Ormond Mound

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Ormond Mound
OrmondMound0934.JPG
Location Indian Mound Park, Volusia County, Florida
Nearest city Ormond Beach, Florida
Coordinates 29°16′48.5″N81°3′12.4″W / 29.280139°N 81.053444°W / 29.280139; -81.053444
Governing body City of Ormond Beach
Type Florida Historic Site
Volusia County Florida No Highlights.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Ormond Mound in Volusia County

Ormond Mound is a Pre-Columbian burial mound of the St. Johns culture, in Ormond Beach, Volusia County, Florida, US.

St. Johns culture Archaeological culture in North America

The St. Johns culture was an archaeological culture in northeastern Florida, USA that lasted from about 500 BCE until shortly after European contact in the 17th century. The St. Johns culture was present along the St. Johns River and its tributaries (including the Oklawaha River, and along the Atlantic coast of Florida from the mouth of the St. Johns River south to a point east of the head of the St. Johns River, near present-day Cocoa Beach, Florida. At the time of first European contact, the St. Johns culture area was inhabited by speakers of the Mocama, Agua Fresca and Acuera dialects of the Timucua language and by the Mayacas.

Ormond Beach, Florida City in Florida, United States

Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 38,137 at the 2010 census. Ormond Beach is the northern neighbor of Daytona Beach and is home to Tomoka State Park. It is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Volusia County, Florida County in Florida, United States

Volusia County is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010 census, the county was home to 494,593 people, an increase of 11.6% from 2000. It was founded on December 29, 1854 from part of Orange County and was named for the community of Volusia, located in northwestern Volusia County. Its first county seat was Enterprise. Since 1887, its county seat has been DeLand.

Contents

Overview

The Ormond Mound (a burial mound can be classified as an earthwork or conical mound and is defined as a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs or remains [1] ) has been preserved as an intact burial mound in eastern Florida. The site was turned into a City Park in 1982 due to the efforts of the community.In 1982, the owner of the property that the mound was constructed on wanted the mound removed. Controversy surfaced in the community as the property owner attempted to level the land in order to build a house. As a result of public outrage; the community’s and Volusia Anthropological Society's [2] demand for the site to be classified as a historical monument, the Ormond Mound and surrounding area was purchased by the city. Government officials hired archaeologists in an effort to validate who built the site and for what purpose. The archaeologists concluded that the mound was constructed by Timucuan Indians, also identified as the St. Johns people. The Timucuan were inhabitants of the area before European settlers. [3]

History

It has been estimated that over 100 individual burials are in Ormond Mound, based on salvage excavations that were conducted in 1982. As more bodies were deposited into the area and were covered with sand and other minerals, the earthwork took its "distinctive mounded appearance". [2] Most of these remains were laid to rest during the late St. Johns period, after A.D. 800. The remains were oftentimes buried with their most prized possessions. [2] Apart from human bones, items found after the site was analyzed included utensils, Indian beads, Spanish trading beads, and pottery sherds. [3]

A charnel house, a structure used to store bodies prior to burial, was located near the Ormond Mound. These structures were separate from the village [2] and were used by the St. Johns people to prepare the corpses of mostly high-ranking and important people for the afterlife. The dead were laid out on wooden racks and allowed to decompose. A charnel house attendant, usually a high priest or a bonepicker, [2] would carefully remove the flesh from the bones as they decomposed. The job of a bonepicker was known throughout the community as one of the most prestigious jobs to have. [4] [5]

After the bodies dried away, the charnel house priest would end up with individual sets of cleaned bones.. Each set of bones was bundled up and buried in mounds during special ceremonies. This method accounts for the many skeletons found in burial mounds. [4] [5]

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References

  1. N/A, N/a. "Burial Mound". Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Claire, Dana. "Ormond Burial Mound Contains Remains Of Prehistoric Indians". Newspaper Article. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 Castagnacci, Dave. "Ormond's Burial Mound Rests in Peace". Newspaper Article. Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 True Natives: The Prehistory of Volusia County (1992), By Dana Ste. Claire, The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach
  5. 1 2 A Nature Wooing at Ormond by the Sea (1902), By Willis Stanley Blatchley

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