I Te acai Oe eee fe beenteit Sow naenstet . i SO OO ali ' Sa? z 1 iA y rn Diy Ad i one eo Ae me fe Le re Any Me Nate SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION | "ee ASR = BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY . BULLETIN 113 THE TROYVILLE MOUNDS _ CATAHOULA PARISH, LA. BY _ WINSLOW M. WALKER < ie sar PHsOWNs STiry 10 4INcTON f : iy 13 es a \\ ~~ : ‘* Sw i 4 Tr <" POPARA AR PIAL iymage Cte tenes SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 THE TROYVILLE MOUNDS CATAHOULA PARISH, LA. BY WINSLOW M. WALKER UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1936 cs el For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - Price 20 cents ne eh ORL) eure? LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Bureau or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., October 10, 1935. Sir: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscript, entitled “ The Troyville Mounds, Catahoula Parish, La.”, by Winslow M. Walker, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, M. W. Stirtrne, Chief, Dr. C. G. Axssort, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Tit CONTENTS Page ERO CULO Time epee in ae a oR De Pe ey ee ee ol 1 ANN SU ep rane ete ae an DN SBN ge tes) Be | ee Ja 3 Discovery, and early investigations. 22.25.5222 5.22242 2- 2222 l 25.5 a Pixcavationsin Ooi —ooees sno sete eee oo eL ese see 16 (Grea twVoundisite meets sees ee Ge i Te ee ee 16 Micthods ang Operations 5 tou. ieee vibe eh sla ue 16 Structuretangucontents= as see o 2 ee eo eee ee eee 20 BIG LEsOUNG ees aah es PRR Ar aes adhe Aan one See ro 31 Blotemoundsand: burialisites | S24 2524. ses. ew eee eee se 32 Limbankamentiand: terminal mounds = sss tee yee see See 35 INieterialec ul tune a aeemem erty ye cee MR opts A pe cet ek ee PAE be acta 38 PATITNAENO TIGL) Senn Es eee ten Benes othe a eee es 38 SL TTT GES US tT GOS = erie Mee eel a ten eee a Ss dt RE ee 38 er RUe ge eee rhyme ei Fs 8 ee Se Se 39 Deserintignene sw wie nee eee ho Se cle Soe oie 39 umes GDS | O01 121 i a es 43 ASNT ETS pene te age AN a ny op Dn eae a ea ERs oe 47 WonspLUctonematerialssas 22.) eee oo hee eee cy ee See 48 iieryeeeeeie ee eee Bi eke 4 yi he 48 WEE OISIEEIG SUIT ERATION. .2 2 ee nN ee ee Lo eee 49 em PR IstOn ys ee ee. os pekinese 50 TERSTORIC SURI Des ees ears re oe ret te ie ee ee Lo Un es 50 PrUeaintOneNpeliod se oreo £5 JUS dese re cue 55 PPEHISGCrICTOCCUMANGR = sr. Vert) ei Sye aye bus Fol IE Ee ey Oe 62 (Chavancel iin STiay aye} Pca 9s ce od od le EO enema EOL ED Pe ool yee 63 IRELOREN CENT CLUCCION sen erati eee eke a eigen NLC TU. SRST EAM te es a 67 TT Cle Koes eee eee ie OR hs eT Me a ord Ra Ie ea, Ee 69 aA : ‘! Pe = ™ ‘ m - a5? @ ' ; ; 4 a sae [ J ay t : BS. aR 7 ; ay PF ‘ st re z : . APES PROD <— vale bf v 7 ‘ t- : ¥ «ww rs oe ge : eek 4 ee utagitesral thay haa ae sapien pase! ech~ Sat oan Afen ; ve oe bigetrené, tam Os a . anise Dag okie lin ania, bat Nee ie EON a ee als pe ae.. fe ‘ . > ooh eBid bot ied ie Cine oh _. Jvwont (erin hen sooo 2o te ay lati , - » » tips - oe NS - 8 a z ; ~~ “ C aes a he , sl ~~ * — ow ee a * % . : Z <2 OY Jeeta. «| Sips ice ty mae ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES . Reconstruction sketch of Troyville Mound group. Based on perspective view from head of Black River in 1804. . a, West side of Great Mound, winter, 1922. 6, Multiple burial on bluff. . Slope of original mound. a, View of slabs on slope; tip of post in fore- ground. b, Close-up of slabs in place. . @, Deposit of nine logs in place. 6, Line of post molds. . Fragments of matting. a, Humped-over clay at eastern end of slope. b, In place on western part of slope. South dome. a, Before trenching. 6, Trenched to show structure. a, Cane over North Dome. 6b, Stakes through cane layers. . a, General view of Bluff Mound. b, Excavations in North Dome. a, b, Vessel fragments from Great Mound. c, Thick section of cane sheets from South Mound. . Potsherds from Great Mound fire level. . Grooved and incised ware. . Impressed types of decoration. . Cord-marked ware. . Punctate types of pottery. . Larto Lake potsherds. . a, Artifacts of chipped flint. 6, Stone artifacts. TEXT FIGURES Page . Map of Louisiana showing location of Jonesville__-__.--_---------- 2 . Comparison of Troyville Great Mound with Cahokia, Etowah, and Graivoterecko Mounds as 2. er oe 2 Eee Sess VE ee sete a . Cross section outlines of Great Mound, showing excavations of 1932- 10 . Plan of Troyville Mound group, about 1871 (after Thomas and Beyer) - 11 Ganesareas according 16, Howe, 1981. .2-.292 2. 