SHELL MOUNDS

Leander Ransom

The subject of "Ancient Mounds" and their builders has attracted the
attention of antiquarians, and men of science generally, for years. Much has
been written on the subject, and much may be written, yet conjecture forms
the basis of our knowledge regarding them.

California does not appear to have been visited by the "mound

builders," whose works are numerous in the Mississippi Valley, as no trace of
their work has yet been discovered on our coast. The only "ancient works"
in the form of mounds yet discovered, are what we familiarly term "Shell
Mounds," in consequence of their composition being largely of shells.

My attention was attracted at an early day to their existence on this
coast, and from some memoranda made by me in 1854, I have drawn up this sketch,
showing the position, appearances, and dimensions at that time, of a group of
such mounds situated about one-fourth of a mile inland from the Bay of San

Pablo, on the west side, a short distance below San Pedro Point, in Township
2 North, Range 6 West, Mount Diablo meridian. There are four of them. The

largest is eighty feet in diameter on the top, forming a perfect circle, and
twenty feet in height, with sides sloping about one and a half degrees to
one degree. Capt. Simpton, the proprietor of the land on which they were
situated, has erected a comfortable dwelling on the top of it, two stories
in height, where he resides.

Immediately in the rear, and extending northwardly, are three

others, about the same distance from each other, respectively sixty, forty-

five and forty feet in diameter at the top, and fifteen, twelve and ten feet

in height, with a basin-shaped depression in the top of each. They are situ-
ated in a beautiful and picturesque valley, well wooded, and thoroughly

shielded from the prevailing summer winds, by the surrounding hills and high
lands, with a stream of water at their base, and in full view of the waters
of the Bay.

Here must have resided a chief of a tribe, with his "men of science"
about him, as the position and shape of these mounds indicate more than ordi-
nary Indian skill and design.

Differences of opinion may and probably do exist as to the origin
of these mounds, yet the more general opinion appears to be that there was
no other definite object in their construction and subsequent growth than

the one herein suggested. They are undoubtedly the work of the present race
of Indians on this coast and their immediate ancestors.

Those that I have seen are uniformly situated in the neighborhood of
beds of mussels or other shell fish, either on the banks of bays or streams
of water, distant from a few chains to a quarter of a mile. A favorable
place is selected for a residence or lodge, and a commencement is made
by excavating a depression in the earth and throwing up a circular

ridge; or where the ground is too low, commencing a foundation by a basin-

* Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4: 86-87, 1873.

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shaped deposit of earth. Around and on the ridge, poles or stakes are plant-
ed, with the tops connected, to form a haystack-shaped structure, which is
covered by bark, or more generally with the skins of animals. Around this
lodge the refuse of their shell-fish, as well as the bones and other offal

from other animals are thrown daily. After years of such deposits and accum-
ulation, which at different times has been more or less covered over with

earth when the stench became too offensive, and when fleas and other vermin
became unbearable, a "purging by fire" is resorted to; then new structures
are formed, and another series of years and deposits is added.

Let this extend to centuries, as has been the case on this coast,

and you have the shell mounds which we see in favorable and desirable local-
ities.

There is another species of mounds similarly formed, but not for
the same purpose-, which I may call attention to at a future day.

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