Mound No. 6 A
Mound No. 6 A, another of the group of mounds adjoining the southwesterly boundary of Santa Rita, measured 18 feet by 15 feet at the base, by about 3 feet high at the highest point, and was built throughout of earth, large blocks of limestone, and limestone dust. The mound rested directly on the limestone formation. Into this, near the center of the mound, an oval excavation had been made (see C C, fig. [25]) about 10 inches in depth, and in size just large enough to contain the skull which was found within it. A ledgelike projection was left at one edge of the excavation (see E, fig. [25]), and just beneath this rested the point of the jaw. A large heavy flag of limestone (see D, fig. [25]), from which a semicircular segment had been chipped, was placed above the excavation opposite the lip, so that the groove in the stone inclosed the neck and clamped the skull tightly down in the little hole which had been made to receive it. On each side of the skull the femora were found, in a nearly vertical position, condyles downward, and between the femora many fragments of other bones were brought to light, including the tibiæ, arm bones, and vertebræ. Resting upon the limestone flag which covered the skull lay a large, rudely made chert hammerstone, 8 inches long by 4 inches broad, which had probably been used in chipping out the semicircular groove to fit the neck. Near the center of this mound, 2 feet below the surface, two very neatly made flint hammerstones were found. The dimensions of this skull were: Length, 14.22 cm.; breadth, 16.76 cm.; circumference, 48.26 cm.; cephalic index, 123. The base of the skull was so much damaged that the height could not be ascertained. The extreme breadth in comparison with the length, giving it a remarkably brachicephalic appearance, was possibly, to some extent at least, the result of post-mortem compression from before backward within the little cavity which contained it.
Fig. 25.—A, skull; B, limestone formation; C, excavation; D, grooved flag in situ; E, projecting lip.