86 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 

 Table 4. — Specimens from Old Town 



[Bull. 192 



« Includes 1 of copper and wood. 

 ' Includes 1 of copper and bone. 

 ' Possibly 5 scraps represent only 1 artifact. 



although we cannot know how much may have been destroyed in 

 fires. It is probably significant that 90.5 percent came from the 

 most recent part of the site, 7.6 percent from Old Town II, and 

 only one specimen from the oldest sections. Iron is probably less 

 durable since it rusts rapidly in such a damp climate, yet 36.3 percent 

 came from Old Town III, 63.7 percent from Old Town II, and none 

 from Old Town I. If five scraps from the Storage House represent 

 only one original specimen, the number of iron pieces is almost evenly 

 divided between Old Town III and II. 



The relative scarcity of bone material in both the youngest and 

 the oldest parts of the site, except for the upper levels of Mound 

 B, is probably due to the acidity of the soil everywhere except where 

 there are concentrations of sheU. The distribution of bone artifacts 

 found is probably no guide to the numbers actually made and used 

 at different periods. Thus, 41.4 percent of the bone specimens 

 came from Old Town III, 53.4 percent from Old Town II, and only 

 5.2 percent from Old Town I. The preservation of wood, bark, 

 roots, and other perishable organic materials was due to the accident 

 of carbonization, and can give little indication of the importance 



