FOWKE] MOUNDS IN ALABAMA 437 
The area thus cut off is known as Hog Island. Most of it is high 
enough to escape any flood and over nearly all the higher land are 
abundant indications of aboriginal occupancy in the way of broken 
stones and shells from the stream. 
On this island, and on the adjacent area, are several mounds, all 
of which would be submerged when the Wilson Dam was completed 
and the water above it impounded. The Tennessee Valley His- 
torical Society, desirous of investigating the structures before they 
were lost, requested the Bureau of American Ethnology to carry on 
this work. 
Every assistance possible was given by the Government engineers 
in charge of the public work, and also by the above mentioned 
society, as well as by various parties interested in whatever dis- 
coveries might be made. Among so many it is impossible to men- 
tion all; but especial obligations are due to the officers of the Foster 
Hunting and Fishing Club, who tendered their hospitality and 
allowed the free use of their lodge during the work; to Messrs. 
S. S. Pippin, F. R. King, J. G. Sanderson, and P. E. Simms, who 
gave valuable aid in many ways. To make further acknowledgments 
would be practically equivalent to naming every one who had a 
chance to help in any manner. 
Tue Suet, Hear 
At the junction of the creek with the river, in the extreme northeast 
corner of Colbert County, is a large shell heap or kitchen midden 
composed almost entirely of mussel and periwinkle shells of several 
varieties, but all of them such as are now to be found in the river. 
The area covered by the base is somewhat irregular, being between 
an ellipse and a rectangle in outline; it measures 250 by 135 feet, the 
longer axis north and south, parallel to the direction of the creek. 
The northern and eastern sides of the mound extend down the slopes 
of the banks toward the river and the creek respectively. When 
either stream is at a high stage water overflows the land around the 
mound, but has never covered it since the country has heen settled 
by the whites. The effect of such floods has been to raise the general 
level around it, so that while the top of the shell pile is from 6 to 7 
feet high, the greatest depth, as ascertained in the course of the work, 
is approximately 91% feet. 
Excavation was begun at the north end, near the bottom of the 
slope and about 15 feet within the margin of the mound. A space 
25 feet wide was marked off, the east line on the side of the slope 
toward the creek, the west line along the top of the mound, which was 
nearly level about the central part. All the material within these 
limits was removed down to the natural soil and for a distance of 120 
feet, which carried it somewhat beyond the middle of the pile. 
