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.