webb] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN 163 



find, which at once suggested the wall of a structure, made necessary 

 the extension of the area to be investigated to include an additional 

 10-foot strip of the 0-6 line. 



From this outside trenching it was at once seen that the mound 

 had been erected on an ancient village site which long antedated the 

 mound. The presence of the village was indicated by the deposit of 

 layers of shell and other midden material containing potsherds. 

 There were also old burials which had been made in the midden 

 material before the building of the mound. Although the mound 

 contained 49 identifiable burials, it was not a "burial mound" in the 

 ordinary sense ; that is, it was not erected for the purpose of burial, 

 or built up, as true burial mounds often are, by successive additions 

 of earth used to cover the burials which from time to time were 

 deposited on top of the previous burials. 



This mound, which at the center was some 8 feet higher than the 

 old village surface, seems to have been a true town-house site. The 

 mound of earth was actually formed by the collapse of structures 

 raised on wooden posts. Each structure had several feet of earth 

 on its roof. As the wooden structure decayed and fell in ruins its 

 earthen roof raised the level of the mound. On this the new struc- 

 ture was built. It appeared that at least three successive buildings 

 had been erected here. 



The first and primary structure was set on the old village floor, 

 covering over the usual shell beds, gravel deposits of the river, and the 

 old midden deposits, which contained occasional burials. This build- 

 ing was, as nearly as could be measured, 37.5 feet in length by 36.5 feet 

 in width, as shown in the base plat, figure 66. It was erected of 

 large red-cedar posts, averaging 14 inches in diameter, set uniformly 

 about 3 feet apart. The basis of these posts penetrated the black, 

 solid earth below the village floor to depths varying from 4 inches to 

 30 inches. It is believed that this structure had on its roof some 30 

 inches of earth taken from the village. It may have been the weight 

 of this earth which caused the variation in depth of the post molds 

 of the primary structure. If we remember how the old village floor 

 was built up of midden material, it is seen that a series of posts set 

 on end would settle unequally in this made material. 



When the primary structure collapsed the earth of the roof covered 

 up the wall posts to a depth of from 24 to 30 inches. On this level a 

 new structure was erected. With the collapse of the primary struc- 

 ture, some of the vertical posts pushed up through the roof earth and 

 extended above it, while some were so decayed that they were merely 

 broken off and covered over by the falling roof. The broken posts 

 were left where they fell by the builders, and either decayed and left 

 post molds, as shown in the base plat, or, if preserved, appeared as 



