Antiquities of the Southern Indians, Particularly of the Georgia Tribes

This illustrated large volume was published in 1873.From the Preface:ALTHOUGH the title intimates that our investiga- tions have been directed principally to an examination of the antiquities of a single State, the present work will be found to embrace within its scope a much more extended field of observation. In prosecuting the pro- posed inquiries, it appeared both unnecessary and im- proper narrowly to observe the boundary-lines which separate modern States. It will be remembered, more over, that the original grant from the British crown conveyed to the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia a territory greater by far than that now embraced with in the geographical limits accorded to her as a State. A striking similarity exists among the customs, uten- sils, implements, and ornaments of all the Southern Indians : consequently, in elucidating the archaeology of a region often occupied in turn by various tribes, it seemed appropriate to mention and contrast the antiquities of Virginia, the Carolinas, Florida, Ala- bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Our object has been, from the earliest and most authentic sources of information at command, to con- vey a correct impression of the location, character istics, form of government, social relations, manufac- tures, domestic economy, diversions, and customs of the Southern Indians, at the time of primal contact between them and the Europeans. This introducto- ry part of the work is followed by an examination of tumuli, earthworks, and various relics obtained from burial-mounds, gathered amid refuse-piles, found in an cient graves, and picked up in cultivated fields and on the sites of old villages and fishing-resorts. When ever these could be interpreted in the light of early recorded observations, or were capable of explanation by customs not obsolete at the dawn of the historic period, the authorities relied upon have been carefully noted. The accompanying plans of mounds were prepared from personal surveys, and nearly every typical object used in illustration may be seen in the author's collec- tion. Most of these relics were obtained by me in situ. They are now figured for the first time. To the friends who have kindly aided me in gather ing together a cabinet which so fully and beautifully represents the arts and the manufactures of these primitive peoples, I here renew my cordial and grate- ful acknowledgments. Prepared at irregular intervals and in odd moments asthey could be borrowed from the exacting and ever-recurring engagements of an active professional life,these pages, with their manifest short comings, areoffered in the hope that they will, at least in somedecree, minister to the information and pleasure of thosewho are not incurious with regard to the subject ofAmerican archaeology.Charles C. Jones, Jr.New York, April 10, 1873 Read more