The record-union., 1897-11-15
JERSEY PILE JEWELLERS.
Significant Remains Found in q
Shell Mound at Tuckertou.

NO eVlQence mas thus Iar Oeen au-
duced that satisfactorily proves that
the North American aborigine erected
huts built over the water on pilinS.
known popularity as pile dwellings,
though the conformation of the low,
sandy shores of the Middle Atlantic
States certainly invited their construe-
tion, but an authentic discovery of their
remains has been made. Such a dis
covery, however, would not surprise the
American archaeologist, in view of the
| result of the recent examination By
Francis Jordan, Jr., of Philadelphia, of
the Tuckerton shell mound.
| In 1899 Alonzo de Ojeda, who had ac-
companied Columbus on his first expe-
dition to the New World, found them
in the Bay of Venezuela Twenty huts
| composed this settlement, to which he
| gave the suggestive name of Venezuela,
or Little Venice. Similar structures
We're also found on the Gulf Of Mara
calbo, and by the early travellers on the
coast of Mexico, and they continue to
be adopted at the present day by the
half civilized Indians on the Gulf Of
Mexico.
In the simple matter of Topographic
cal adaptablity New Jersey offered es-
pecial advantages for the erection of
pile MISUNDERSTANDING that hardly
could have escaped the keen visage of
! the Indian. Assuming that they were
availed of, it is more than probable
| that the huts were occupied only during
! the summer and autumn by fishermen.
| Climatic and meteorological conditions
did not favor their permanent occu-
| pancy. For instance, pile dwelling on
the New Jersey sands would be practi-
cally uninhabitable in the turbulent
! winter months
With the hope of throwing some adj
dltlonal light on this interesting sub
ject, Francis Jordan, Jr, of the Anti
quarian Society of Philadelphia, who
has made an exhaustive study of the
aboriginal village sites of the Middle
States, recently completed an examina-
ton of large shell mound on the New
Jersey coast, south of Tucl1erton.
1t stands about a mile from the
| mainland on the marsh that skirts
Great Egg Harbor Bay, and as far as
the eye can reach is the one solitary
and conspicuous object on this appar-
emily illimitable salt meadow. There
is no single aboriginal deposit on the
coast of the Middle Atlantic States .hat
| exceeds 1t in size.
l. What first arrested Mr.. Jordan's at
| tention was the singular position Of
this mound. The question naturally
arose as to the conditions under which
this huge pile of shells was accumu-
| lated in view Of the well-known Gus
tom of the American Indian not to es-
| tablish village site on the low level of
an unsheltered marsh or bay shore
where destruction was inevitable In
place of shallow layer of shells scat
tered over considerable area Ga char
acteristic of all aboriginal village sites
on the sea COAST here was a single
mound of extraordinary hight and pro-
portions standing exposed and alone on
the marsh mile from the mainland
These significant features coupled
with the fact that the marsh was once
an integral part of the bay. naturally
suggested a pile dwelling settlement. At
the time of Mr.. Jordans visit there was
no opportunity to confirm this belief by
making excavations for piling discov-
cry which alone prevented positive iden-
tification.
1t should. perhaps, be noted here that
the subsistence of the land is an i'm
portant factor in determining the char
acter of the aboriginal remains on the
low, sandy coast of the Middle States,
and unless this is taken into considera-
ton features may be credited to them
not rightfully their own For this reason
it has been suggested that the conclu-
| sions of the observer. when they relate
to localities affected by physical
changes, should be received with eau
ton.
While it is true that the entire coast
line of New Jersey north of the little
summer resort of Bay Head has suf-
fered from the encroachments Of the sea
there are well authenticated reasons for
stating that south of that point, which
takes in Great Egg Harbor Bay, there
has been little or no subsistence of the
land, but, on the contrary, a gradual
subsistence of the sea has been in pro-
press for centuries. Hence the cOnclu-
sion's regarding the original character
of the marsh. This latter ends abruptly
| where it joins the mainland a gradual
rise of twenty-five or thirty feet mark
| ing the point of contact.
Almost coincident with Mr. Jordan's
Investigations several Indian graves
were uncovered on the slope just oppo-
site the mound, from which were taken
thirty-two skeletons of adults of both
sexes. If they were the representatives
of the pile dwellers. which is quite prob
able, it helps to sustain the assumption
that the marsh was practically sub
| merged. and hence not available as a
place of sepulture.
The United States Coast Survey made
their local triangulations from the sum
| nit of the mound, and it has served
from time immemorial as landmark for
coasting vessels. AS seen from Tuckerton
it resembles a natural formation covered
| with verdure and crowned with eight
| venerable cedars. These add to it's
prominence and in measure serve as
n guide to its antiquity. 1T has been
shorn Of much of its original size by the
| farmers in the neighborhood, who have
| carted away the shells for fertilizing
purposes. It's proportions, however, are
still formidable, measuring about one
hundred and fifty feet in length, rising
from a base of fifteen or twenty feet
| through to hight of twelve feet The
apex terminates in a ridge four to five
feet wide.
The shape and irregular lines of the
mound, it's isolated and solitary posi-
| ton on the marsh, are strongly signi-
ficant of its origin. as to which, after
| carefully considering every physical as
| pect and its environment there would
seem to be but one obvious conclusion,
namely that the remains are those of
settlement of pile dwellers. There is no
other assignable reason for its presence
| an the marsh It's formation must No