What Is the Hidden Story of the Strange Indian Shell Mounds?
THE Indian
shell-heaps, or mounds, of California have ever been a source of wonder. They are to be found
from one end of the State to the other, wherever a beach, bay or estuary
gave the savages an opportunity to gather the succulent bivalve. The origin
of these mounds is shrouded in mystery, and, strange as it may seem, little
effort-has ever been made to fathom it.
Paul Schumacher of the Smithsonian Institution
published a
brief account of his investigations of a mound in San Luis Obispo county in 1874, since which time, no other article worthy of note dealing with the
subject has appeared. The University of California has in preparation a
pamphlet on the result of the investigations of the shell mounds of Berkeley
and
Shell Mound.
Marin county is dotted with these heaps. They are to be found near
Sausalito, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Ross, San Rafael and Novato. Varying
slightly in size, they are identical in form and structural elements. For
example, the mound near Mill Valley is oblong, being approximately 400 feet
long by 300 feet wide, and about 20 feet in height. One mound near
Alto is
somewhat longer and not quite so high. This one has a wagon road cut
transversely through its middle.
Concerning the purposes of these mounds, the following questions naturally
arise: Were they of a ceremonial character? Were they burial mounds? Or,
were they simply the result of casting offal and rubbish in the same place
for ages? In considering these questions it is necessary to give a
description of the materials found in the mounds.
The mounds are composed almost entirely of shells, Clam shells, mussel
shells and oyster shells, with barnacles, here and there, make up most of
the body. With few exceptions, all of the shells appear to have been opened.
Interspersed throughout are the bones of human beings, animals, birds and
fish. At the very bottom, the shells are thoroughly disintegrated-mutely
testifying to their great antiquity. As the top is approached, the shells
become gradually more firm and sound, until, at the very surface, they are
almost perfect.
The creation of these mounds must have required generations, if not
centuries. And, whatever their purpose, they were evidently the result of
seasonal or temporary operations, for layers of earth recur at short
intervals in the strata of shells. This would indicate that the Indians
dwelt in the neighborhood of the mounds at certain seasons of the year only,
probably during the winter time when food, other than shellfish, was scarce.
During their residence elsewhere the winds would drift the sand and earth
over the shells.
Why these mounds were constructed is a question difficult to answer.
Schumacher believes that they are nothing more than heaps of kitchen offal.
But, if such be the case, why are the mounds so large, and why are human
remains found in them? His contention is supported by the fact that few
arrow-heads, spear-heads, flint knives or others implements are to be found.
Careful examination seems to indicate that these deposits are the result of
tribal ceremonial feasts. Were they not the result of concerted tribal
action, one would naturally expect to find multitude of small
heaps, and such is not the case. The California Indian was never noted for
his sense of neatness, nor for his observance of sanitary rules, and his
laziness was such that he would not carry his kitchen refuse very far from
his fireside, let alone carrying it to the top of a mound, even to relieve
himself of offensive odors.
Examination of a transverse section of one of these mounds discloses
well-defined beds of ashes, which are large and from three to twelve inches
in depth. Underneath them is usually found a base of burned and smoke-marked
stones. This goes to show that the shellfish, animals and birds were
cooked, eaten, and their refuse dropped on the spot. The recurrence of the
beds of ashes in each stratum of shell shows that the feasts were held
whenever the tribe gathered in the vicinity. It is reasonable, then, to
suppose that the holding of these feasts on the same spot, year after year,
until the surface was raised some fifteen or twenty feet above the level of
the earth, could only have been in accordance with some sort of ceremonial
observance.
That these mounds were, in any sense, burial mounds, is not to
be considered. Why human remains are to be found among the shells and other
bones is hard to surmise. The Indians of California venerated their dead,
and funeral ceremonies were carefully carried out. They either burned their
dead or else carefully buried them. In either case, the personal
effects - bow, arrows and ornaments - were laid with the body. None of the human
bones found in the shell mounds are charred or marked by fire, hence the
mounds could not have been funeral pyres. Those skeletons found are not in regular position, and are sometimes
scattered, and no trinkets or implements surround them, showing that they
were not carefully or regularly buried. Their presence is an enigma. Are the
human remains those of enemies slain in an attack on the rancherias, or are
they those of members of the tribes who built the mounds, and who were
deemed unworthy of regular burial?. The solution must be left to time.
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