90 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



Following Judge Graham's death, and in accord with his wishes, his 

 collections from Patawomeke and their accompanying records were 

 presented to the National Museum. Early in 1938, through the kind- 

 ness of J. L. Pratt, of Fredericksburg, Va., permission was obtained 

 to continue the investigation begun by Judge Graham. Since the 

 writer had accompanied the latter on several occasions to aid in 

 preserving skeletal remains, he was asked to take charge of the work. 

 The sum allotted being rather small, it was decided to make the 

 delimitation of the site the first objective. 



During the summer of 1938 five trips were made to Patawomeke 

 (60 miles from Washington) for the purpose of re-establishing 

 Judge Graham's system of squares, checking the locations of his 

 trenches and making a topographic map. Beginning September 8, 16 

 trips, 2 a week, were made to the site. During this period, with the 

 aid of two local laborers and the trained assistance of Robert Ladd, 

 of Washington, it was possible to remove 6,425 square feet of topsoil 

 and examine the subsoil for signs of disturbance, such as post holes, 

 pits, trenches, etc. 



Unfortunately, the eastern part of the site was placed under cultiva- 

 tion during the fall. By the close of the season, however, we had 

 obtained the outlines of what is probably the main part of the Indian 

 site. Located on a 30-foot bluff just above a spring that is still in use, 

 the village was surrounded by one or more circular stockades. What 

 appears to have been the inner stockade had a diameter of about 175 

 feet. We were not able to trace as completely the outer concentric 

 rows of post holes, but these may extend the diameter of the village to 

 280 feet or more. In this connection it may be recalled that some of 

 John White's drawings of the period show Indian villages surrounded 

 by circular stockades. 



The post holes which now mark the village outline appear as round 

 dark spots in the yellow subsoil. When a post was removed, or was 

 burned or rotted, its place was soon taken by surface soil and camp 

 debris. Today when we uncover these old post holes they are found 

 to contain soft black humus, potsherds, charcoal, animal bones, shell, 

 etc. Typical holes are 3 to 4 inches in diameter ; they rarely penetrate 

 the subsoil more than a foot. 



Although this brief season's work has broadened considerably our 

 knowledge of Patawomeke, many details still remain to be cleared up. 

 For instance, the entrances to the stockade have not yet been identi- 

 fied ; the locations of the dwellings and ceremonial structures, the 

 manner of their construction, and the nature of their furnishings are 

 vet to be ascertained. 



