146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 118 



any intrusion. The mound was built of red and yellow clay mixed 

 with patches of dark humus. A hard-packed clay floor was found 

 17 inches above the humus layer. Above this packed floor and at 

 the center of the mound there was about 30 inches of made earth- 

 clay mixed with humus. The construction of this mound by the 

 carrying up of small loads of earth from different sources was evi- 

 dent in any vertical profile. Clays — red, brown, and yellow — and 

 black humus were so mingled on this site that the size of each load 

 could easily be estimated. The mound had been in cultivation so 

 long and the top had been so much eroded that it was impossible to 

 form any exact idea of its original size. It was staked off 80 feet 

 east and west and 70 feet north and south. This area was cleared. 

 Later the area was extended to include a 10-foot strip to the east, so 

 that the area excavated was 90 feet by 70 feet. 



The very definite hard-packed clay floor was found to extend under 

 a large portion of the mound, but no post-mold pattern was found in 

 definite association. It is possible that the structure here, if any had 

 existed, was so large that the post molds at the boundary had been 

 destroyed by erosion, or by the cultivation of the soil. The floor 

 had a hard surface in the center, with an oval ridge about the edge, 

 as shown in plate 96, a, which is a view from the northwest of wall 

 4.0-4.7. In this picture the floor is shown as extending outward 

 from under the vertical wall. On the southeast side of this floor 

 there was a large depressed portion of the floor which extended 

 toward the southeast edge. Here the floor dropped off to a level 

 about 12 inches lower than the upper level. This is shown in plate 

 96, h, which is a view from the southeast of wall 4.0-4.7, with the 

 edge of Feature No. 2 just making its appearance. 



Special Features 



The special features of this mound are numbered serially and 

 described in the order found. 



Feature No. 1. — On the original ground surface below the mound 

 there was a small pile of stones broken by fire action. They lay in 

 an area about 65 inches by 40 inches and were surrounded by nine 

 well-formed post molds, irregularly arranged. 



Feature No. 2. — Near the center of the prepared floor was a square 

 altar of unusual form. It was 9 feet north and 7 feet west of stake 

 5.3. This altar was built of a white clay laid on the red-clay floor. 

 The red clay had been excavated to a depth of some 7 inches in a 

 square about 60 inches on each side. The white clay was placed in 

 the excavation and raised to a flat surface 2 inches above the floor 

 level. In the center of this 5-foot square a quadrangular depression 

 5 inches deep, with convex sides, formed a fire basin. This altar is 



