150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 182 



PERIODS 



POTTERY TYPES 



MIDDLE WOODLAND 

 (EARLY) 



Clarksville Plain Cord-Trapped Poddle Fabric-Marked 



^F ^ 



TRANSITIONAL 

 WOODLAND 



Hyco Plain Cord-wrapped Paddle 



ARCHAIC 



Sfeafife vessels 

 (Sfone and bone fools) 



Chart 1. — Evolution of the main pottery types at the Hyco River site, 44Ha7. 



CLARKSVILLE COMPONENT 

 (44Mcl4) 



The first site in the John H. Kerr Reservoir area to receive field 

 attention was the Clarksville site (44Mcl4). A case of then or never, 

 it was being rapidly destroyed by construction work on the railroad 

 trellis and bed. A new railroad right-of-way and a cement trestle 

 were being constructed across the Roanoke River leading into Clarks- 

 ville. Work was well underway and the major part of the site was 

 badly damaged before word was received about this condition. At 

 this time a great deal of the topsoil, together with the miderlying 

 deposits, was being carted off as dressing for a local golf course. 



Of the original 5 acres covered by the site only two small undis- 

 turbed areas remained free of encumbrances (pi. 80; fig. 22). One 

 measured 110 feet long by 60 feet wide, the other about 30 by 30 feet 

 square. These areas were laid out in 10-foot squares. Work was 

 started at the southern end of the large rectangle because it was 

 farthest from the engineering activities then going on in the con- 

 struction area. This allowed greater leeway in maneuvering and de- 

 ploying the men within the various 10-foot squares as the group pro- 

 ceeded northward along the long axis of the area. 



The site was reduced by means of arbitrary 6-inch levels taken off 

 horizontally. The soil was generally sandy, requiring tlie use of only 

 the shovel, trowel, and whiskbroom as tools. 



Numerous midden pits, stone-lined wells, hearth areas, heaps of 

 fire-cracked and/or broken stones, shell-filled pits, and burials were 

 located. Potsherds were scattered thinly over the area but were con- 

 centrated mostly within the various midden pits. 



Midden pits were usually circular in outline across the mouth ; sides 

 were mostly parallel with either a flat roundish or excurvate base. 

 These pits ranged in size and depth from small to fairly large. The 

 smaller ones measured 1.0 to 1.4 feet across the mouth and from 0.8 

 to 2.6 feet in depth. The larger ones varied from 3.8 to 5.9 feet in 

 diameter across the mouth and from 3.1 to 6.9 feet in depth. 



