Page 4 - philipmillsjones1923

1923] Jones: Mound Excavations Near Stockton 115

REPORT BY THE AUTHOR

In certain mounds near Stockton two unique types of aboriginal
manufactured products have been found, and, as these mounds have
been dug into most unsystematically by amateur collectors, it seemed
wise to endeavor to secure some of this peculiar material. The
unusual objects referred to were brought to my attention by Mr.
James A. Barr, Superintendent of Schools of Stockton, who has per-
sonally dug many of them from the mounds in the vicinity of that
city. They are, first, rudely made baked clay balls, found in large
numbers, generally plain but occasionally decorated, and rarely of
fanciful shapes. Second: certain chipped obsidians of rather un-
usually fine workmanship and peculiar curved outline. In the Amer-
ican Archaeologist for 1898, and the Land of Sunshine, 1899, are
papers by H. C. Meredith, in which these "Stockton curve" obsidians
are described and illustrated. Their genuineness is questioned by
H. N. Rust in a letter to the American Archaeologist (1898). Certain
masses of obsidian will produce curvilinear flakes when struck. In
Barr's collection are several such specimens, unworked and partly
worked, which were found by him in a mound from which a number
of specimens of the finished object were obtained.
Barr has also found finished specimens in two other mounds in
the vicinity, generally near the head of skeletons. The opinion that
these curved obsidian objects were used by the Indians as "cere-
monial bleeders," is advanced by Meredith, and has also been sug-
gested to me, in discussion, by W J McGee. Experimental operations
by me demonstrate their inadequacy for such a purpose. The super-
ficial locations in which they have been found, in loose soil, and
with skeletons in the upper strata, indicate comparatively recent
manufacture.
MOUNDS 1, 2, 3
On July 27, 1900, I made camp near a mound about 200 yards
south from the dry bed of Mormon slough, 9 miles east of Stockton.
This mound, no. 1, is some 300 feet long by 200 feet wide, and
at the highest part near the center is between 4 and 5 feet above the
level of the surrounding plain. It was carefully examined by run-
ning trenches at right angles through the center and by sinking pot-
holes at various places. So far as I could determine, the mound had
not been disturbed save for some ploughing over the surface. Mounds