FOWKE] EXPLORATIONS IN RED RIVER VALLEY 431 
the portion excavated had a practically uniform curve, it is fair to 
assume that it reached 214 feet into the undug part. The sides were 
laminated and hardened to such a degree, through heat of the fires 
which had been maintained in it, that large thin flakes as hard as a 
brick or a tile could be split off. This may mean that the sides were 
occasionally smoothed or plastered with fresh clay. 
In the bottom of the pit was a layer of clean ashes 5 inches thick; 
above this was a mixture, some of it in rather regular strata, of ashes, 
charcoal, burned earth, and ordinary earth, extending to the top. It 
looked as though the pit had been kept clear of débris until the ashes 
at the bottom had accumulated, and that afterwards other fires had 
been smothered with earth; or that earth had fallen into the pit 
between the timbers laid over the hole, on which it had been piled to 
confine the heat in roasting or barbecuing meat placed within. 
Covering the red clay and extending unbroken across the top of 
the fire pit was a layer of gray sand or silt 3 to 414 inches thick; 
the upper surface of this was as level as it could be made. Above 
it was 7 to 12 inches of muck and black dirt similar to that in the 
bottom layer and containing much kitchen refuse, and on this was 
surface earth whose greatest thickness at the highest part of the 
mound was 314 feet. Thus the mound whose summit was only 
51% feet higher than the area enclosed by the subgroup was 81% feet 
deep to the earth on which it was built. The difference of 3 feet 
represents the amount of sediment from flood waters since the build- 
ing of the structure was commenced. The trench was carried to 
10 feet past the center, or 35 feet in all. 
In recent years freshets have covered all the mounds except 
mound 14, the highest one; but there is no reason to believe that 
such conditions existed in prehistoric days. Since the “rafts” and 
much of the standing timber which formerly obstructed the current 
have been removed, the current is more rapid than before, and con- 
sequently a greater volume of water comes down the river in a given 
time. In addition to this, numerous swamps have had large ditches 
cut through them and many tortuous minor streams have been 
straightened, with the result that inland waters which once re- 
quired weeks to reach the main stream now enter it in as many 
days, bringing it to a much higher level than it formerly attained. 
For these reasons it is probable that the Indian suffered less from 
high waters than his successors have done. They would not have 
made permanent settlements on lands from which they were com- 
pelled to flee two or three times a year. Moore speaks in several 
places in his report of going down 6 or 7 feet below the general 
level before reaching the bottom of a grave in or under a mound; 
but in most cases it would be impossible to determine now just 
