38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 118 



Conclusions 



The considerable disturbance to which all the mounds had been 

 subjected by cultivation, the very complete destruction of Mound 

 No. 2 by previous excavation of the burials, and the great scarcity 

 of artifacts make definite conclusions as to the prehistoric inhabitants 

 of Lays Bend very difficult. The outstanding fact of the use of 

 rectangular structures, built of vertical logs set in trenches, seems to 

 connect them with the builders of other sites in the Basin. From 

 the size of the structures it is to be supposed that they were earth- 

 covered. There was no evidence that these structures were burned. 

 It may be supposed that the structures stood until they collapsed 

 because of the decayed wood, and the mounds were formed by the 

 earth that had once covered them. They were, thus, probably never 

 very high mounds — not more than 4 feet — since there was evidence 

 of only one level of occupancy. It would further appear that this 

 site was only sparsely inhabited, and that occupation here extended 

 only for the lifetime of one, or at most two, log structures. It is 

 believed that an occupancy of from 50 to 75 years' time by a compara- 

 tively small group would be quite sufficient to account for all evidence 

 discovered. 



Site No. 5.— THE IRVIN VILLAGE SITE AT CARYVILLE 



This site, a map of which is shown in figure 11, located just out- 

 side the limits of Caryville, on the west side of U. S. Highway No. 

 25 and on the north side of Cove Creek, lies southwest of the 

 Cumberland Mountain Ridge. Directly west of the site this ridge is 

 broken by Caryville Cove, from which Cove Creek flows. The 

 mountain ridge then continues without interruption to the south- 

 west. Along the south and southwest Cove Creek flows to empty 

 into Clinch River, immediately above Norris Dam, which fact ac- 

 counts for the early description of Norris Dam as Cove Creek Dam. 

 A high protective ridge lies to the southwest of this area, rising at 

 the bank of Cove Creek. 



The land at this point is rolling and fertile, being protected from 

 three sides by mountains and foothills. Plate 17, a, shows the high- 

 way and Cove Creek together with the level bottom land along the 

 roadway. The land, which is very fertile, is at present under 

 cultivation — the last crop in 1933 having been corn. It has been 

 in cultivation, according to local report, for the last 100 years. 



Here a village, many acres in extent, was revealed by the presence 

 of a single mound in the center of the area and by the usual signs 

 of a village scattered over some 12 or 15 acres. The most notable 

 feature of the site was the low earth mound 100 feet by 150 feet. In 