5.224262 22- 252 15 Plan of excavations, Great Mound site.......-...---.----------- pt 18 . Cross sections of slope of original mound in south pit_-__----------- 18 . Diagram of features of construction uncovered in south pit_-_------- 19 MP@rassiseciOmoL SOUt Damenets. nae tae en ee fe Se eek 26 . Cross section through east-west trench. .......-_----------------- 27 Cross section, throughwmorgatrenth. | — 22 ee sk sce 29 MMOTOSssISeCLION OL NOFtmbomer 2.5 oo) fe ek eee eS 30 iar ram OF Dla DUTalerounG a. 82 Ow ee ee 33 WiGross? sections of -embpankment «20 2b Yoel ble ese e 37 . Idealized view of the temple and temple mound of Anilco in the time AVIS OST Fo NaS 2 TA TO Ae A ee 54 Ms ~ \ rs } 4 ahd 4 f* , “- bs 4 , » Le et = i or 3 hin ’ ei sith avts) okt F ryn F ; ts) ne { ce pede Oi J Os rein Bs = r 3 ; c. eee Tete ait): 7, x co oe freee bt | cat > a ; rf ce abtsenitayias ty *‘ Ss } “af 2) : e : . ” = , i f ¥ ee J i §, OPM cy tor burions oye : # i} : La | wo M ath * . eek ? iY © ' F 1 Ble Saal ‘ sy ee THE TROYVILLE MOUNDS, CATAHOULA PARISH, LA. By Winstow M. WALKER INTRODUCTION During the summer of 1931, while investigating mounds and burial sites in the Red River Valley in Louisiana, the writer heard of the destruction of a large mound in the eastern part of the State where it was reported that great sheets of cane, pottery, bones, and several kinds of colored clay had been found. Unfor- tunately, on his arrival it was possible to salvage only fragments of this cane material which lay strewn over the surface of the site where the mound had formerly stood. Further examination, however, in- dicated that the town of Jonesville itself (fig. 1) occupied the site of an extensive group of mounds surrounded by a low embankment of earth, and the large mound which had been destroyed in the center of the town was also the central one in the group. Additional research at Washington disclosed the fact that this group at Jonesville was the same one called “'Troyville Mounds” (pl. 1) by Thomas and other early investigators, and the great mound, which was the one torn down, had been in the unusual shape of a cone surmounting a terraced pyramid and one of the largest mounds in the whole mound area. ‘These considerations led to a determination to revisit the site to see if there were any possibilities for further promising excavation. Accordingly, a few months later when the writer was again in the South he made a more careful investigation of the spot and decided that perhaps the bottom of the great mound had not yet been reached. The weather was unfavor- able for continued operations at this season of the year, so that it was not until the fall of 1932 that intensive excavations could be started. Digging was carried on for 2 months, both at the site of the great mound and at several other points in the group, but had to be unexpectedly terminated because of the unsympathetic attitude developed by the owners of the property. Unfortunately, the people on whose land the great mound had steod were at first suspicious of the intentions of the excavators, 1 2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 and knowing little of scientific aims or procedure, believed instead that the real purpose was to search for the “Natchez treasure ”, which, according to popular tradition, was buried in this or some other large Indian mound. It was, therefore, with reluctance that they at last consented to any excavation of the site at all, and then only on the stipulation that any such “money ” found would belong by right to them. But as the work progressed and this form of re- muneration did not materialize, their cupidity led them to formu- ARKANSAS Ficurp 1.—Map of Louisiana showing location of Jonesville. late other demands, which finally became so unreasonable and so impossible to grant that the excavation of the great mound site had to be summarily stopped. The writer wishes, however, to express his appreciation to the many citizens of Jonesville who did aid and cooperate in the work. Thanks are due especially to Mr. A. M. Beard, Dr. C. E. Enete, Mr. S. L. Marvin, and Mr. H. M. Wheeler for permission to dig on their respective properties, and to Mr. Charles Phillips, local news- paper editor. For data pertaining to the removal of the mound WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 3 and for the use of charts and equipment the expedition is indebted to Mr. J. B. Carter, engineer of the Louisiana Highway Commis- sion, and members of his staff. The members of the Lions Club of Jonesville also aided by their attitude of helpful