220 CERTAIN ABORIGINAL REMAINS, BLACK WARRIOR RIVER. 
MOUND В. 
Mound R, with a summit plateau 165 feet by 180 feet, approximately, which 
had long been under cultivation, had the appearance of having lost about 3 feet in 
height over much of its horizontal surface through cultivation and wash of rain. 
This conclusion was reached from the fact that, at the edge of the plateau, in places 
where the roots of trees hold the soil, the level is several feet above that of the rest 
of the plateau. On the other hand, it is possible that the elevated portion of the 
plateau is the remains of a rampart or wall that originally surrounded the plateau 
and that the trees growing upon this raised portion are not the cause of its existence 
but simply were allowed to remain when the rest of the plateau was cleared for 
cultivation, because the part on which the trees are was too steep for use. T'wenty- 
seven trial-holes in this plateau gave no indication of its former use as a place of 
burial. 
Кірсе Nortu or MOUND R. 
Northwest of Mound R, is an old-time cemetery for colored persons. Reports 
are current in Moundville that in digging graves at this place many relics have been 
unearthed, but considerable investigation by us on the borders of this cemetery were 
without material result. 
East of the cemetery are a patch of cultivated ground, then a strip of land 
with trees upon it, and, beyond, another cultivated patch. Тһе wooded strip, about 
200 feet long and 50 feet across, is bounded on the north by the river bluff and on 
the south by Mound R. The northern 75 feet of this tract (marked U on the 
survey), which formed a ridge or low mound somewhat above the level of the 
remainder of it, which was that of the adjacent fields, were thoroughly dug through 
by us to a depth of from 3 to 4.5 feet. Even at this depth it was impossible to say 
that undisturbed ground had been reached in all cases, as fragments of pottery and 
other midden refuse lay at still lower levels. Presumably this territory had long 
been occupied as a dwelling site. No pits, however, extended to a depth greater 
than 4 feet, and it was in pits that burials seemed to occur. 
А considerable area surrounding this ridge, including the southern part of the 
wooded strip from which the ridge rose, was dug by us extensively but with only 
negative result. 
The low ridge dug by us, which attained its maximum height almost at its 
northern end, contained a few burials here and there throughout; but the great 
majority of interments and all artifacts of importance came from the northeastern 
end, where grave-pits had been dug and redug to the des detriment of skeletons 
and of objects buried with them. 
At intervals in the mound were pits, some of considerable size, containing 
refuse and apparently not intended for burial purposes. One pit, which began 50 
inches from the surface and evidently had been formed during the accretion of the 
mound, was 10 inches deep and 14 inches in diameter. BORER it were marks of 
fire, and clay hardened by flame. In this little pit, or oven, were ashes, charcoal, 
bits of pottery, and deer-bones. 
