222 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 118 



and by the southern branch of the same linguistic family — the 

 Cherokee. The Iroquois ceded this territory to Great Britain in 

 1767, and the Cherokee gave up their formal claims in 1768. Prior 

 to this time, though both nations used the territory as a hunting 

 ground, there seems to be no evidence, either from the reports of 

 early travelers or from the maps of early explorers, that either of 

 these great nations made any settlements in the Clinch or Powell 

 River Valleys, or in the territory immediately adjoining. 



The settlements of the Over Hill Cherokee on Little Tennessee 

 only some 50 miles distant from Norris Basin, as the crow flies, were 

 so well known to the early historians and travelers after the visit 

 of Colonel Chicken in 1725 that it seems impossible that the Cherokee 

 could have had any settlement in the basin at that time, or there- 

 after, without there having been a definite historical record of such 

 a settlement. Indeed, had any other tribe made any considerable 

 or permanent settlement in the region of the Norris Basin, much 

 later than 1725, such a settlement could hardly have escaped his- 

 torical recording. 



While the study of the early history of the Cherokee in East Ten- 

 nessee fails to connect them directly with the Clinch and Powell 

 River region, yet their early history does reveal facts which are 

 of importance in the interpretation of the prehistory of the Norris 

 Basin. These facts may be summarized as follows : 



(1) The Cherokee built town houses in the midst of every 

 important town. 



(2) Every town house was near a stream. 



(3) Every town house was erected on an earth mound. 



(4) Every town house was raised on logs and thatched with cane. 

 Town houses were always covered with earth. 



(5) Cherokee town houses were circular in form. 



(6) Town houses had only one door, and no other opening except 

 a small smoke hole. 



(7) Town houses were sometimes destroyed by fire, and fell when 

 partially consumed. 



(8) The site of the town house was regarded as consecrated and 

 a new house was usually erected on the site of the old house — i. e., 

 multiple occupancy of town-house sites was the rule. 



With the finding in Norris Basin of earth-covered town-house sites, 

 corresponding in many particulars with those described by early 

 travelers as typical of the Cherokee country, interest naturally 

 attaches to the question of what relation, if any, may have existed 

 between these areas. 



In many ways the Cherokee town house and those of the Norris 

 Basin are alike. The chief difference is that the Cherokee town 