interest. Many of the townspeople were called upon for information, and even for the loan of tools and equipment, all of which was supplied with cordial good will. To Miss Caroline Dormon, who assisted in the preliminary inves- tigations, and particularly to Mr. Edwin F. Walker, field assistant during the final season of excavation, the writer wishes to express his appreciation for their efficient services. Acknowledgment is likewise made to members of the staff of the United States National Museum and to members of the Division of Chemistry and Soils and the Bureau of Biological Survey in the United States Department of Agriculture for exact identification of the material collected. The writer is also grateful to his col- leagues, Dr. John R. Swanton and Mr. Henry B. Collins, Jr., for helpful advice and criticism during the preparation of the manuscript. LOCATION In the northeastern portion of Louisiana lies a section of the Mis- sissippi flood plain known as the Tensas Basin, through which meander several large streams and numerous bayous, forming a maze of waterways navigable for canoes in almost any direction, and even for larger vessels during periods of overflow. The principal river draining this basin is the Ouachita, which has its source in the vicin- ity of Hot Springs, Ark., flows southeastward to the Louisiana line, then south to its junction with Tensas River, whence it is known as Black River. This meanders in wide bends for 60 miles farther before emptying into Red River, thence into the Mississippi and the Gulf. Only a few hundred yards below the confluence of the Ouachita and the Tensas a small stream known as Little River comes in from the west, the outlet of a large body of water named Catahoula Lake, which also formerly gave its name to the stream which drains it. From this circumstance of three rivers emptying into Black River at almost the same point, the region was known from early times as the Trinity, and a settlement made there after the American occupation of Louisiana took the name Trinity in 1887. South of Trinity across Little River is the present town of Jones- ville. Its former name, Troyville, was derived from Troy Planta- tion, which formed part of a Spanish grant of 1,000 acres made to one John Hebrard in 1786, which included the site of a group of large mounds surrounded by an earthen embankment running from 4. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL, 113 Little River around to Black River on the south. The United States Geological Survey topographic quadrangle map of 1930 gives the location of this group as sec. 37, T. 8 N., R. 6 E., Catahoula Parish. The nearest point on the Mississippi is 18 miles to the east, and 11 miles north at the town of Harrisonburg is the nearest high land, part of the hilly escarpment which west of Red River is known as the Kisatchie Wold. Thus the site of the mounds themselves must be considered as in the bottom lands of Black River and hence it is subject to periodic overflow. Rainfall is heavy throughout this region, a precipitation of about 55 inches being the annual expectancy. This results in yearly high waters which before the building of the levees deposited successive layers of sands, clays, and silts forming the rich “ gumbo” soils of the lowlands. Deposits of reddish clays in the same vicinity are probably due to backwaters from Red River which have been known to extend as far as Jonesville. Timber is plentiful and plant life luxuriant in these lowlands. The swamp cypress is the most characteristic tree, but several va- rieties of gum, oak, ash, hickory, chestnut, walnut, and willow are found abundantly, and conifers grow on the bordering highlands. Preparatory to the cultivation of cotton fields much of the land had to be cleared of thick canebrakes which extended for some distance back from the river banks, but this type of growth is now found only in the swamps of the Red River delta and does not extend very far up Black River. It is curious to discover that these low swampy bottom lands of the Tensas Basin had perhaps a greater population in aboriginal times than they have today, judging from the large numbers of artificial mounds and earthworks found along all of the principal watercourses. But no larger or more pretentious group than the Troyville Mounds is known throughout this region, and the impor- tance of its situation at the confluence of three rivers lends strength to the supposition that these mounds represented the capital of an extensive province in prehistoric times. DISCOVERY AND EARLY