46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 192 



materials belonging to both the lower and upper levels of Mound B. 



About 40 completely buried pits were also discovered (see fig. 6). 

 These had been dug into the sterile sand at the bottom of Mound B, 

 when the top of the mound was much lower than it is at present. 

 Subsequently they became filled with trash, mostly from the lower 

 levels, so that no surface indications of their presence were visible. 

 They were therefore called "Subsurface Pits," although they differ in 

 no respects from the "Surface Pits," 



Some pits were rectangular, ranging from boxlike holes, 3 by 1% 

 feet, to larger structm-es over 12 feet long and 6 feet ^yide. There 

 must have been some kind of support for the walls, probably a lining 

 of planks or bark, since there was usually no sign that the sand or 

 midden had slumped in. In most pits no trace of such lining re- 

 mained, but in several cases planks were preserved by carbonization. 

 Probably there was also a wooden superstructure over the pit. These 

 structures seem to have been underground or partially underground 

 caches, like the Storage House described below. 



Surface Pit 3 was marked by a depression 11 feet in diameter and 

 18 inches deep. When excavated, it proved to have been originally 

 a rectangular pit, about 10 feet long and 8 feet wide. It contained 

 some burned and unburned fragments of planking, probably the 

 remains of the lining. 



There were also bowl-shaped and basin-shaped pits, generally cir- 

 cular in plan, less often oval, and differing from each other chiefly in 

 depth relative to the diameter. Both forms differed greatly in size, 

 ranging from 16 inches to over 5 feet in diameter. A number of both 

 kinds had bark linings. The fill ranged from relativel}^ clean sand to 

 layers of shell and rock with strata of pure shell and bone, apparently 

 representing the refuse of individual meals. Some pits contained 

 artifacts (see below); others did not. The functions of these pits 

 are hard to determine. Those covered v/ith bark or wood may have 

 been caches, or pits where food was buried to become slightly rotten, 

 as required for some native recipes; others may have served as bath- 

 houses. Uncovered pits may have been ovens for roasting food or 

 for heating rocks; some may have been dug simply to hold refuse. 



Special mention should be made of Subsurface Pit 38 (see fig. 2), 

 a bowl-shaped depression, 2 feet in diameter and 15 inches deep, 

 under the south end of the Storage House. Since it may have been 

 a cellar of the latter, it will be described with it (see pp. 48-51). 



There were also depressions or pits in the floor of House Pit 1 

 and House 9, and a box in the floor of House 8. Such features, as 

 well as fireplaces and pits with sweat-bath rocks, will be discussed 

 in the detailed descriptions of the houses with which they were 

 associated. 



