FOWKE] EXPLORATIONS IN RED RIVER VALLEY 415 
a sensible regard for antiquities, and that this mound would eventu- 
ally meet the same fate from cultivation, the trampling of stock, and 
vandalism, that is fast destroying all other aboriginal remains in the 
vicinity, he finally gave permission for any kind and amount of ex- 
ploration that might prove desirable. 
A trench 25 feet wide was started in from the southern margin 
(pl. 67, @), and carried to a distance of 10 feet beyond the center, or 
60 feet in all. During the entire work the bottom of the trench 
was kept several inches below the original surface, well within the 
natural soil, which was here uniformly dark in color and had no 
appearance of having been previously disturbed. The base of the 
mound rested directly on this. 
The upper portion of the structure was composed mostly of the 
reddish-brown earth which forms the surface in much of the sur- 
rounding area and weathers into a productive soil; mingled with it 
were small masses of tough, mottled clay. On the west margin of 
the trench this averaged only about 2 feet thick, but on the east 
side it was much heavier, extending to the bottom for the first 20 
feet in, then diminishing to a depth of about 4 feet at the top. Be- 
neath this, along the west wall, was a fine white clayey sand or silt 
which was so compacted that water had apparently never pene- 
trated it, and vigorous work with the picks was necessary to loosen 
it for shoveling; dust would blow off of it as it was thrown out. On 
the west side, and in the central part of the trench, this rose toward 
the apex more rapidly than along the east side. It was soon ap- 
parent that two periods of construction were involved. (PI. 68, 5.) 
As the digging proceeded it was found that the silt rested, with 
varying thickness, upon a core or bottom deposit of mingled constitu- 
ents. Mostly, it was a tough red or mottled clay, such as may be 
found at depths of 2 to 6 feet in the surrounding fields and is exposed 
in the banks of all ravines and streams. Mixed with this were various 
other materials, as silt, white or “crawfish” clay, brown earth, black 
surface soil; all scattered promiscuously, from a single basketful to 
more than a wagonload in a place, indicating that the carriers worked 
when, and as, they felt in the mood for it. 
There was a notable scarcity of refuse or débris loose in the earth, 
such as is found in most mounds; probably this was because not 
much of the material was gathered up from the surface or near the 
sites of dwellings. Some fragments of pottery, plain or decorated, 
were found at intervals, but not many, and none that could be fitted 
together until at about 20 feet from the beginning and several feet 
from the bottom were parts of a flat-bottomed vase with impressed 
curved lines; it had not been entire when thrown here. At the same 
distance, 6 feet: up, in the east wall of the trench, were fragments 
