564 PREHISTORIC VILLAGES IN TENNESSEE [ETH. ANN. 41 
The soil of the floor apparently had only such packing down as 
would arise from use. It had not been made smooth; neither had it 
been hardened by fire. On the floor was a pavementlike arrange- 
ment of stone slabs, marked “Stone slabs” in Figure 157. These 
slabs were, respectively, 32 by 26 by 3% inches, 28 by 26 by 3% 
inches, and 12 by 12 by 2 inches. Nothing was found under them. 
Further excavation will be required to bring out complete details of 
this pavement. 
AsH Brep 
In the northwestern portion a fire bed or ash bed, No. 12, was 
found. It was 6 by 51% feet, and was not bowl shaped, but shaped 
as shown in Figures 156 and 157. It was made of clay and was 
covered with a layer of white ashes from 1 to 2 inches in thickness, 
which contained no bones or pottery fragments. The fire bed did 
not appear to have been long in use, because the clay was not burned 
hard. 
Adjoining the southeast corner of this fire bed was the hole, No. 32, 
Figure 157. It was 6 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep. It did 
not appear to be a posthole, as the loose black earth which filled it 
was more fluffy and powdery than that in the postholes. It con- 
tained no ashes or pottery, but on the clay bottom we found four 
unworked fragments of deer bones. It evidently had a definite, but 
now unknown, use. 
DiscomaL Founp on FLoor 
At 11 the beautiful small biconcave discoidal shown in Plate 129, a, 
was found. It is 13% inches in diameter and was made of a fine- 
grained, dark red, compact, slightly clayish sandstone, which con- 
tains a few specks of mica. It was found on what was about the 
level of the floor of Building B, where it probably had become covered 
up in the rubbish and lost. 
SacreD IMAGE HousE 
Tn the southwestern portion of the mound we came upon the ruins 
of a structure to which we have given the name of Sacred Image 
House. This was a very small building, and apparently of great 
sanctity. Here were found traces of what was probably an ancient 
sacred image or idol, the remains of their sacred maize and maize 
meal, a peculiar arrangement of rectangular piles of stones probably 
belonging to a shrine, and traces of some of their ancient fire cere- 
monies. 
This building was lighter in construction than the others on this 
mound at this stage. Its postholes are closer together, many being 
smaller than those of the other buildings, and only from 9 to 10 
inches apart. 
