28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 177 
—— SITE LIMIT 
=x 
Ww 
uw 
« 
o 
ALAKA 
MOUND | MOUND 2 
Ficure 5.—Sketch map of N-8: Alaka Creek, a shell midden site of the Alaka Phase. 
of miscellaneous rocks, 1 plain sherd, and quantities of shell, bone, and 
carapaces of crustacea. Cut 1, a 2- by 1-meter stratigraphic excavation 
controlled in 25 centimeter levels, was dug in the summit of Mound 2. 
Sterile soil encountered at 2.60 meters, indicated that the mound was 
built on a small, natural rise of the same sandy, decomposed granite 
as the natural soil of the surrounding area. 
The contents of Cut 1 by levels are: 
Level .00-.25 m_. Loose black loam; scattered fish bones, stone chips, small 
striped snail shells, a few mussels and clams. Dis- 
turbed by cultivation. Shell not common until after a 
depth of 16 cm., but fish bones rather abundant. A small 
drilled shark’s tooth found from 16-24 ecm. (fig. 7, e). 
Seven sherds came from the surface and 1 small sherd 
was found at a depth of 8-16 cm. Natural quartz spalls 
and limonite and hematite concretions very abundant. 
Level .25-.50 m__ Fish bones and stone chips less abundant from 25-82 em. 
than in previous level, but pulverized mussel shells in- 
crease in frequency; all intermixed with considerable 
dirt. From 30-32 cm. there is a stratum of cemented 
shells, crab carapaces and claws, and fish bones in the 
southwest and northeast corners of the cut. Otherwise, 
the composition is a rather even intermixture of shell, 
fine ash, iron concretions, fire-burnt gneiss fragments, 
and gray-brown soil. From 40-50 cm. in the south half 
of the cut, there was an unusually large concentration 
of crab claws and carapaces. 
