ABORIGINAL STRUCTURES IN GEORGIA; 289 



river, but the peculiarity which distinguishes it from its companions is 

 that around the apex stout earth walls were raised to the height of sev- 

 eral feet, thus causing a depressed or guarded top. 



Near the banks of the Appalachee Eiver, in Morgan County, may still 

 be seen occasional artificial pits, some 4 feet in depth and G feet or more 

 in diameter. Upon removing the debris of leaves and earth with which 

 they are filled, their bottoms and sides indicate the influence of long- 

 continued and intense fires. Fragments of pottery also occur in them. 

 It would seem that they constituted a sort of rude oven in which the 

 Indians baked their clay vessels. 



We might multiply instances of tumuli still extant in the valleys of 

 the Oconee and its tributaries, but having already described and figured 

 those in East Macon and its vicinity,* enough has probably been said 

 to convey an intelligent idea of the aboriginal monuments of this sec- 

 tion. 



ANTIQUiriES OF SPALDING COUNTY, GEORGIA. 



By W. B. F. Bailey, of Griffin, Ga. 



About three miles west of Griffin, in a field known to the inhabitants 

 of this vicinity by the name of Walnut Level, is, from present appear- 

 ances, a place where once a thrifty Indian village was situated ; but 

 whether inhabited by the Creek Indians or by the more ancient mound- 

 bfiilders is unknown. This field contains, in one place, a perfectly level 

 plain of four or five acres, which, when first cleared, was a walnut 

 grove, in which the Indian village was situated. East of the village, 

 and not more than 100 yards distant, runs a beautiful little stream, now 

 known as " Wilson's Mill Creek." This stream and the fertility of the 

 land no doubt attracted the people of this ancient village. With the 

 exception of broken pottery and a few arrow-heads, no relics are left to 

 mark this spotj though I am told by the old inhabitants that when the 

 field was first cleared they would plow up urns of a curious shape, but 

 not deeming them of any importance left them on the ground; and 

 nothing now remains but a vast quantity of broken fragments. Of this 

 pottery there are thousands of pieces, ranging in size from that of a 

 silver dime to pieces as large as one's hand. I have no doubt but that 

 a man could gather five or six bushels of fragments in one day. This 

 pottery is of two different styles of workmanship, one being plain and 

 the other carved in the " cord fashion." These relics are fast dis- 

 appearing, and in a few more years scarcely anything will remain 

 except a few arrow-heads. One mile east of this is a small lake, about 

 a quarter of a mile in length and 30 feet wide, with an average depth 

 of 4 feet. On the banks of this lake and in the surrounding fields a 

 great number of arrow-heads are scattered around. The water in the 



•Antiquities of the Southern Indians, &c., p. 158 et seq., New York, 1673. 

 19 S 



