198 



PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



by a large ditch or artificial canal, which at its lower end communicates directly 

 with the river. This moat (Gr Gf) at present varies in depth from five to twenty- 

 five feet, and in width from twenty to seventy-five feet. No parapets or earth- 

 walls appear upon its edges. Along its line are two reservoirs (D D), of about 

 an acre each, possessing an average depth of not less than twenty feet, and its 

 upper end expands into an artificial pond (P), elliptical in form, and somewhat 

 deeper than the excavations mentioned. 



FIG. 345. Earthworks in the Etowah Valley. 



"Within the enclosure formed by this moat and the river are seven mounds. 

 Three of them are pre-eminent in size, the one designated in the accompanying 

 plan by the letter A far surpassing the others both in its proportions and in the 

 degree of interest which attaches to it. 



" The central tumulus rises about sixty-five feet above the level of the val- 

 ley. It is entirely artificial, consisting wholly of the earth taken from the moat 

 and the excavations, in connection with the soil collected around its base. It 

 has received no assistance whatever from any natural hill or elevation. 



" In general outline it may be regarded as quadrangular, if we disregard a 

 slight angle to the south. That taken into account, its form is pentagonal. 

 On its summit this tumulus is nearly level. Shorn of the luxuriant 



