18 JAMES AND POTOMAC ARCHEOLOGY [e?hnoloqy 



shelled; long, slender bones, partly cut in two at dififerent points, 

 intended to be made into beads; bonefislibooks; mussel sbells; smooth 

 pebbles, which may have been used as pottery polisbers; charcoal; 

 burned stones; flint chips and spalls in great quantities. No effort was 

 made to keep an exact record of all tliese things; they were found at 

 random, sometimes sparsely, sometimes abundantly, but always as if 

 lost or thrown aside. 



There can be no doubt that all this loose black deposit is due to the 

 gradual accumulation of such refuse as is always characteristic of an 

 Indian village. There is no other way of accounting for the distribu- 

 tion of the numerous articles found in it. 



Scores of pits of different depths were found, some extending only a 

 few inches into the clay, others with a depth of 4 leet or more. They 

 were tilled with earth like that in the stratum above, mingled with 

 ashes, charcoal, burned stone, broken bones (charred and boiled), frag- 

 ments of pottery, and implements, such as occur in similar i)its else- 

 where. They were evidently intended only for culinary purposes. To 

 save wood, or to avoid the discomfort arising from proximity to a large 

 tire, a hole was dug, a tire made in it, and wood enough heaped on to 

 make a thick bed of coals when it had burned down. Then the food 

 was placed within and the hole carefully covered and left undisturbed 

 until tbe cooking was completed. No order or arrangement was api^ar- 

 ent in the contents of these tire pits, nor were they at all uniform in 

 size, it is singular that so many should exist Mathin a limited space, 

 as it Avould be much easier to clean the loose material out of one in use 

 than to dig another in the tough clay. 



Some of the skeletons were close to the surface, others in the black 

 earth at various distances above its bottom line; most of them, how- 

 ever, were in shallow graves that extended from 8 to 15 inches into the 

 clay. 



Work was commenced at the northern end of the section examined. 

 During the tirst day 3 barbecue holes were fouud. The first was very 

 irregular in outline, from 6 to 7 feet across and extending only a few 

 inches into the clay. A portion had been removed by the railway exca- 

 vation. There was nothing in it except some fragments of the skull of 

 a very young child. 



The second hole,^ 3i feet across, was also shallow, being only about 

 30 inches deep. It contained a bone needle 8 inches long, and 2 or 3 

 unworked bones of the same kind lying together, a flat bone piercer, 

 and the carved object shown in figure I. All these were scattered in 

 the earth above the bottom of the hole. ^ 



' Although the word " barbecue" is omitted, it may be assumed that all holes men- 

 tioned Avere designed forroastiug large animals whole. 



-Unless otherwise specified the objects mentioned as having been found in these 

 holes were not on tlie bottom, nor apparently i)laced with any intention of hiding or 

 concealing them, but were in such position as to indicate that they were carelessly 

 thrown in at any time. When found in graves the case is different. 