INVESTIGATIONS The earliest known description of these mounds is that given in the journal of the first Americans to explore the Ouachita River after it became part of the United States as a result of the Louisi- ana Purchase. On October 16, 1804, the naturalist, William Dun- bar, and Dr. George Hunter set out from Natchez on the commis- sion of exploration intrusted to them by President Jefferson. The trip was made in a small boat down the Mississippi to the mouth of Red River, thence up the Black into the Ouachita. Arriving WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 5 at the mouth of a stream which he calls the Catahoula (Little River) on October 23, he found there a lone settler, a Frenchman named Heberd (Hebrard?), whose house was built on a mound in view of several larger ones. Not having time to make a careful examination of the group on that occasion, Dunbar proposed to do so on his return, which he did on January 21 of the following year. He says:? At this place are several Indian mounts, being mostly covered by a thick canebrake, it was difficult to examine them with due attention: There are 5 of the usual form [quadrilateral truncate?] placed within the angle formed by the black river & the Catahoula, another lies beyond the Catahoula; those are oblong, about 50 yards long by 25 wide on the top, with a rapid descent about 12 feet perpendicular; there exists a sixth mount of a very particular construc- tion, the base is nearly square, & consists of three stories; M. Heberd, the pro- prietor, thinks the whole is 80 feet high, but I cannot persuade myself that it exceeds 40 or 45 feet, the ascent of the first story is not very rapid, & may be estimated at 15 feet perpendicular; a flat of 5 or 6 feet wide reigns all around the mount, from which arises the 2" story, the ascent of which is not more rapid than the 1** & may be about 8 feet perpendicular ; a 2° flat of the same breadth is found above the 2° story passing in like manner around the mount from whence arises the third story, whose ascent is extremely steep, it is necessary to support one’self by the Canes, which cover this mount to be able to get to the top; the form of this 3° story is that of a very regular cone, terminated at the top by a circular flat of about 8 feet diameter, which has probably been less, the per- pendicular height of the cone may be about 20 feet, having brought no instru- ments with me from the boat & moreover the mount being entirely covered by thick canes I had it not in my power to make an exact survey, which I hope to do upon some future occasion: ‘The proprietor says that the base covers a square of about 180 feet to each side, & at each angle there is a kind of abut- ment or projection, from which an imperfect idea may be formed of the curious form of this singular mount; which may have been a temple for the adoration of the Supreme being; or it may have been a monument erected to the honor of some great Chief; or it may have been barely a watch tower. The country all around being alluvial, or at least subject to inundation, it is extremely probable that the five oblong mounts were places of residence, composing a considerable village, there is also the appearance of an embankment, which composes two sides of an imperfect square, the black river & the Catahoula forming the other two: this embankment has been probably nearly perpendicular without & in form of a glacis within;... However, at a subsequent time Dunbar apparently returned to measure the great mound, for we find in his report to Jefferson the following :? Description of mounds at junction of Catahoula, Washita, and Taenzas. There is an embankment running from the Catahoula to Black R. at present about 10 ft. high and 10 ft. broad. This surrounds 4 large mounds of earth at 1 Rowland, 1930, p. 317. 2 Message from the President of the United States, 1806, p. 120. ’Hunter’s Journal, as copied by A. T. Witbeck from the original in the American Philosophical Society collections in Philadelphia, has these dimensions as “about 10 feet high and 50 broad.” This discrepancy in the breadth may indicate base width as opposed to summit width, or may be due to a mistake in transliterating the figures 10 and 50 from the original script. 