ABORIGINAL RUINS ON THE WILLIAMS FARM, TENNESSEE. 419 



yye fonud fragments of charcoal and red burned earth one foot thick, 

 and four or five feet in diameter. At nine feet we found another stone 

 implement, evidently used in working- the earth. It has been broken, 

 and on that account may possibly have been thrown away by the work- 

 men engaged on the mound. There was nothing further worthy of note. 



CHARACTER OF THE MOUNDS. 



AH the mounds of this group, with the exception of T and Z, are 

 composed of yellow clay, evidently taken from the surface of the ridges ; 

 and all, with the exception of &, are rounded on top and reasonably 

 regular in outline. In general character, they seem to differ somewhat 

 from the Savannah group, for none of them appear to have been places 

 of deposit; in fact, I do not think there is a burial mound in the asso- 

 ciation. I am of the opinion that the few bones taken out are not those 

 of the mound builders, but that they are the remains of more recent 

 Indians, buried in the mounds by mere chance, or because their eleva- 

 tion above the common level gave them attractions as burial places. 



The arrangement of this "Williams Farm" group has quite strongly 

 impressed me with the belief that the mounds were made for two special 

 l)urposes — one set, as A, P, V,W, and iierhaps others, to stand as watch- 

 towers, from which to overlook the defenses, and the other set, as A, C, 

 F, O, S, U, W, X, to act as the lamp-posts of the town ; that is, erected 

 for illuminating purposes. I am led to this latter conclusion by their 

 situation at the heads of the valleys. Fires kindled upon them even 

 now, (and they must have been much taller originally,) would light every 

 foot of valley making up into the town site. Add to these a few that 

 might be selected upon the interior of the ridges, and the illumination 

 of the entire site might be made complete. I found the same arrange- 

 ment in the Savannah group. In fact, I have found it so in all the 

 groups that I have visited. 



SHELL BEDS. 



There are a number of shell beds in connection with these ruins, but 

 since they do not differ in any particular from the shell beds of the 

 Savannah group, I have thought it best not to go into any particular 

 exploration of them, or to trouble you with specimens. 



FOSSIL WOOD. 



In the same box with this I send you some specimens of fossil wood, 

 taken from " Chalk Bluffs" on Tennessee River, in Hardin County, 

 Tennessee. The "Bluffs" are caving banks, about three hundred feet 

 high, washed at the base by the river. 



I. The piece marked thus will explain itself. It is a sample of what 

 I wrote you about as being part wood and part stone. 



