The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-03-14
FLORIDA CANNIBAIS.
Mounds which Coatain Bvsaeaes Of
the Cann1haa1stao Proetaoos Of
the Original Indians Of
the 6totas%

"a oASAoSOAO8A AoSS duO 0uI0IOQOHsRl0C
Florida has been fruitful from the tim,
of LIE Moyne, who escaped the St. johns
river massacre in the latter part Of tn,
10th century, to the present date. L,
Moyne was among the first, if not tn.
first. explorer of Florida antiquities
|sand he came under the many disad
vantages Of three centuries ago, anl
in country full of hostile tribes and
infested with more hostile white men
The latest follower of this daring ex.
plorer is a gentleman who is about to
start from this port on tour Of in.
vestigation of Florida's antiquities in
vessel built and equipped for the
special purpose and accompanied on
the voyage by small coterie of con-
genial friends. This gentleman is Prof
&. b. Moore, representative of the Phil.
adelphia Academy of Natural Sciences,
and his vessel is the Gopher, which has
been built specially to foat in shall
low waters. 1t also combines all the
comforts of a winter home, a library,
study rooms and laboratories, dark
rooms for photography and all the
paraphernalia necessary in the study
of natural history, wherever the chance
for such study may be found.
The party will be made up of Prof.
Moore, who is at the head of the work,
and from whose pen will come the re-
ports tothc scientific world of the re-
searches that are made here. His asso-
ciates are DIR. M. G.. Miller, DIR. b.
Henry and DIR. C. S. Walker, each of
whom will make a study of some par
ticular branch of the subjects that are
to be Investigated. Prof. Moore was
called upon in his commodious quar-
ters on the Gopher just as the boat
was about to leave for a trial trip ur
the river. =
Il have spent 21 winters in Florida
he said, ''and have made quite study
of her extinct races, as well as of her
present inhabitants. i carrya crew OF
six men besides the engineer and cap
tain, and all of these men have had
with me for several seasons before
They are trained mound diggers, and
they know what kind of work is re-
quired of them in that branch. have
made a special study of the mou eds Of
Florida, and have opened at least 100
shell mounds and nearly 200 sanc
mounds in this state. The collection
of Florida anthropology and relics in
the Philadelphia Academy of Natural
Sciences is the best in the world, and
is larger than all others combined.
''The shell mounds of Florida are de-
posits of the shells of fish that were
eaten by the early inhabitants of this
country, and are really refuse heaps
Above Palatka the shells are those of
fish that could live in fresh waters and
what 1 should call peri.
winkle. From Palatka to Jacksonville
there are q few of these mounds, and
below here and nearer to the ocean
he shells are those of the oyster. The
,Xtent of these mounds is sometimes
and shows that they must
have been the accumulations of great
spaces of time. Thatmound from which
:. H. Curtis, of Bluffton, has been send
ng some samples for paving your
streets in Jacksonville covers about 35
lcres, and have dug into it to a maxi
mum depth Of 25 feet. You will sec
hat they are not mounds of conical
shape, like the sand mounds, but were
as 1 think, by the throwing |
lside of the shells as the fish were con-
umed by the Indians. At every depth |
# their formation have found fire.
,lace in which fish were cooked. Wher |
he accumulation of shells left these /
replaces in a hollow these hOllows were
He'd up and another fireplace was
tarted above the old one, or in another
lace.
IAN interesting fact has been proven
" the surroundings Of these fire.
'laces, and that is the inevitable con
lusion that the original Florida In
ian was a cannibal. have found to-
ether about these feeding places the
ones of the wild turkey, the bones Of
deer cracked open to get at the mar
ow and the bones of human beings.
haired and showing the result OF
ooking. If 1 had seen but one instance
+ this should not make the assertion.
ut it has been proven by repeated dis
overies, and the conclusion that 1
ave reached is that the Indian of cen
nries ago in this state was in the
atit of eating his kind.
1.-THE sand mounds were formed in 81
iherent manner. They are conical ia
hape, and were evidently built with
reat care. They were used ms the
urial places Of the dead. and we have
,und evidences Of their having also
cen used as places of residence. They
ere formed IN straits or layers, which
ere built one aboFe the othef 4twide
separated periods of time. Inn also
that they were constructed, at
ast many Of them, in pre- Columbian
eriods, but how long before the dis
,very of America by Columbus I am
ot able to determine. We have been
,le to trace to a certain extent the re-
tions Of these Indians with the other
ibes in other. parts Qf the country
b hsve fo1nd mar 81 rdeccb u >Cp1er|
IL kid n19d 1Akef cop1f, pethatf
hick y to1nd in4tike no1laefa p41r
sula Of Michigan and In the Lake
,perjor region, from which the pe-
liar kind takes IT. name. Thcxe In.
ms did not have the knoweledge os "A
. alloys Of metals, and the lax. cop :
= Il pure metal, while thai which s
- known n Eprope Eaa .alloyqq, e.
-. / hsye raasen fhis factby 6oso~
/ analysis o1 ~ metal that ! here !
und a 4hses q md ~ tsasifa {