The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-21
FLORIDA INDIAN MOUNDS.
SOME OF THE THINGS FOUND IN
THEM BY PROF. {. b. MOORE.

Small in stature. But Appear to
Have Been Vigorous Race.
Jacksonville. Fla, April 90.-Prof. c. B.
Moore, the noted archaeologist Of the
Philadelphia Institute Of Arts and
Sciences, is now enga ged. with a force Of
fifty negroes. in demolishing the largest
Indian mound in Florida, If not in the
United States.
The mound in question is situated on the
ST. Johns river. about twelve miles from
Jacksonville, or midway between the city
and ocean. 1t rises from the waters edge
eighty feet, and its summit is crowned
and made picturesque by a giant oak.
which sprang up centuries ago and has
hourished and grown strong by reason of
the sustenance furnished by the corpses
of countless Indians buried beneath. The
mound is now 6O.4 feet in diameter at
the base, or about ], 800 feet in circumfer-
ence In spite of its gigantic size now, it
Is estimated that fully a third of the
mound has been worn away by the action
Of the river. Hundreds of years must
have been required for this wearing away
process, for the St. Johns is a placid
stream OF such great breadth that no
freshet ever raises the water sufficiently
for 1t to go booming to the sea.
The mound is fringed with a tangled
growth OF oak, palmetto and cactus. Work
was begun half way up and then straight
IN ana down, and had progressed so far
last Thursday as to mould the mound into
the shape Of an intrenched and moated
citadel Against this citadel Prof Moore
was found lying prone. with his eyes close
10 the huge sandbank, busy with a trowel,
probing into the mysteries of this abort
ginal cemetery. Skulls, cross bones. lower
Jaws of all sizes, besides pieces of pottery.
We're scattered all about, for these were he
chaH OF the discoveries. The archaeolo-
slst was after more valuable things
trinkets, weapons, ornaments. ANYTHING
that would throw more light on the cus-
IONS OF those who inhabited Florida before
SoluInDus turned the Prov of his ship
Amid these gruesome surroundings the
mar a hundred negroes We're working
ana AZ singing their quaint ditties. At near
~ every stroke of the shovel a skull
Was turned up from which the supersti-
nous darkeys drew back with a gruDt
ol aWe-tor the negroes Of the south have
horror OF anything pertaining to the
cemetery Yet these negroes were hard
working, for the professor had adcpted
system of rewards for the more valu-
able hnds; Anything out of the ordinary
Was worth cigar, and one old darkey
VINO was the prize deliver of the party
mad his,hat band fringed with the brown
As the correspondent looked the negro's
shoNel threw out string of beads. The
next man yelled:
Lewis got somethin'." The next man
took up the refrain, and it circled the
hill in an lmprovised song
FINALLY Prof. Moore came sliding down
me mound and for two hours talked
to the correspondent about his expert
ence In exploring mounds. For a long
Tune the professor has been interested
a 10
for four years ne has been actiyelv en-
gagged in delving into mounds He has
examined these relics of the aborigines
Mexico. For six weeks he has been at
work in Florida, and the exploration of
the colossal mound he is now engaged
state.
According to Prof Moore all the Indian
mounds in Florida and the other states
OF the union are pre-Columbian. II have
examined thousands said the professor
and have not found a single one the
base of which was not laid before Column
bus set out on his voyage of discovery
l do not mean by this that all the mounds
were completed before the arrival of
Columbus on these shores, but l assert
that all / have examined-and / have
examined thousands-were begun before
the foot of the white man ever pressed
the soil. l know this because in none
OF the mounds has any trinket been
found, save near the top. which could
be traced to the handiwork of the
white men.
These mounds" continued the savant
were built almost entirely for burial
purposes, and my examination has reveal
ed some curious funeral customs in vogue
among the pre-Golumbian Inhabitants of
America The Indians did not put the
corpses in the mound Immediately follow
ing death. They would leave the bodies
on platforms where beasts of prey could
not get at them until the flesh dropped
from the bones, and then they would
put the bones in the mound and cover
them with earth. Sometimes it would be
five or six years before interment would
The dead were buried in layers The
mound would be begun and stand for
several years before an interment would
be made When a sufficient number OF
skeletons had accumulated they would
be placed In the mound and dirt thrown
over them. Sometimes many years would
elapse before the first layer Of skeletons
was complete. When sufficient skeletons
had been placed to cover the base of the
mound second layer would be begun
and the process was continued until the
mound was built to an apex. Frequently
right on top of the mound have found a
single skeleton. Just beneath there would
be two or three and so on down, the num-
Der increasing to the base. This mound
IS the largest | have ever examined, and
l am confident that at its base will be
found nearly a thousand skeletons.
In this mound, midway down, went
on Prof. Moore, a curious discovery was
made. We found the skeletons Of TWEEN
ty-four men, and by the side Of each was
1 a musket Of Spanish make. This find
proves that they were buried here after
the coming of Columbus and the Spanish
adventurers who followed him. Free
quently, in exploring the Florida mounds.
L have found muskets and sometimes
cutlasses, always of Spanish make, and
always near the top of the mound; never
below the middle has anything been
found that was not Of pre-Columbian orr
gin. peculiar feature about the mus
kets is that they all appear to be load
ed, showing that the Florida Indians be-
lieved in the Happy Hunting Grounds,
just as did their brothers of the west
Even in death the Florida Indians
carried out the idea of precedence that
swayed them In LIFE The chiefs were al
ways given the post of honor when placed
in the mounds. They were placed In the
center and the skeletons of the men we've
ranged about them. After all the men had
been placed in them came the women and
children. Come with me-" said the pro-
fessor, and / will show you what I
mean" and he led the way to the side of
the mound. We reached the top just as
the negroes had struck a layer of skele-
tons. On the outer edge were what were
plainly the skeletons Of women and chill
dren. Then came the warriors and in
the center of the men was skeleton of
larger size than the others.
THAT fellow was a chief" said Prof
Moore. How do you know? why. look
at those ornamentsr' Sure enough about
the neck Of the skeleton was string
Of beads from which dangled a miniature
tomahawk made OF some translucent