^92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 118 



The "large log" type of town house was constructed of logs from 10 

 to 14 inches in diameter. These logs were 2.5 to 4 feet apart. The 

 method of construction of this type of town house, which is to be 

 considered later, had to be varied to meet the conditions imposed by 

 the use of large logs. In what follows immediately the "small log" 

 town house is described. 



In most cases a definite floor, prepared of clay which had been 

 smoothed and pressed while soft, existed within the post-mold pattern. 

 When this floor dried it became checked and cracked. In places it 

 was polished by the passing of many feet. In some cases evidence 

 of a split-cane covering for the floor was manifested by impressions 

 remaining deeply stamped in the clay. 



In many cases no evidence existed as to the manner of the destruc- 

 tion of these buildings, and it is natural to assume that in time these 

 wooden structures decayed and collapsed, leaving the post molds deep 

 in the floor below the frost line and below the reach of the plows of 

 the early settlers. In such cases the decay was so complete that no 

 vestige of the original building remained except the post-mold pattern. 



However, there is definite evidence that occasionally these larger 

 buildings or town houses were destroyed by fire. In many such cases 

 structures so burned had other structures erected over them at a higher 

 level. It is believed that the burning of these structures was inten- 

 tional. In the large number of town-house structures investigated not 

 a sing]e object of any kind which would indicate a hasty removal, either 

 of occupants or the contents of the building, was found on the floor 

 covered by the burned structure. If these buildings were burned inten- 

 tionally, deliberately, and not accidentally, one naturally seeks a reason 

 for their burning. It does not seem necessary to assume any special 

 motive for such destruction beyond the desire to erect a new town house 

 on the site of the old one. From the evidence presented herein it seems 

 certain that these structures were made of logs, each with the larger 

 end set in the earth and the smaller end bent inward to form a portion 

 of the roof, as described on page 21. The roof was covered with split 

 cane and thatched with grass and had considerable earth deposited 

 over the thatching. From this method of construction it is believed 

 that the weight of the covering of earth on the roof and the pressure 

 of the earth piled against the walls caused the walls of the structures 

 to lean and the roof to sag badly as time passed, thus necessitating 

 numerous attempts at minor repairs. These repairs are shown by the 

 building of portions of secondary walls inside the original walls, ap- 

 parently for the purpose of strengthening the structure, and also by 

 the use of various props and roof supports, each of which left post- 

 mold patterns in the structure floor and seemed generally to have 

 been later additions to the building. 



