388 



MOUND EXPLOKATIONS. 



of the iiioniid. With them was a huge diiseoi(hil mortar stone, 

 ing else of interest was observed in any of them. 



Noth- 



THE I'ATE MOUND. 



On the north side of the Little Tennessee, a short distance above 

 the mouth of Nine Mile creek, and nearly opposite Old Fort Loudon, is 

 a single conical tumulus known locally as the Pate mound. 



It is small, being only 4 feet high, with a diameter of 45 feet. Its 

 stratification was as follows: At the top, a layer of vegetable mold 

 about 4 inches thick ; next, 3 feet of damp red clay ; lastly, a layer of 

 loose, dark clay, 8 inches thick, resting on the original soil. The lower 

 portion of this bottom layer, to the thickness of an inch, increasing in 

 the center to nearly 6 inches, was much darker than the other part. 

 Six feet from the center, at a depth of three feet in the layer of red 

 clay, lay a single folded skeleton. In the lowest layer, resting on the 

 original surface, were three other skeletons extended horizontally, with 

 faces ui). With these were some mussel shells and a stone chisel. 



The village site on the opposite (south) side of the river (No. 9, PI. 

 XXV) corresponds with Toskegee, of Timberlake's map, located in the 

 immediate vicinity of Fort Loudon. 



THK NILES FERRY MOUNDS. 



This group, consisting of three mounds, is situated on the north side 

 of the Little Tennessee, opposite the mouth of Tellico river and close 



to Niles's ferry, at the cross- 

 ing of the old Federal road. 

 Fig. 269 shows their posi- 

 tion. Nos. 2 and 3, which 

 are comparatively small 

 and of the usual conical 

 tyi^e, stand on a timbered 

 lidge which comes to the 

 river immediately below 

 the old blockhouse oppo- 

 site Fort Loudon. No. 1 is 

 a very large mound, stand- 

 ing on the second bottom, 

 about 400 feet from the 

 river. A single shaft was 

 sunk part way down in 

 it some years ago by Dr. 

 Palmer, but it has never 

 been thoroughly explored. 

 It is flat on top, 10 or 11 feet high, and about 300 feet in diameter. The 

 Bureau agent, expecting to return to the group the following season, 



-Plat of the Nili'S ierry mounda, MoDroe couuly. 

 Trnnesaee. 



