50 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1016. 



have been more or less reduced by cultivation, the slope at the base 

 particularly having been plowed away for several feet. The mound 

 was reared both for domicile and for cemetery purposes and was 

 composed of rich alluvial soil from the surrounding field. Excava- 

 tion determined that the mound was not built at one time, but evi- 

 dently at different periods, as circumstances demanded. This was 

 shown plainly by the stratification of the mound soil, the occurrence 

 q_f graves at different depths with undisturbed earth above them, the 

 presence of fire pits or of evidences of fires throughout the mound 

 at varying levels, and by the finding of a few objects derived from 

 the white man in the upper part and in the slopes of the mound, but 

 not in the lower levels. From this last observation it is evident that 

 the occupancy of the mound extended well into the historical period, 

 a fact supported by the memory of the grandparents of present resi- 

 dents of the Nacoochee Valley, who recalled the mound when the 

 Cherokee Indians still occupied it and the siirrounding area. 



The fact that the mound was used for burial purposes is attested 

 by the finding of the remains of 75 individuals during the course of 

 the excavations, the graves occurring from slightly beneath the 

 summit to a depth of about 19 feet, or below the original base of 

 the mound. These graves, with few exceptions, were unmarked, and 

 in most instances were not accompanied with objects of ceremony or 

 utility. The exceptions were those remains with which were buried 

 stone implements, shells or shell ornaments, a smoking pipe, a pot- 

 tery vessel, or the like. The skeletons were found usually with the 

 head pointed in an eastwardly direction, and were all so greatly de- 

 composed that it was impossible to preserve any of them for measure- 

 ment and study, the bones in most cases consisting of only a pasty 

 mass. 



As mentioned above, most of the burials were unmarked. The 

 exceptions consisted of two graves incased and covered with slabs 

 of stone, both unearthed near the very base of the mound. One of 

 these stone graves contained a skeleton the bones of which were 

 largely of the consistency of corn meal, owing to the ravages of 

 insects, but what was lacking in the remains themselves was more 

 than compensated by the finding near the skull of a beautiful effigy 

 vase of painted pottery, the only piece of painted ware, whole or 

 fragmentary, found in the entire mound. The occurrence of this 

 type of vessel and the presence of the stone graves at the bottom of 

 the mound suggest the possible original occupancy of the site by 

 Indians other than the Cherokee. 



Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the mound was the large 

 number of smoking pipes of pottery, mostly broken, but in many 

 forms and of varying degrees of workmanship. Some of the pipes 

 are of excellent texture and are highly ornamented with conven- 



