b BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Expedition whicli had been started in 1956 at Eussell Cave in Ala- 

 bama, This third season of work continued through September 29 

 and brought to completion the investigations at that site. Kussell 

 Gave has contributed extensive information pertaining to Indian 

 peoples who inhabited that area over a considerable period of time. 

 Several cultural horizons are represented, the earliest of which is 

 some 9,020±:350 years old on the basis of carbon- 14 dating of charcoal 

 from a hearth at that level. The first peoples apparently had a com- 

 pletely hunting-fishing economy and from that progressed through 

 what is called the Archaic period to a more sedentary mode of life 

 and became makers of pottery. The latter handicraft appeared at 

 about 3500 B.C. The culture subsequently developed into what is 

 known as the Early Woodland and continued through stages known 

 as Middle and Late Woodland. It was during these three stages that 

 agriculture became a part of their economy. The latest occupation 

 seems to have been by Chickamauga Cherokee Indians in the early 

 1600's. During the 1958 season Mr. Miller reached the original and 

 lowest floor in the cave, some 43 feet below the present floor. How- 

 ever, no evidence of occupation was found below the 37-foot level. 

 During the course of the digging he found a fifth burial which helped 

 to throw additional light on the mortuary customs of the people who 

 inhabited the cave. 



While in northern Alabama, Mr. Miller visited several other caves, 

 also Indian sites in the open, and studied many local collections in 

 order to correlate the cultural remains from Eussell Cave with those 

 of the surrounding areas, particularly those attributable to Early 

 Man phases. Mr. Miller also spoke before different groups of people 

 in Bridgeport and Huntsville, Ala., and in South Pittsburg, Eichard 

 City, and Tullahoma, Tenn. Following his return to Washington on 

 October 4, Mr. Miller devoted his time to the preparation of reports. 

 In November and December he attended meetings of the American 

 Indian Ethnohistoric Conference and the American Anthropological 

 Association in Washington, D.C., and was one of the speakers at the 

 Southeastern Archeological Conference in Chapel Hill, N.C. Mr. 

 Miller returned to duty on the Eiver Basin Surveys staff December 

 14, 1958. 



RIVER BASIN SURVEYS 



The Eiver Basin Surveys continued its program for salvage arche- 

 ology in areas to be flooded or otherwise destroyed by the construction 

 of large dams. These investigations were carried on in cooperation 

 with the National Park Service and the Bureau of Eeclamation of 

 the Department of the Interior, the Corps of Engineers of the De- 

 partment of the Army, and several State and local institutions. Dur- 



