THE AUCILLA RIVER MOUNDS

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Aucilla and Wacissa River basins is the large number of Native American mounds that exist along and near the rivers. Reportedly, the area has the largest density of Native American mounds in the southeast.

Moore’s Investigations - While these mounds attracted archaeological interest just prior to the Civil War, it was not until the late 19th century that methodical investigation intensified. Soon the Gulf Coast came under scrutiny, and the Aucilla River area was targeted for exploration. Various ethnologists probed about, but the earliest mound excavation along the Aucilla was performed by John Rogan in the late 1880’s. Rogan was a Smithsonian field investigator, and he dug two mounds near the mouth of the river. He would later gain considerable notoriety for his work on the spectacular Etowah Indian Mounds in Georgia. However, nearly two decades would pass before another excavation was set in motion on the banks of the Aucilla, and the principal figure was a far different character than those who preceded him in the Southeast. Clarence Bloomfield Moore (1852 - 1936) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been described as a gentleman scholar, world traveler, industrialist and amateur archaeologist. Educated at home and abroad, he graduated from Harvard University in 1873 and then spent the next five years traveling including a trip around the world and treks down the Amazon River and through the Andes Mountains. Heir to a large interest in the highly successful Jessup and Moore Paper Company which he managed during most of the 1880’s, he garnered a massive personal fortune. Thus, he was able to leave the business world and pursue his passion for archaeology and photography.

To facilitate his archaeological explorations, Moore acquired and equipped a steam powered paddleboat which he named the GOPHER. Accompanied by Captain J. S. Raybon his crew and Dr. Milo Miller, who did skeletal identifications, he embarked on a series of investigations which covered the entire Southeastern United States and literally hundreds of Native American mounds along numerous rivers and the Gulf Coast. Captain Raybon led the hunt for promising sites and helped recruit local labor for the excavations.
As early as 1891, Moore was in Florida, and by 1902 he came to the “Lewis Place” formerly known as “Swift’s Camp” that was later acquired by Benjamin F. Lewis who had a homestead there and a cedar lumber operation. Moore’s excavation of the large mound at that location is perhaps the best known of such sites in the Aucilla – Wacissa basin. Situated on the East bank of the river about 2.5 miles from the mouth, it measured roughly 6’ high and 64’ in diameter. Although probably greater in size when originally completed, erosion and use by livestock corralled thereon may have diminished it somewhat. A number of burials were found along with pottery caches and other well-preserved artifacts. Moore returned to the Lewis Place in 1918 and finished his excavations, finding additional artifacts and more burials both within the big mound and in low rises of ground nearby. Thirteen burials were also located in a small sand mound situated in a field near the Lewis residence bringing the total burial count to sixty-nine. The Native American presence at the Lewis Place is attributed to the Weeden Island period dating in the range A.D. 300 to 1,000. Unfortunately, no sign of this great mound and accompanying sites exists today as it was destroyed by a subsequent owner’s construction activity circa 1960. It now comprises the Taylor County public boat ramp and landing on the Aucilla. Moore’s meticulous notes and publications along with an old photograph however, provide a fine record of the culture that once flourished there. The artifacts he extracted are somewhat scattered, but the majority were deposited in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. They were later acquired by the National Museum of the American Indian located in New York, NY. Remnant artifacts discovered later in the general area and in the river are now in the Aucilla Research Institute Collection by donation from Tall Timbers Research Station.

Other archaeologists would follow Moore into the Aucilla-Wacissa basin. In the 1930’s, Clarence Simpson investigated the area, and Vernon Lamme’s excavation of a mound in the “Calico Hill” sector of the Wacissa received considerable attention in Florida newspapers in 1935. Lamme’s discovery of a small stone human effigy figure led to wild theories about the Wacissa Native Americans originating from Aztecs migrating from Mexico. Lamme had been recently appointed as the state archaeologist but later became embroiled in controversy which led to his dismissal. He was later exonerated and reappointed. These early investigations were crude by modern day scientific standards and barely scratched the surface of the region’s rich and ancient archaeological complex.

