The Meeker herald., 1906-03-31
MANY INDIAN MOUNDS
VALUABLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
DATA POUND N FLORIDA.
Beautiful Pottery, Human Emgiss end
crania Lately Exhumed and
Placed In Academy OF
Natural Science.

CrAn1A Lately Exhum0o ana
Placed In Academy Of
Natural Science
Clarence B. Moore has concluded bio
thorough archaeological survey Of the
coast line Of northwest Florida, Gays
Nature. Although this district had
not pre-, iousiy been inytetituttc, many
mounds had been opeLtL b. treasure
seekers aud curiosity hunters and thus
valuable data have been lost to the stu
irresponsible exploitation of mounds
for spoil has caused great loss TO
science In America, but the los in
the old world has been Infinitely great
er auG too often this ignorant digging
has been carried on under the auspices
of learned institutions. BY far the
greater portion Of MIR. Moore's finds
consists Of potter. which has been added
to the Ecble collection that this en-
thusiastlc arcnseoiogist has given to
the museum VI the Academy Of Natural
Science At Philadelphia Indeed. there
are In the various muEeums OF the United
States enormous collections Of pre-
Columbian And more recent pottery.
comparatively little Of which has been
studied or published. 1t is to be hoped
that ere lorg une Of our American col
leagues Will give Us . monograph on
AAmerican ceramics ~ whole; work
on this subject IL much needed at the
present DAY and It could not fall to be
NJ vary uremS infoHoRt
There IL so much variety In the YES
sels 20 numerously and beautifully
figured by Mr. Moore that It is difficult
to give an idea Of the pottery Of the
district investigated. Many vessels are
composed VI several cups or receptscles,
most are ui irregular form and are often
provided with animals heads. a few are
perforated. and come are in the form
Of human eflgtes; . unique vessel has
the form Of an inverted truncated pyra-
mid, ON one side Of which q human
fgure peering over the edge is modelled
in relief The majority Of the vessels
are decorated IN various ways. Usually
either BY in.ised lines or by devices
or patterns In low relief. many OF which
look as II they had been produced with
. stamp: one simple cylindrical vessel
10 oruamcrttd with an incised design
representing two human hands. but
most Of the designs and patterns have
NO obvious significance.
"A good many human crania have
been found. and these exhibit great
antero-posterior nattening. while in
some u concave depression gives evi-
dence of early construction BY . band.
Capt Bernard Romans, who was IA
miliar with this part of Florida. writ
ing In the latter part Of the eighteenth
century. tells Us that In his time the
Cnoctaws 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 IL, 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 infreauent occur
renceof earthenwnre vessels in the burial
mounds Of the coast Of the peninsula
I'm the nrst part Of his report Mr..
Moore noted mortuary custom prevail
ing in peninsular Florida. which con-
sisted Of knocking a hole in the base
Of Q vessel, presumably to 'kill' the pot,
that it, soul might accompany that OF
the dead man. The tlimsy and freak
pottery sometimes found in the PEN
Ursula, and numerously in the north
west, was made expressly for inter
ment with the dead, and In the base OF
each vessel q hode had been made pre-
vious to the baking Of the clay. new
feature in freak ware was encountered
about St. Andrews bay: these vessels
were hfe-forms, usually. but differed
from other iife-forms Of the came dis
trtct in that they were inferior TO them
~ to ware and Workmanship. and that
they had various perfo-,tions. made
previous To baking. in the body OF the
vessel a. 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; It 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 It was oc-
casionally practiced on the mainland.
or northwestern portion. These OBJ
servations confirm the statement Of
Cabeca de vaca. who spent some years
among the aborigines Of the northwest
Florida coast: he says that persons