BUSHNELL] NATIVE VILLAGES. AND VILLAGE SITES 97 
together and well polished, so that the mice can not climb up, and 
in this way they protect their corn and squashes.” (Gravier, (1), 
Dp: Ido.) 
Charlevoix, during his journey down the Mississippi, arrived at 
the Tunica village December 28, 1721. This, however, was not on 
the site of the village visited by Gravier some 20 years before. -The 
town was built about a square ‘‘about a hundred paces in diameter.” 
The dwellings were of two forms, round and square, the former as ‘‘at 
the Natchez.”’ The house of the chief was square and was decorated 
with ‘‘figures in relief, not so badly executed as one would expect.” 
(Charlevoix, (1), II, pp. 279-280.) Evidently there was a great 
similarity in the appearance of the villages of the different tribes 
who, at the time of the coming of Europeans, occupied the lower 
Mississippi Valley. The method of construction was evidently the 
same throughout the region, the principal variation being in the form 
and size of the various structures. 
In some parts of the Mississippi Valley the sites of ancient villages 
are indicated by groups of earth circles—seldom squares—each evi- 
dently marking the position of a separate structure. The dimensions 
would correspond favorably with the sizes of dwellings and ‘‘town 
houses’”’ as recorded by the early writers and quoted on the preceding 
pages. Two suggestions may be offered in regard to the origin or 
cause of these traces of former habitations. First, they may represent 
the mass of earth which served as the covering for the framework, 
the wall, and in some instances the roof, of the structure. After the 
building had fallen to ruin, and the timbers rotted away, the earth 
covering would have remained, probably a circular embankment. 
The second theory has been suggested by known customs among the 
Siouan tribes of the upper Missouri Valley. When fearing an attack 
or seeking additional protection for the occupants of the tipis, a slight 
excavation was made within the tipi and the earth thus removed was 
placed around the inside of the structure. This explains the origin 
of large clusters of small circles in the country once occupied by the 
Siouan tribes through the valley of the Missouri. This custom is 
known to have been followed as late as September, 1862, during the 
Sioux uprising in southwestern Minnesota. When the site was aban- 
doned, and the tipi removed, the excavation would gradually become 
filled with particles of earth and sand carried by the winds and by 
the growth and decay of vegetation. As the result of this filling in, 
the surface which served as the floor when the tipi stood over the 
excavation has become covered, consequently traces of former 
occupancy, such as the fire beds and bits of broken pottery, are found 
below the present surface. This may explain the origin of certain 
of the smaller circles encountered east of the Mississippi, One of the 
108851°—19——7 