6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 1138 the distance of a bow-shot from each other; each of which may be 100 x 300 ft. at the top, and 20 ft. high, besides a stupendous turret situa‘e on the back part of the whole, or farthest from the water, whose base covers about an acre of ground, rising by 2 steps or stories tapering in the ascent, the whole surmounted by a great cone with its top cut off. This tower of earth on measurement proved to be about 80 feet perpendicular. If this last statement about the height of the great mound is cor- rect, then it is necessary also to revise the other measurements in pro- portion. Thus, in order to support a tower of earth 80 feet high on a base 180 feet. wide it is probable that the easy ascent of the first story was up a Slope of 42° to a height of perhaps 30 feet, the slope to the second terrace about the same to an additional height of 15 feet, and the summit cone 35 feet with steep sides at an angle of 50°, leaving an actual summit of 8 feet in diameter. Only by such an assumed re- construction could the normal angle of repose for an artificial pile of earth at the accepted 114:1 grade be obtained. Yet it presents the incongruous picture of a regular truncated cone set on a double-ter- raced square base, according to the description. There is, of course, a possibility that the cone was originally a true pyramid which assumed a conical shape as a result of ero- sional activity over a long period of time, but the specific mention of a circular flat at the top would seem to substantiate the hypothesis that it was built as a cone and retained that form down to the time of Dunbar’s visit. A possible explanation of the anomaly might be that the mound was first built as a flat-topped terraced structure to support a building of some kind and that at a later period the cone was added for a different purpose, perhaps by an entirely different people. Major Stoddard visited the group soon after Dunbar and Hunter and gives virtually the same description of it. His theory was that part of the earthworks were designed for defense and that the mounds were built “for the reception of the dead.” ¢ The group was considered important enough for the French engineer La Fon to list it on his map of the “ Territoire d’Orleans ”, printed in 1806. The mounds are shown in the angle between “ B. Cataoullou ”, emptying out of the lake of that name to the west, and “ Riv. Noire ”, under the caption, “ Monuments de 70 pieds de haut.” As the French “pied” is equivalent to a fraction more than an English foot, this map furnished another corroboratory check on the height of the great mound. Just below this point on Black River is shown the trail from Natchez to Natchitoches, the old “ Natchez Trace.” A new feature occurs in the description by Brackenridge, writing in 1817, who compares the great mound to the great Cahokia or * Stoddard, 1812, p. 349, WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 7 Monks Mound in Illinois (fig. 2). The former has, he says, “a step or apron, and is surrounded by a group of ten or twelve mounds of smaller size.”® This is a rather surprising statement, practically doubling the number of mounds recorded by the two earlier ob- servers, yet it is not totally at variance if the extensive canebrake had disappeared or been cleared away, thus revealing numerous low mounds not visible to Dunbar. There is no evidence to support the fantastic account by the romanticist Rafinesque of Kentucky, of “ Four square teocallis of 940 and 22 feet high, equal, forming a square, joined by a wall and ditch, with an avenue leading to a conical teocalli 115 feet high (spiral road on it), on Bayou Cataoulou.”* The same author men- ETOWAH peu TROYVILLE MOUND GRAVE ore moun LOUISIANA CUBIC CONTENTS — 4,300,000 CU. FT, CUBIC CONTENTS CUBIC CONTENTS =1,870,000 CU.FT. LENGTH - 380 FT. 626,700 CU.FT. BASE DIAMETER - 320 FT. WIDTH = 330 a BASE - 180 FT. SQ. HEIGHT ~ 70 FT. HEIGHT - 61 HEIGHT - 80 FT. BASE AREA- 3 ACRES CAHOKIA MOUND ILLINOIS CUBIC CONTENTS ~— 21,690,000 CU.FT. ° 50 00 LENGTH - 998 FT. WIOTH =~ 721! FT. HEIGHT- 99 FT. BASE AREA - !6 ACRES Figure 2.—Comparison of Troyville Great Mound with Cahokia, Etowah, and Grave Creek Mounds. tions also “ Five mounds of shells near Lake Cataoulou, 80 feet high. A high mound on Red River, built in 1728 by the Natchez.” None of these have been found. The use of the term “ Teocalli” shows the extent to which this writer has prejudiced himself in favor of the Mexican origin theory for the builders of the mounds, although there are but few analogies between the flat-topped ter- raced earthworks of the Mississippi Valley and the elaborately carved and decorated, stone-faced, temple-crowned pyramids of the Aztecs. It is admitted, however, that the basic concept underlying this cultural trait, i. e., the placing of ceremonial or religious structures on artificial elevations, may have a common point of origin which is to be sought rather to the south than to the north of the mound area. In 1844 the historian Monette described the group as occupying approximately 400 acres, consisting of 1 large mound and 12 small 5 Brackenridge, 1817, p. 175. ® Rafinesque, 1824, Appendix I, p. 35. 