Abstract
WE have frequently directed attention to the splendid work done by Mr. Clarence B. Moore in his archæological investigations in Florida. In the second series of the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, part iii. of vol. xii. is devoted to a memoir on certain aboriginal mounds of the Florida central west coast, and, like Mr. Moore's previous publications, it is sumptuously illustrated. Perhaps the most interesting find is a fish-spear of native copper; this is a unique record for Florida. There is little doubt that the ancient coppersmith had arrived at the knowledge that hammering the metal gave it stiffness. Numerous copper ornaments were found, such as pendants and ear-plugs, some of the latter being decorated with symbolic designs. None of the skulls from this district exhibited cranial flattening, though it was extensively practised on the north-west coast of Florida. In the latter district were found ceremonial vessels in which large holes had been made before the firing of the clay, but they do not occur along the central west coast. The mounds on the Apalachicola River yield forms of burial similar to those prevailing along the north-west coast of Florida. Ceremonial vessels, “killed” by a basal perforation and by holes throughout the body, made before the firing of the clay, were found in considerable numbers; the ware is most inferior in quality, as might be expected of vessels purposely made for interment with the dead.
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H., A. Anthropological Notes . Nature 70, 138–139 (1904). https://doi.org/10.1038/070138a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/070138a0