58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 192 



Copper dangler, fig. 19, i 



Lump of coal (637) 



2 fragments of worked wood (177, 597) 



Carbonized cordage (629) 



2 pieces of bark (614, 615) 



HOUSE PIT 1 



House Pit 1 in Mound B is roughly rectangular, measui'ing 50 feet 

 in length. The width is about 45 feet at the front (?) end toward the 

 southeast, but widens to about 50 feet near the rear, and then abruptly 

 narrows to form an alcove 40 feet wide and 7 feet long. The pit is 

 surrounded by a low pile of earth that is broken only at the south- 

 eastern end, where it is thrown up on each side to leave a sunken 

 approach about 20 to 30 feet long. The maximum depth of the pit 

 before excavation was about 3K feet below the top of these earthen 

 walls, the deepest part being just inside the sunken entranceway, 

 where the later pit for House 9 was dug (fig. 6). 



As already mentioned. House Pit 1 was excavated through the lower 

 layers of Mound B, and some of the tan sandy midden which was 

 dug out was thrown on top of the fill overlying House 8 (fig. 5) . House 

 Pit 1 and all its contents belong, therefore, to the later levels of 

 Mound B. 



In 1949 a narrow test trench was made in the northern quarter of the 

 house pit, from the side wall just forward of the rear alcove to the 

 center (i.e., to Surface Pit 10 on map 7). Charred timbers revealed 

 by this trench suggested that there had been a bench about 6 or 7 feet 

 wide along the northeast sidewall, and that a pair of central beams 

 supported a gable roof, as on the large Tlingit houses of historic 

 times. The floor was about 14 inches below the present surface of 

 the pit. It was assumed that the alcove represented a line of sleeping 

 cubicles across the back of the house, although this was never ex- 

 cavated. A test hole near the front of the house pit (see Q on the 

 plan of House 9, fig. 7) uncovered a sloping layer of charcoal-stained 

 sand, but no clearly defined hearth as had been expected. 



Unfortunately, it was impossible to excavate this house pit com- 

 pletely, but two trenches (figs. 5, 6), as well as other areas near and 

 in House 9, were dug. These later excavations showed additional 

 traces of beams and timbers. Thus, there were layers of carbonized 

 wood, possibly part of a bench, and a large posthole near the south 

 corner of the house (see fig. 5, d-e). There is a similar posthole in 

 the west corner (fig. 5, h-c). A beam running across the back of the 

 house in Square 52-53 is shown in the cross section /-/' and g-g' 

 (fig. 6), and nearby is a large posthole which may have contained 

 one of the pair of central rear posts for the twin ridgepoles. Another 

 posthole, 15 to 18 inches in diameter, and also sunk into the sterile 



