2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 118 



Museum, was invited to act as a consultant for this group. As a 

 result of tentative plans and suggestions made at this conference, 

 the work of the survey of the Norris Basin was begun about January 

 8, 1934, with the author acting as supervising archaeologist for the 

 Tennessee Valley Authority. The work continued with the use of 

 Civil Works Administration labor until the time of its demobiliza- 

 tion in March 1934, and with various interruptions continued until 

 July 1, 1934, using Federal Emergency Relief Administration labor. 



This survey revealed 23 sites showing definite evidence of prehis- 

 toric occupation. The location of each of these sites is shown in 

 the map of the Basin which accompanies this report (pi. 1). On 

 the 23 sites investigated there were 20 earth mounds, 9 stone mounds, 

 4 village sites, and 7 caves. Of these 29 mounds, 12 were burial 

 mounds and 17 were associated with prehistoric structures. On these 

 sites were located the remains of 54 wooden structures, 20 of which 

 were thought to have been dwellings and 34 of which have been des- 

 ignated as "town houses." Of these 34, 7 had suffered incomplete 

 combustion and had collapsed and fallen after being reduced to 

 charcoal. The detailed description of each of these sites in numerical 

 order forms a large part of the body of the report. 



After the close of field work in the basin all of the artifacts re- 

 covered were deposited at the University of Tennessee, where the 

 author had opportunity to study and photograph them, in order 

 that this additional information might supplement the large body of 

 information obtained by field exploration. All skeletal material re- 

 covered was shipped to the department of anthropology and ar- 

 chaeology of the University of Kentucky for restoration, study, and 

 report. Samples of potsherds from all sites were sent to the ceramic 

 repository of the University of Michigan for study and report. 



A study of the dendrochronology of the living trees of the Norris 

 Basin, which was begun during the period of field work, was con- 

 tinued with gratifying results at the University of New Mexico. 

 For this study samples of wood taken from the various sites exca- 

 vated in the Norris Basin were used. 



The results of all of these studies are included in this report as a 

 valuable addition to the information recovered by the survey. 



The Norris Basin 



The construction of Norris Dam was begun in 1933 under the 

 Tennessee Valley Authority Act of May 18, 1933. The dam was 

 named for United States Senator George W. Norris, of Nebraska, 

 who sponsored the bill creating the Tennessee Valley Authority. 



Norris Dam is on the Clinch River, about 80 miles above its con- 

 fluence with the Tennessee River and about 7 miles below the mouth 