Modern Techniques for Locating Mounds - A feel for the great density of mounds along the rivers may be obtained from an airborne LiDAR image of just one small area along the rivers. (LiDAR is an aerial mapping technique that uses a laser beam reflected from the ground surface to map the topography of the earth.)
The mounds that have been studied by archaeologists provide a glance into the life of early Native Americans in this area during prehistoric times. For most of them in the lower reaches of the river, the content includes seafood shells, animal bones, pottery fragments, residue from tool making, etc. from about 2000 – 3000 years ago, considerable older than the mound investigated by C.B. Moore. In addition, human remains from a more recent period have been found. As an example, one of the better-known mounds is the Coon Bottom Mound, located near the northern entrance to the Wacissa Slave Canal. That mound is roughly 90 meters by 60 meters in size and more than two meters in height. An archeological dig was started in that mound in 2009 by the Florida Division of Historical Resources but was discontinued after human remains were encountered in accordance with state law. Prior to discontinuing the dig, the tests “yielded primarily Early-Middle Deptford period (3150 to 2000 years BP) ceramic artifacts, as well as a full range of stone manufacture waste material, suggesting that the site location is near the source of that material. Food preparation waste material, shells and fragmented animal bones, indicated that the site occupants obtained their food from the river and surrounding woodlands to the Gulf Coast. Each test also yielded a limited amount of Weeden Island period (1500 to 950 years BP) ceramic artifacts, suggesting that the human remains may have been interred at the mound about a thousand years after its use as a quarry-related Deptford period base camp.” The artifacts suggest that the site was abandoned for hundreds of years and then used for limited ceremonial purposes during the later Weeden Island period. “Clearing and marking the mound would have served as one of the ways the later people indicated the area was part of their territory.” Interestingly, several of the other mounds that have been studied show the same pattern of having burials at a later period than the accumulated debris contained in most of the mound.
Interestingly, the Coon Bottom Mound was reported to have been also occupied by a different culture at an even later date. During the Great Depression, Archaeologist Clarence Simpson, encountered Eph Williams and his family living on the mound with an established campsite and garden area.
One possible explanation for the large concentration of Native American presence is that the area just east of today’s Wacissa Slave Canal was one of richest sources of chert. That material was widely used for making chipped stone tools and weapons. Regardless of the reason, it is clear that there was extensive early human activity in the area along the channels of the lower Aucilla and Wacissa, including that now occupied by the Canal based on evidence from the numerous mounds in the adjacent drainage.

Offshore Mounds - Interestingly, similar mounds have been found submerged along the banks of the relic Aucilla River channel located several miles offshore of the current shoreline. These mounds date back to the period when the Earth was recovering from the last glacier maximum and sea level considerably lower than present. At that time, the coastline was many miles offshore of the current location. One such mound recently studied was located next to limestone/chert outcrops nearby a now-submerged freshwater spring.

Mississippian Mounds - In addition to the numerous mounds along the lower portions of the rivers, other, much larger mounds have been observed in the general North Florida area. As an example, during the 1539 Expedition through the area by Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto, mounds of this nature were observed. A description of that expedition, written by Garcilaso de la Vega, described these mounds as follows:
… the Indians of Florida always try to dwell on high places and at least the houses of the lords are so situated even if the whole village cannot be. But since all the land is very flat, and elevated sites which have the various other useful conveniences for settlements are seldom found, they build such sites with the strength of their arms, piling up very large quantities of earth and stamping on it with great force until they have formed a mound from twenty-eight to forty-two feet in height. Then on top of these places, they construct flat surfaces which are capable of holding the ten, twelve, fifteen or twenty dwellings of the lord and his family and the people of his service …
… the Indians build two, three or more streets, according to the number that are necessary, straight up the side of the hill. These streets are fifteen or twenty feet in width and are bordered with walls constructed of thick pieces of wood that are thrust side by side into the earth to a depth of more than the height of a man. Additional pieces of wood just as thick are laid across and joined one to the other to form steps, and they are worked on all four sides so as to provide a smoother ascent. The steps are four, six or eight feet apart and their height depends more or less on the disposition and steepness of the hill. Because of the width of these steps, the horses went up and down them with ease. All of the rest of the hill is cut like a wall, so that it cannot be ascended except by the stairs, for in this way they are better able to defend the houses of the lord.
Mounds of this nature may also be examined by use of LiDAR as illustrated by the following image followed by an actual photograph of the same Mississippian mound as that illustrated by LiDAR.
Large mounds such as that illustrated have been found throughout the southern United States and are generally associated with the Mississippian Culture from the time period between 900 and 1500 AD. The people of that culture were farmers and were attracted to the same type of places later attractive to immigrating Europeans. Interestingly, the period associated with the Mississippian culture generally corresponds with the Medieval Warm Period, a time of especially good weather between 900 and 1300 AD. That period was followed by the so-called Little Ice Age from 1300-1850 which involve an era of unpredictable periods of cold weather. Whether related to climate changes or not, this culture had more or less disappeared by the time of the European immigration.

The Future – As may be seen from the examples that have been provided, the mounds from previous cultures represent a potential significant contribution to the mystery and uniqueness of the Aucilla area. Respect and care must be observed in the study of such artifacts since they often represent the burial grounds of earlier civilizations. But with the continuing emergence of new mapping technologies such as LiDAR and ground penetrating radar, there is promise for the location and protection of these unique artifacts and a more thorough understanding of the history of this region of the world.