resuming the exploration, the surface was dug over for a space of 30 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep. Within that area not less than one thousand skeletons were exhumed and at least two wagon loads of pot-sherds. This pottery commenced about a foot from the surface and extended down to the first stratum of bones.
Mound No. 4 was only 4 feet high and 15 feet in base diameter. Upon examination it was found to contain no relics.
FIG.4.Mound No.5 looking north; 1, 2, 3 shafts:4, 4, 4 charcoal and ashes.
Mound No. 5 was 10 feet high and 32 feet in base diameter, and very symmetrically shaped. It was situated on a hummock about 50 yards from the margin of the arm of Payne's Prairie. This was formerly a lake, but about twenty years ago the water disappeared through the sink. It remained dry for about three years, when it filled with water and has remained a lake ever since. This mound was examined (see Fig. 4) and a stratum of ashes, charcoal, and charred bones encountered 3 feet from the surface.
Mound No. 6 was about 8 feet high and 80 feet in base diameter. It stood in a cleared field which had been plowed over for a number of years. Nothing was discovered within it, although a ditch was cut through from one side to the other.