webb] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN 179 



on the discovery of traces of wood associated with the skeletal remains, and 

 said in part : "In seven cases layers of decayed wood or bark, occasionally show- 

 ing marks of fire, lay above human remains, and in two cases above and below." 

 (Moore.) There is little doubt of these mound burials having been similar, in 

 all essential details, to that of the Indian who died in London in 1734. And 

 although it is not possible to determine the exact age of the mound on Creighton 

 Island, nevertheless it is reasonable to attribute it to a period after the coming 

 of the Spaniards to the coast of Florida. 



It should be pointed out in this connection that Burials Nos. 1, 7, 10, 

 23, and 24 all certainly showed strips of bark or wood had been used 

 to line the grave and strips of similar materials had been placed longi- 

 tudinally above the body. This wood and bark was very poorly pre- 

 served, but of its existence and placement there can be no doubt. 

 Thus a second custom, known to ethnologists as a Creek burial custom, 

 from about 1734, has been definitely established as existing in the 

 Norris Basin. It is not to be presumed that this statement would 

 imply that the builders of Site No. 19 were Creeks. It is just possible 

 that had not the decay of wood strips been so rapid a greater propor- 

 tion of the undisturbed burials on this site might have this type of 

 bark and wood strip burial. 



Site No. 20.— AUSMUS BUKIAL CAVE 



On the John Ausmus farm near Speedwell, Claiborne County, 

 Tenn., 0.5 mile south of the two mounds previously designated in this 

 report as Site No. 10, is a small limestone cavern which appears to 

 have originated with a surface sinkhole. Its small size — namely, 50 

 feet in length by 6 to 8 feet in width and 8 feet in vertical height — 

 was hardly adapted to the requirements of a permanent place of 

 habitation. 



Following a vertical drop of 7 feet, the cavern extended in a west- 

 erly direction. At a distance of approximately 50 feet the passage 

 narrowed down to such an extent that further investigation was 

 impossible. The mouth of the cave was situated 300 yards from 

 Davis Creek, near the crest of a low ridge which sloped gradually 

 upward from the creek. 



A considerable amount of soil, rock, and wood had washed into the 

 cave. The removal of some of these materials soon brought to light 

 human skeletal remains. All talus was then removed and the work of 

 excavating begun at a point 15 feet from the entrance. Test pits sunk 

 beyond that point failed to show anything other than a hard-clay 

 deposit. 



It soon became evident that the cavern had served as a mortuary. 

 A mass of skeletal material of adult males and females, as well as 

 children, was encountered to a depth of about 4 feet, principally along 



