or that cremation was practiced before burial, and the fragments of
bone not consumed by fire were gathered and deposited in the mound.
That the latter supposition is the correct one I deem probable from
the fact that in digging in the mound evidences of fire are found in
numerous places, but without any regularity as to depth and position.
These evidences consist in strata of from one to four inches in
thickness, in which the sand is of a dark color and has mixed with it
numerous small fragments of charcoal.

"My theory is that the mound was built by gradual accretion in the
following manner. That when a death occurred a funeral pyre was
erected on the mound, upon which the body was placed. That after the
body was consumed, any fragments of bones remaining were gathered,
placed in a pot, and buried, and that the ashes and cinders were
covered by a layer of sand brought from the immediate vicinity for
that purpose. This view is further supported by the fact that only the
shafts of the long bones are found, the expanded extremities, which
would be most easily consumed, having disappeared; also, by the fact
that no bones of children were found. Their bones being smaller, and
containing a less proportion of earthy matter, would be entirely
consumed....

"At the Santa Rosa mound the method of burial was different. Here I
found the skeletons complete, and obtained nine well-preserved
skulls.... The bodies were not apparently deposited upon any regular
system, and I found no objects of interest associated with the
remains. It may be that this was due to the fact that the skeletons
found were those of warriors who had fallen in battle in which they
had sustained a defeat. This view is supported by the fact that they
were all males, and that two of the skulls bore marks of ante-mortem