The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1915-02-01
SEVEN SKELETONS FOUND AT
QUIET PONCE PARK :.
(By L. C. Demaree.)

buttons. The bones just found prob
ably antedate the bones found thirty
years ago by Mr.. Jones. At least there
are no trinket concomitants-noth
to offer any clue as to time, race or
ANYTHING else. The bones appear to
be those of mature men of average
build The only auxiliary find was a
half.buried coral rock, a beautiful
specimen of coral, weighing about ten
pounds. This coral rock may have
been a marker. The skeletons were
under twin live oaks. The rock was
about three feet south of the tree far
therest south and within one foot Of
the nearest skull. Whether by mere
chance or by design no one can say,
but the twin oaks stand a step apart,
north and south, another step would
bring you to the coral rock, and a
foot farther was the nearest body.
The inference of foul play is strong.
The bodies seem to have been fairly
piled on each other, as many of the
bones of the arms and legs lay cris-
cross, and the skulls of several were
in such proximity as to indicate a
hasty burial or a reckless Indifference
and disregard of the customary forms
of disposing of the dead.
AS to the manner of death this is
purely speculative. Some of the skulls
are whole, even to the lower jaw, with
many of the teeth, while others are
cracked and naturally very much
eroded If the bodies were buried at
all only a little earth was scraped
away and a superficial covering made
as the skeletons were only a few
inches below the surface Small roots
from the trees and bushes have insin-
uated themselves into the skulls
through the openings of the eyesock-
cts, the nostrils, etc.
Captain Pacetti is sure his father,
Capt. Bartholi Pacetti, knew nothing
of any such massacre, or of its history,
or he would have told of it within his
lifetime. The elder Pacetti came here
in 1S43, ~ years ago. There was a
massacre by the Indians south of the
inlet shortly after his coming here.
The victims in that case were ship
wrecks. After the Indians withdrew
toward the west Captain Pacetti and
led the victims of the massacre.
1t seems that this present rural re-
treat in the years, the centuries gone,
has witnessed many conflicts, life and
death struggles. Through ages untold
the tide has flowed and ebbed while
the endless schools of fishes filled the
waters; the water birds blackened the
water and the tide water streams
were fairly chOked with savory mol
lusks. Such We're the enticing delica-
cies that man has frequented these
shores centuries before Europeans
knew there was a world on this side
of the ocean, The pottery of the abor-
igines buried in the huge shell mounds
bear mute witness of their presence
here through the centuries.
Veterans of the late war say that
the shell mound, now owned by Theo- .
iore Rhodes, and surrounded by a
beautiful citrus grove, bore evidence
IF having been used as an ancient
'ort. 1t was striking landmark here
md commanded fine view and range
If the Halifax river, at the same time
protection to those at the
mound
Grandma Sheldon, who died at a
'ipe old age at New Smyrna, a com.
1aratively few years ago, little
ireamed when she played as a girl
lnder the giant limbs of centuries.o,d
i've oaks growing on an old shell
mound at her doorsteps that several
Get beneath the shells were buried
steps and masonry, the work
If a people who lived so long ago that
Tod only knows their history.