DISCUSSION
Mound A was erected on an alluvial terrace of Big Cypress Creek for the purpose of covering a grave. Prior to construction of the mound approximately a foot of humic topsoil was dug away from the surface of the terrace at the selected spot. A shallow grave was then dug in the excavated area, the body was placed in the grave along with two pottery vessels and an arrow point, and the mound was formed over the grave. When the basal portion of the mound was in place, the work was halted temporarily while a fire of considerable intensity was kindled on the incompleted mound—perhaps for ritual purposes. After the fire had been extinguished work on the mound was resumed and brought to completion.
The presence of artifacts in the sub-mound Zone IIb formation indicates that the surface of the terrace in the Mound A area had been lightly occupied prior to construction of the mound. The fill of the mound contained artifacts similar to those in the sub-mound formation, but also contained burned bone scraps, mussel shells, and fragments of charcoal in some quantity. This circumstance shows that the soil of which the mound was built came from a more intensively occupied area than any discovered in the terrace around or under the mound. The source of the mound soil was not determined.