256 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BulL 182 



GRASSY CREEK COMPONENT 

 (44Mc53) 



Directly east of the confluence of Grassy Creek and the south bank 

 of the Roanoke River is a fairly large and important site (44Mc53). 

 Under normal conditions it rests 22 feet above the normal river level 

 and upon a primary terrace covering an area approximately 500 feet 

 long and 200 feet wide, roughly parallel to the river, so that it lies in a 

 north-south direction (fig. 57). 



Our first testings were begun along its western perimeter and we 

 found the cultural remains here to be rather lean (area 1). Shifting 

 our position more to the east to Area 2, a distance of 35 feet, we put 

 down another series of test pits. This time we found the cultural 

 remains to run much deeper and to get to the cultural layer we had 

 to remoA^e a sizable overburden. During this testing we uncovered 

 the remains of a few midden pits. 



Instead of being circular in outline and well regulated, these pits 

 were of the rambling type with an irregular outline. Carefully 

 searching through these pits we discovered that there was no uni- 

 formity of depth. Instead, the bottoms of these pits were more or 

 less undulating; some portions deeper than others. 



In this same area we located the remains of an old erosional ditch 

 whose presence did not manifest itself upon the present surface. It 

 started somewhere to the southwest of the site and ambled in a north- 

 easterly direction toward the Roanoke River. The old ditch was com- 

 pletely filled with accumulated midden material, gravel, and sand. 

 This ditch was traced for a distance of 20 feet (fig. 58) . 



Before we were through with this site we had investigated a third 

 area 40 feet square, the whole taken down to sterile red clay, which 

 formed the underlying bed. 



Upon completion of the investigations in Area 2, we moved another 

 30 feet to the east where two exploratory trenches, 5 feet wide and 20 

 feet long, were established so that they crossed each other about mid- 

 way. The first trench ran roughly east and west and the second trench 

 roughly north and south. 



The east and west trench demonstrated that the farther east we 

 proceeded the leaner the deposits became. With this in mind we 

 determined to test the northern extent of the deposit by running a 

 trench across this one. 



Starting 25 feet north of the first trench we headed in a southerly 

 direction, thereby bisecting the east and west trench. Just north of 

 the intersection of the two trenches we ran into a small burial area. 

 When enlarged, we uncovered the remains of five burials and noted 

 that the midden was much thicker here than that indicated to the 

 east. 



