206 



MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



lu No. 12, a vertical section of wliicli is shown 



Fig. 



114, were 



found the ruins of a dwelling, tlie plan of which, so far as it could be 



made out, is given in Fig. 117. There seems to have been three rooms 



(a, b and d), each as nearly square as the builders were capable of making 



it, the floor consisting of a layer of chiy, Imrncd 



when formed. The floor of room a was in pieces, 

 somewhat as represented in the figui-e. 



The tioor of room b was smooth clay, hardened and 

 partially burned. The sizes of these rooms were as 

 follows: rt, 11 feet 6 inches front by 12 feet 2 inches 

 back; h, 11 feet 7 inches front by 11 feet 9 inches 

 back; (/, 12 feet 3 inches front, the part remaining, 6 

 feet back, but showing indications of about G feet 

 more, making the depth about 12 feet. 



The black dots along the lines of the walls indicate 

 the upright posts which supported the roof and to 

 which the reed lathing for holding the plastering 

 was attached. Remains of a snfticient number of 

 these posts were found to show how far apart they 

 were placed, which appears to have been a little less 

 than 2 feet. 



From the burned fragments of the walls found it 

 would seem that the cane lathing was worked in be- 

 tween tlie posts, as shown in Fig. 118, and was held 

 in position l)y interwoven twigs until the plaster was 

 applied, both inside and out. The semicircular fig- 

 ures {(■ c c) are supposed to represent fireplaces. The 

 hack room (d) may or may not have been s((uare. 



As will be seen further on, the floor of another 

 dwelling, somewhat similar in form to the one here 

 shown, was discovered at another point (see Fig. 130). 

 In digging away the gravel bank numerous skele- 

 tons were discovered, usually in a deposit of swamp 

 mud, charcoal, and ashes, either immediately beneath 

 or just above the layer of the hearth and burned plas- 

 tering of the ancient dwellings. All the indications 

 go to confirm the theory that the dead were interred 

 in a deposit of clay, swamp nuid, or charcoal and 

 ashes, or a mixture of them, either in or immediately beneath tlie dwell- 

 ings, which were then burned over them. Frequently several skeletons 

 of different sizes were found in these places as though members of a 

 family; but whether they were all interred at one time or were buried 

 there one at a time, as they died, is not clear, as the evidence seems to 

 point to both methods, and perhai)s both were practiced. But there 

 can be no doubt that it was a custom among the mound-builders of 

 this section to spread a layer of fresh earth upon the charred remains 





•t' 



