New Britain herald., 1929-06-25
Oriental Pearls Found in Grave Of Indian On Barnes Plantation
 Puzzle to Experts On Migration
Gems From Far Of Asia Strung Around Neck of Brave Before He Is Placed in Burial Mound on
 Property of Local Man.

The discovery in an old Indian burial mound in Georgia, or what expert, have called "Orientaf nesrls was one of the rewards or Luther M. Barnes of Lincoln street vhen he and his employees opened mn the mound on his southern plan tation this winter, and MT. Barnes now has . number of unusual rel Ies n . result of his archaeological excavations.
 The pearls are remarkable be- cause of their character. They are In | necklace which was found arouad what was once the neck or a skeleton. The piece of jewelry was found to be composed of alternate large and small objects Of pecu- liar chalky texture. but when Mr. Barnes scraped two of the smaller ones he discovered. under the outer coating. glistening white spheres which resembled pearls. He LOOK them to . jeweler. who examined them and told him that not only were they pearls but they were orl- ental pearls, which are not found In this country.
 This has raised a puzzle which MT. Barnes has been unable to solve. It is not believed that the mound had been disturbed since the last English Spanish Indian battle Tn Georgia about 200 years ago. and how tho Indians came into possess sion of Asiatic gems is a mystery. It is possible. MT. Barnes thinks that they may have obtained them from the Spaniards, although this seems unlikely because of the vora- cious manner in which the Spanish dealt with the Indians.
 Well Dug By Spaniards
 MT. Barnes owns Woodbine plan- tation, a large estate in Woodbine. Georgia, just north of the Florida state line near Jacksonville. The land thereabouts has many histori- eal associations. On his property there is an old we'll dug by the spaniards, who were the first white men to settle that section of what is now the United States. Later the land became a rice plantation. but 1t had fallen into disuse long be- fore the local man bought 1t and much of the property is now a great swamp, densely overgrown with a tangle of wold trees and penetrated by former canals and the Satilla river. This river, old deeds and maps in MT. Barnes's possession show. was originally named the "St. lila" river. but this term has been corrupted by common practice and now appears in the version on maps.
 Mir. Barnes knew for long time that there was an Indian burial mound on the plantation, but it was only recently that he dug into it. He and his helpers were rewarded by the discovery of a partially mouldered skeleton, buried in a vitting position and surrounded by weapons and ornaments placed there to accompany their owner to the happy hunting ground"
 Tho necklace with the pearls was the most notable of these articles. Another necklace composed entire iy of pieces of the chalky material was also found. MT. Barnes is un- certain of the composition of this stuff. It looks as if it were a sedi- nentary rock, as there are definite strata in it, but it is white and is go chalky that it can actually be used for writing. A number of separate pieces of this material and of bone were also discovered. None of them are of fine workmanship except for the cleanly bored holes through some of them.