NO. 12 MONACAN TOWNS IN VIRGINIA RUSHNKI.L 21 



Axes, discoidal stones, and numerous chipped implements are men- 

 tioned as having been discovered, but now all are scattered and lost. 

 Undoubtedly a great number of interesting specimens could have been 

 collected at that time, proving it to have been the site of an extensive 

 native village. Evidently Jefiferson did not suspect the existence of 

 part of the great village on' the side of the river on which the mound 

 stood. He mentioned the hills on the opposite side " on which had 

 been an Indian town," which may have been the more important part 

 of the settlement, as it has now become the more interesting. 



On the Left Bank 



Much of that which precedes refers to conditions on the right 

 bank of the Rivanna, but the great village also occupied some ground 

 on the opposite side of the stream. The land on the north or left 

 bank rises rather abruptly from the water, continues quite level for 

 lOO yards or more and then becomes much higher. This compara- 

 tively level area of some 20 acres or more is thus bounded on one 

 side by the Rivanna and on the east and north by rising ground which 

 in some places is quite steep. On the west the cliffs approach the 

 river. Several large springs issue from the surface on the site of the 

 village. Before the land was cleared of timber the ground was 

 necessarily irregular and broken, and was traversed by several gullies 

 extending from the bordering cliffs to the river, worn deep by the 

 waters flowing from the springs which would have supplied the wants 

 of the settlement. The area has now been cultivated for many years, 

 the surface leveled and worn down by the plow, but while it remained 

 in its natural condition surrounded as it was by wooded cliffs, it 

 would have appeared hilly and broken ; these were the hills on which 

 Jefferson said " had been an Indian town." 



The central portion of the level area is the more elevated and 

 slopes gradually to the west and east. It is believed this part has 

 never been covered by the waters of the Rivanna although the lower 

 ground has been overflowed several times within recent years, always 

 leaving deposits of sand and alluvium on the surface. 



A general view of the site is reproduced in plate 2. This was taken 

 from the high land on the north. In the foreground is the section 

 north of the river ; the course of the stream is indicated by the line 

 of trees bordering its banks. Beyond is the low ground on the right 

 bank of the river, with the cliffs rising in the distance. 



Many stone objects have been discovered scattered over the surface 

 of the higher part of the level ground where they may never have 

 been covered by water, even at the times of great freshets. The 



