SECRETARY’S REPORT 73 
original height and its contour has also been modified. Four test areas 
were dug in the vicinity of the present apex of the mound to deter- 
mine if possible where the original apex had been, and also to discover 
the physical makeup of the feature and the possible purpose for its 
construction. One of the test areas exposed the outline of a rectangu- 
lar structure with rounded corners and a subterranean floor. The 
posts which had formed the walls had been placed at 2-foot intervals. 
Because of lack of time the house remains were not completely ex- 
cavated. Enough was done, however, to determine its general charac- 
teristics. Two of the other test areas showed that the mound had 
been erected in several stages over a period of years. In each case 
the exterior mantle consisted of a hard-packed bluish-gray sandy clay 
which varied from 8 to 6 inches in thickness. Each mantle in turn 
had been spread over a layer of clean river sand averaging 1 foot 
3 inches in thickness. There had been at least four such features, 
and additional digging may reveal still earlier ones. Not much arti- 
fact material was recovered, but such as was found indicates that 
the latest culture represented probably was Cherokee with an earlier 
underlying Etowah horizon. The site may well have been that of the 
Cherokee village and mound known as Chauga. 
On the Georgia side of the Tugaloo River approximately 2 miles 
downriver from the Yonah Dam of the Georgia Power Co. is a village 
and mound site which also has Cherokee affinities. This is the largest 
site in the Hartwell Basin and lies on a sandy ridge 1,000 feet long 
and 150 feet wide which parallels the river. There was a small 
mound 150 feet from the northern limits of the ridge which upon 
excavation proved to be quite unusual. The top layer or manile 
consisted of a sandy humus. This covered a small mound of river 
cobblestones of various weights and diameters which was approxi- 
mately 2 feet in height and 18 feet in diameter. Directly underneath 
the base of the rock mound was a series of seven heavy-packed ash 
and calcined bone-filled basin-shaped hearths. Each of the hearths 
was circular in outline and averaged slightly over 5 feet in diameter 
and from 1 foot to 18 inches in depth. Because of the presence of the 
fragmentary calcined bones it was thought that the basins served as 
crematory areas over a long period of time. After the last or upper- 
most hearth had served its purpose, the cobblestone mound was erected 
over the crematory area, perhaps to indicate that it was a place of 
particular significance or to protect the features lying beneath it. 
Thus far such a manifestation is unique in southeast archeology and 
it may indicate a local cult which has previously passed unnoticed 
or has not been reported. 
Adjacent to and south of the mound were the remains of three 
houses representing different types of structure. The uppermost was 
approximately square and the walls had been constructed by placing 
