The burial was finally exposed at a depth of 3.6 feet below the surface of the mound, the floor of the grave lying at an average depth of 1.0 feet below the base of the mound. A vague area of discolored soil (which contrasted faintly with the surrounding undisturbed IIb sand) marked the location of the lower portion of the grave. The edges of the burial pit were quite indefinite, having been considerably disturbed by roots and rodents, but its appearance—both in flat plan and in profile—suggested that a shallow grave about a foot deep and just large enough to accommodate the body had been dug from the floor of the shallow sub-mound pit, the body had been placed in the grave, and then earth had been heaped over both the body and the shallow pit to form the mound.
The skeletal remains from Burial No. 1 were examined by Dr. T. W. McKern, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, The University of Texas. He has kindly provided the following statement:
“The skeletal material from Burial No. 1, Site 41UR10, Upshur County, Texas, consists of one skeleton in a state of poor preservation. Not only are the bones highly fragmented but not one, including the skull, has escaped the destructive teeth of rodents. The brain case is complete but the entire face is missing. Only parts of the mandible are present including both left and right molars (3rd not erupted) and a lower left 2nd premolar. The lower left dentition is in situ. No single bone in the postcranial skeleton is anatomically complete. Also, due to the young age of the remains, most of the epiphyses are missing.
“So far as possible, metric and morphological observations were taken and recorded. But because of the incomplete nature of these observations, they will not be reproduced here.
“The skeleton is that of a 14 year old male with a cranial index of 82 (brachycranic). Although the cranium is slightly distorted there is no evidence of artificial deformation.
“For pathology, the teeth show very little wear which is consistent with the observed age. One pronounced cavity was found on the mesio-disto-occlusal surface of the lower left 2nd molar.
“Because of the almost complete lack of knowledge concerning the range of physical types for the prehistoric populations of Texas it is impossible to associate this skeleton with any known Indian group on a strictly morphological basis.”
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.