FowKE] ARCHEOLOGICAL IlSrVESTIGATIONS 25 



discharged its drainage into Little Piney about half a mile above 

 the mouth of Gourd Creek. A ravine tributary to the latter, near 

 its mouth, has worked back until it has captured the flow of Coal 

 Pit. The lower end of the stream bed thus abandoned now forms a 

 gap or depression with a slight incline from the center in both 

 directions. The crest of the deserted portion is about 50 to 60 feet 

 above the present level of Little Piney. The hill inclosed by this 

 quadrihiteral drainage is about a fourth of a mile in length along 

 its top, has a direction almost north and south, with a nearly uniform 

 slope along the summit, the southern point being somewhat higher 

 than that at the north, and terminates abruptly at each end. The 

 sides descend at once from the center line of the ridge, like a roof 

 with a slightly rounded comb. 



On account of its isolated position the eminence is locally known 

 as " Lost Hill." It is not to be confused, however, with several 

 similar formations in this region, to which the same term is applied 

 and which may owe their existence to a like cause, or may be due to 

 cut-offs by streams. 



On the top of this particular Lost Hill are six cairns, five of them 

 near the northern end, the sixth just where the ridge breaks off to 

 the south. The margins are uncertain owing to the upper stones 

 being scattered by hunters as well as by credulous individuals who 

 are firmly fixed in the belief that all such " rock piles " contain gold 

 hidden b}'^ Indians. 



So far as can now be determined the five at the northern end 

 were 16 to 18 feet across as left by the builders, the southernmost 

 one being somewhat smaller. All are in uncleared land, and crevices 

 between the stones are filled with a tangled mass of roots from 

 the trees and bushes growing on and around them. 



The relative positions are about thus, measurements being made 

 on the earth between the scattered stones: (1) 10 feet, (2) 10 feet, 

 (3) 50 feet, (4) 10 feet, (5) 1,000 feet, (6). The distance from (5) 

 to (6) is estimated by stepping and may vary considerably either 

 way from the measure given. 



Cairns (1), (2), and (3) were thoroughly excavated. 



Cairn (1) 



This, the farthest north, was about 16 by 17 feet within the original 

 limits. When the outer loose rocks were removed there was disclosed 

 a wall of flat stones on the natural surface, so laid as to form an 

 inclosure apparently intended to be practically square. It measured, 

 across the center, from outside to outside, about 14 feet from north 

 to south by 12 feet from east to west. The north and south walls 



