2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



"the evening star" in any Indian tongue, as one writer has 

 claimed. 



The summit of the mound, which had been leveled for 

 cultivation about 30 years ago, measured 83 feet in maximum 

 and about 67 feet in minimum diameter; the height of the 

 mound above the adjacent field was 17 feet 3 inches, and the 

 circumference of the base 410 feet. These measurements 

 are doubtless less than they were at the time the mound 

 was abandoned by the Cherokee, as all the dimensions have 

 been more or less reduced by cultivation, the slope at the 

 base particularly ha\dng been plowed away for several feet. 

 The mound was reared both for domicile and for cemetery 

 purposes and was composed of rich alluvial soil from the 

 surrounding field. Excavation determined that the mound 

 was not built at one time, but evidently at different periods, 

 as circumstances demanded. This was shown plainly by 

 the stratification of the mound soil, the occurrence of graves 

 at different depths with undisturbed earth above them, the 

 presence of fire pits or of evidences of fires throughout the 

 mound at varying levels, and b}- the finding of a few objects 

 . derived from the white man in the upper part and in the 

 slopes of the mound, but not in the lower levels. From this 

 last observation it is evident that the occupancy of the 

 mound extended well into the historical period, a fact sup- 

 ported by the memory of the grandparents of present resi- 

 dents of the Nacoochee Valley, who recalled the mound when 

 the Cherokee Indians still occupied it and the surround- 

 ing area. 



The fact that the mound was used for burial purposes is 

 attested by the finding of the remains of 75 individuals 

 during the course of the excavations, the graves occurring 

 from slightly beneath the summit to a depth of about 19 

 feet, or below the original base of the mound. These graves, 

 with few exceptions, were unmarked, and in most instances 

 were not accompanied with objects of ceremony or utility. 

 The exceptions were those remains with which were buried 

 stone implements, shells or shell ornaments, a smoking pipe, 

 a potteiy vessel, or the like. The skeletons were found 



