[DESCRIPTION OF MOUNDS]
Mound No. 1
Mound No. 1 (No. 24 on the plan of Santa Rita (fig. [14]), situated midway between Nos. 6 and 22) was conical in shape, nearly circular at the base, 18 feet high, and 90 feet in circumference. It was built throughout of large irregular blocks of limestone, the interstices being filled with limestone dust and earth, forming together a sort of friable mortar, which rendered the whole structure nearly as compact as a solid block of masonry.
Fig. 14.—Plan of Santa Rita mounds.
Excavation near the center of the mound, at a depth of 2 feet below the surface, brought to light a large circular disk of roughly hewn limestone, 3 feet in diameter by 8 inches thick. On lifting this it was found to cover the mouth of a bell-like cist, nearly 3 feet in diameter and about 5 feet in depth. On opening the cist, which was slightly narrower at the bottom than at the top, it was found to be nearly half filled with very fine brown dust, at the bottom of which lay a roughly made circular urn 18 inches in diameter, covered by a mushroom-shaped lid.
