WEBB] 



ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN 



57 



bore on one face, dimly but definitely, the words E pluribus Unvm, 

 and on the other side a faint inscription which was finally deciphered 

 and discovered to be Nova Caesarea. 



Several objects were sent to Dr. John K. Swanton, of the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology, for possible identification. Of these objects, 

 Dr. Swanton writes : 



The coin was readily identified as having been minted by the State of New 

 Jersey, of which Nova Caesarea is an old name. The date is 1787, but there 

 must have been many others, as a good specimen is valued only at 25 cents. 

 It may have been brought into the country in 1788 when Governor Sevier was 

 engaged in warfare with the Cherokee and burned many of their towns. I do 

 not know how to place the other two objects. 



It is to be regretted that it was not possible to have had a more 

 exact knowledge of the level at which this coin was found. How- 



SITE 5 



IRVIN MOUND 



TYPICAL SECTION OF 



TRENCH OF 



FEATURE 26 



Figure 19. 



ever, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that this coin was car- 

 ried onto this site after 1787, and probably carried on the floor of 

 this town house by some men, red or white matters not, before the 

 town house with its earth-covered roof collapsed to bury it 18 inches 

 or more below the top of the mound. The important possibility 

 certainly presents itself that this town house was open and the floor 

 was accessible to someone in 1787 or thereafter. The suggestion 

 seems to point to a comparatively late occupancy of this site by its 

 builders. 



Pottery 



The pottery from this site seems to be characterized by vessels of 

 utility of fairly large size. It is all shell tempered and of medium 



