webb] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN \Q\ 



on a Sunday in the year 1900. During the course of the investigation 

 a thunderstorm occurred, one of the bolts striking a nearby tree. 

 This was regarded as an evil omen by the men, with the result that 

 only three of the four mounds were disturbed. 



Site No. 19.— COX MOUND 



This site is on the land of Mr. A. B. Cox, on Clinch River, 9 miles 

 west of Clinton, in Anderson County, Tenn. The mound is situated 

 about 150 feet from the east bank of the river, in the midst of a level 

 and very fertile river -bottom field, as shown in plate 106, a. Plate 

 106, 5, shows a view of this field from the top of the mound, looking 

 up Clinch River. This land has a history of nearly 100 years of 

 cultivation. It is quite often overflowed at high water, and at such 

 times the presence of the mound has caused drift to accumulate on 

 the upstream side. This drift has raised the level of the field north- 

 east of the mound and covered over what was evidently an old vil- 

 lage. Even before the mound was built there were areas in the old 

 village which were covered with mussel shells, showing a river de- 

 posit of silt on top of them. It was not possible to distinguish a 

 humus line under the mound, since it was built with the black soil 

 of the village on a portion of the old village site which showed 

 evidence of overflow. 



When excavation was begun Mr. Cox had already had the land 

 planted in corn. In spite of this fact, he kindly permitted the exca- 

 vation of the mound, stipulating, however, that the field should not 

 be disturbed. Naturally, no investigation of the village site which 

 lay outside the mound area could be undertaken, and the area of the 

 mound which was staked off was reduced to as small a compass as 

 was consistent with proper operation, as shown in plate 106, c. A 

 section of the mound 60 feet by 60 feet was staked off, and later an 

 additional 10-foot strip on the north border was excavated. This 

 was designated by primes, as shown in the ground plat of the mound, 

 figure 66. The mound appeared to be approximately 85 feet in 

 diameter. 



Excavation was begun in the 10-foot strip 5.6-6.0 and was carried 

 down through shell layers of an old village site to earth which had 

 once been laid down by stream action. This exposed the wall 5,0-5.6, 

 a view of which from the southeast is shown in plate 107, a. A 

 trench was then extended around the border of the staked area so as 

 to entirely block out the central portion of the mound with a trench 

 10 feet wide. In the trench on the east side remnants of a straight 

 line of vertical cedar posts were found, as shown in plate 107, 5, 

 which presents a view from the northwest of the wall 1.1-4.1. This 



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