UNEARTHED AN ANCIENT TOMB

An Interesting Discovery at the Oakland Race Track.

QUEER INDIAN SKULLS.

Their Remarkable Formation Interests Professor Meriam of Berkeley.

ONE THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

President Williams' Museum of Ancient Anatomy at the California Jockey Club.

The Oakland racetrack is at the present moment a happy hunting ground for enthusiastic archeologists, a state of affairs directly due to a most important discovery recently made in that locality. This is nothing less than an unusually fruitful specimen of what is commonly termed the shell-mound or kitchen midden, now generally admitted to be the burial ground of presumably autochthorous Indian tribes long ago extinct. Mounds of this description have frequently been found in many parts of California, and in fact all along the Pacific Coast, but in this particular instance the discovery referred to is of such a character as to suggest to the eye of an expert much greater antiquity than the average type.

This opinion is held by Professor Meriam of the Berkeley University among others. He was notified of the find without delay, and has secured two skulls for examination and preservation in the university museum.

About a week ago George Bleasdale, who is the foreman of the work of improvement now in progress on the Oakland racetrack, began to level the mound in question in order to prepare a site for the new stables, and also to obtain earth to fill up another portion of the track. Hardly had the workmen begun to dig than one of them, more fortunate than the rest, like the gravediggers in "Hamlet," suddenly unearthed a skull,

Thomas H. Williams, president of the California Jockey Club, and A. M. Allen, superintendent of the work, soon heard of the occurrence and immediately visited the scene of the discovery. Both gentlemen seemingly take keen interest in the abstruse subject of shell mounds, and eagerly determined to thoroughly investigate the nature of this particular sample of the species. A hole was accordingly dug some six feet in depth and not more than seven feet in diameter, and within this comparatively small space fully eight skulls in a more or less perfect state of preservation were brought to light, as well as a large quantity of bones from other portions of the human frame, as for example bits of the spinal column, hip and thigh bones.

The whole of the mound is otherwise composed of clam, mussel and oyster shells in a state of decomposition and is estimated to be at least 200 yards in diameter.

Skull of Strange Conformation Discovered in a Berkeley Shell Mound.

One marked peculiarity of all the skulls which have thus far been unearthed is the peculiar formation of their upper portion above the eye-sockets. As will be seen from the accompanying sketch the owner's head must have been entirely devoid. of what moderns call the forehead and that it recedes abruptly, thus indicating an extremely low order of intelligence.

Moreover, the occipital parts are of enormous thickness and scarcely calculated to be easily broken in time of war, which, from the point of view of their happy possessor, was, no doubt, a distinct advantage..

A representative of THE CALL visited the racetrack yesterday afternoon and after sundry inquiries was sufficiently fortunate to light upon George Bleasdale, the foreman of the improvement work, who very courteously communicated all he knew concerning this unique shell mound.

"We began to level it early last week,” said he, "as we intend to use the site for the new stables and also require the earth for filling-in purposes. Eight skulls, I think, were found in all, and as many as four of these within ten inches of each other, as well as hundreds of other bones. Four of the eight skulls were fairly well preserved, but the remainder were broken up into several pieces. Two professors from the university were over here a few days ago, and I understand that in their opinion these relics are at least a thousand years old. Perhaps the site of this racetrack was used by those old Indian tribes as a battle-field, and the mound was where they afterwards buried their dead.

"One reason for my thinking so is that from the position in which we found the bones it is certain that the bodies were placed in the earth anyhow - some of them upside down and all jumbled up together in terrible confusion, The bones were covered with finely powdered shells. Seems to me,” added Mr. Bleasdale, facetiously, "that these fellows must have feasted on clams, oysters and mussels every time they had a funeral. Here's a bit of a spinal column. If it originally belonged to a human being he was evidently much bigger than we are nowadays. You'll notice, too, that the teeth in these skulls are very heavy and sharp - made so artificially, no doubt. I've often found shellmounds in this neighborhood, but have never before seen skulls of the same formation as these."

The original of the skull shown in the sketch was kindly loaned by Thomas H. Williams, the president of the California Jockey Club, who intends to have it restored. When questioned on the subject of the discovery he stated, that Professor Meriam of Berkeley had taken possession of two of the better preserved skulls, on behalf of his faculty, and had also expressed his opinion as to the antiquity of the mound in the terms previously quoted.

In the course of the next few days the entire mound will be plowed up, when further interesting developments may be looked for. It is worthy of remark in this connection that the examination of the mound has yielded nothing in the shape of domestic utensils or warlike weapons, such as are often found in other mounds of California.

UNEARTHED AN ANCIENT TOMB shellmound Merriam 25 Aug 1896, Tue The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California) Newspapers.com

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