558 PREHISTORIC VILLAGES IN TENNESSEE [erH. ANN. 41 
A beech, 13 feet in circumference at 3 feet above the ground, stands 
upon the line of the earthen wall embankment on the west side of 
the town. 
Several elms, measuring from 13 to 1314 feet in circumference at 
3 feet above the ground, stand upon the wigwam circles. 
An elm, 12 feet in diameter at 3 feet above the ground, stands upon 
the line of the earthen wall embankment on the eastern side of the 
town. 
On the rim of circle No. 31 there is an elm stump which measures 
17 feet in circumference at 20 inches above the ground, which corre- 
sponds to a circumference of 13 feet at 3 feet above the ground. This 
stump has somewhere between 300 and 325 annual growth rings. 
About 8 inches at the center is somewhat decayed, and this prevents 
an accurate count of that portion. Two hundred and eighty-five 
rings could be plainly seen, and there were enough indications in the 
partially decayed portion to render a total of 300 to 325 rings a con- 
servative estimate. This elm had reached a ripe old age and died a 
natural death. The life of an American elm is about 300 years. 
In short, in the year 1920 there was an average accumulation of 
about 16 inches of black loam covering the floors of these ruins, and 
upon the ruins were living trees at least 300 years old. 
This means that the abandonment of Gordon town was some time 
prior to 1620, sufficiently long to allow an accumulation, up to the 
year 1920, of at least 16 inches of black loam on the deserted dwelling 
floors. 
No one has yet made accurate records of the rate of accumulation 
of black loam on sites and under conditions similar to Gordon. 
The Gordon site is a key site. Determining its approximate age 
will give probable dates to a large number of contemporary related 
sites in middle Tennessee and relative dates to its possibly kindred 
sites; the probably earlier ones in West Virginia, Virginia, east 
Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, and the probably later ones in 
Ohio, Illinois, South Carolina, Missouri, and Arkansas, 
