186 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



BECKWITH'S KORT. 



Haifa mile north of the last mentioued mound, and upon tbe highest 

 point of the bank fronting Pin Hook bayou, is a remarkable earthen 

 inclosure (marked 1, in Fig. !>(!), to which the name Beokwith's fort is 

 given, after that of the owner. An enlarged view ot this work is 

 given in Fig. 1)8^ 



As will be seen by reference to this figure, the inclosure is nearly a 

 semicircle in form, with the open base facing the swamp or bayou. 

 Tlie length of this open base from point to point of the wall (m to n) 

 is 1,0-11 feet, aiul the circumference along the wall from vt around to m, 

 2,700 feet. The location was wisely chosen, as it is the only point within 

 iin area of many miles square where the natural surface of the ground 

 was not covered by the great flood of 18S2. The bank tacing the 

 swamp is here quite steep and fully 30 feet high. 



Mounds Nos. 1, 5, and G, and some small burial mounds not shown 

 in the figure, are so nearly in a line as to form a strong breastwork 

 along this front, except about 200 feet opposite mound No. 2, where 

 there is no embankuuMit, mound, nor the marks of ancient dwellings; 

 thus, as is usual in tliis kind of fort, leaving an open court adjoining 

 one side of the great flat-topped mound. 



The height and width of the wall vary at different points, in some 

 places being as low as 2 feet, while at otliers it is frilly 8 feet high; in 

 some places it is not more than lo feet wide, while at others it is 30 or 

 more. 



Running close along the outside of the wall is a ditch vaiyiiig in 

 width from 20 to 40 feet, and in depth from 4 to 8 feet, except where 

 filled up by floods and frosts, especially the former, some of which may 

 have broken through the walls to the great interior excavation. The 

 area within the inclosure is almost entirely occupied by earthworks of 

 one kind or another, those marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and G being mound.s, 

 those marked a, b, and c being excavations, and the numerous small 

 circles scattered over it the little saucer-sliaped depressions supposed 

 to be house sites or hut rings. 



Mound No. 1 is situated in the extreme northern corner, where the 

 wall ends on the bank next the swamp or bayou. It is 120 feet long 

 from northwest to southeast, 100 feet broad, and about 10 feet high at 

 the highest point. The central portion of the top had been lowered, 

 either originally or subsequently, by a circular depression about l.j feet 

 in diameter and 2 feet deep. Permission to excavate could not be 

 obtained. 



Mound No. 2, or the so-called Temple mound, is situated almost 

 directly south of No. 1 and near the central portiou of the area. Its 

 northern base comes directly to the margin of the great excavation a, 

 while but a short distance away, a little to the northeast, is the small 

 crescent excavation h. The dimensions, as nearly as could be ascer- 

 tained, are as follows: Length on top (northeast and southwest), 1G5 



