The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1904-09-20
MANY YINDIAN NGRAVES
VALUABLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
DATA FOUND IN FLORIDA.
Many Mounds Have Been Opened By
Relic Hunters, Thus Losing
VALUABLE Data.

thorough archaeological survey Of the
coast line OF northwest Florida" says
Nature. Although this district had
not previously been investigated, many
mounds had beer opened by treasure
seekers and curiosity hunters and thus
valuable data have been lost to the stu.
Gents OF American archaeology. Thif
responsible exploitation OF ncu: {:
for spoil has caused great loss tC
science in America, but the los II
+. the old world has been iLlLit; treat.
er and too often this igLorait 4 :.iG
has been carried on under the al. L.ttf
Of learned Institutions. Dy far taC
greater por;icn ci Mr. Meorc's +. I
consists OF 10 er! which La D,<i at41t
to the nc, co.it, lion thai tits tn.
tLusiastic ircAato.c cgist hsa fi,en L
the musnua. o. the AcaGeH! ci ;. urS@.
Science at PhiaG> iphia. l,t. j"cr
are in theyarious museums q tae lli.tI
States enormous collections Of pre-
Columbian a@G mere recent IcEtry
comparatively little OF which az ltti
studied or published. 1t ig 10 II atp.L
that ere loIe one Of our Americas col
leagues viii give US a mo- clraph on
AAmerlcan ceramics as whole; work
on this subject is much needed at the
present day and 1t could not fail to be
of very great Interest.
There is so much variety in the yes
sells 20 numerously and beautifully
figured by Mr. Moore that 1t is difficult
to give an idea Of the pottery of the
district Investigated Many vessels are
composed of several cups or receptacles,
most are OF irregular form end are often
provided with animals heads, a few are
perforated, and some are in the form
OF human ef1igles; a unique vessel has
the form Of an inverted truncated pyra-
mid, on one side Of which human
figure peerlng over the edge is modelled
in relief. The majority Of the vessels
are decorated In various ways, i?Gally
either by incised lines or by devices
or patterns in low relief, many CT which
look as II they had been produced with
a stamp; one simple cylindrical vessel
is ornamented with an incised design
representing two human hands, but
most Of the Gcsipus and patterns have
no obvious significance.
"a good many human crania have
been found and these exhibit great
antero-posterior nattening, while in
rome a concave depression gives evil
dence Of early construction by band
Capt. Bernard Romans, who was ia
miiiar with this part Of Florida. writ
ing In the latter part OF the eighteenth
century, tells us that in his time the
Choctaws bound bags OF sand to
the heads of male children; but
skulls OF females exhibit the same
artificial reformation. The region in
vestigated by Mr. Moore shows in an
interesting manner the Influence of
other districts The pottery Of north
west Florida s on the whole, much
superior to that Of the peninsula, and
the author is inclined to believe that
the best ware found Its way into the
latter region throuGh barter, and the
comparative rarity of the imported ware
may account for the irfrcCuent occur
renceof earthenware vessels In the burial
mounds of the coast of the peninsula
TN the first part Of his report Mr..
Moore noted mortuary custom prevail
ing in peninsular Florida, which con-
sisted OF knocking hole In the base
Of vessel, presumably TO XIII the pot.
that Its soul might accompany that of
the dead man, The flimsy and freak
pottery sometimes found in the PEN
insula, and numerously In the north
west, was made expressly for inter
ment with the dead and in the base of
each vessel hode had been made pre-
vious to the baking OF the clay A new
feature In freak ware was encountered
about st, Andrews bay; these vessels
were life-forms, usually, but differed
from other life-forms of the same dis
trict In that they were inferior to them
as to ware and workmanship, and that
they had various perforations, made
previous to baking, In the body of the
vessel as we'll as the customary one In
the base
''Mr. Moore also obtained evidence
which suggests that the flesh was re-
moved from the bones of the corpses
and burnt; the mass OF carbonaceous
matter was always found on the eastern
side of the mounds, Urn burial was
largely In vogue In Alabama and
Georgia: II extended into Florida, but
practically Is not met with further east
than St. Andrews. Illumination was
almost universally practiced in Flor
ida: true cremation has not been met
with In this peninsula, but 1t was oc-
casionally rracticcd on the maitland.
or northwestern portion, These OBJ
servations confirm the statement OF
Cabeca de Vaca, who spent some years
among the ahorielues OF the northwest
Florida coast; he says that persons
there In general were buried. but that
doctors we're cremated."
Spralns.
s. A. Read, Cisco, Tex, writes March
IL, 1901: "My wrist was sprained SO