8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 ones. “The great mound or terrace, about 100 x 50 yards at the base, rises as a pyramid to the height of 30 ft. then recedes, with a terrace on every side, and rises more than 30 ft. higher in a conical form. Major Stoddard, who examined it in 1804, estimated the elevation of the principal summit at 80 ft.”7 Monette then advances the ingenious theory that the mounds are the work of the Natchez, a remnant of whom are said to have fortified the group in their first retreat up Black River after the Fort Rosalie massacre. He also makes this the site of their famous last stand against the French forces of Perrier in 1731. (Cf. p. 66.) But the official records of that expedition do not support this theory, as they place the scene of the conflict farther upstream on slightly higher land, which on the De Crenay map of 1733 is shown on a branch of a stream named “B. Dargent ” (Tensas?), almost directly north of Natchez.® If the Natchez had built their fort on any such eminence as the great mound or made use of it during the siege some reference to it would certainly have been made in the chronicles of Perrier, and there is no doubt but what it would have served admirably as a fortified loca- tion or at least as a signal tower to warn of the approach of the enemy. But as documentary records are silent and archeological evi- dence negative on this point this theory should probably be discarded. Squier and Davis in their classic survey of Indian mounds in 1848 accord but scant mention to this group, “At the junction of the Washita, Tenza, and Catahoola Rivers in Louisiana, . . . of which no plan has yet been published.” Not having visited the mounds themselves, they rely on the descriptions of Stoddard and Rafinesque, which they proceed to embellish as follows: The principal mound is said to be circular, four hundred feet in diameter at the base, ninety feet in height, truncated and having a level area at its summit, fifty feet in diameter. [sic!] The summit is reached by a spiral pathway, which winds with easy ascent around the mound, from its base to its top. This pathway is sufficiently broad to permit two horsemen to ride abreast. [!] From the summit a wide prospect is commanded. Here upon penetrating the earth to a slight depth, strong traces of fire are visible. The ground upon which the mound stands is somewhat elevated above the sur- rounding plain, which is low and marshy.’ The only statement worthy of consideration in this account is the mention of fire indications at the top. This might be confirmation of the signal tower theory or the even more imaginative one of a sacred flame kept burning continually on the summit. But if there had been any such pathway it is strange that it was not found and utilized by Dunbar to lessen the difficulties of a climb that he found so arduous. 7 Monette, 1846, p. 267. § Swanton, 1922, pl. 5. ® Squier and Davis, 1848, p. 117. WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 9 In 1852 a Dr. Kilpatrick residing in the town of Trinity, just across Little River from the Troyville mounds, described the group as consisting of 3 large mounds and 9 smaller ones, 1 less than the total recorded by Monette in 1844. The Great Mound had been reduced from its original height of 80 feet to not much more than 50 feet. An interesting tradition concerning it is given. In 1819 Dr. J. M. Thompson visited the parish and was so impressed by the above-mentioned group that he made an effort to learn some- thing more about it. It happened that while he was on a trip to Georgia he was discussing these mounds and heard from an in- telligent half-breed Creek Indian the following: The large mound at the mouth of Little River was called the Great Fire, and was the central place of worship, as it was at the remarkable point where two rivers crossed, or where one river ran across another. The Creek Indians formerly occupied this country in great numbers, but having become involved in a war, or rather being invaded by a very powerful tribe from the sea- coast, they were overpowered and forced to leave their homes and favorite place of worship, and retreat towards the east. Many of them betook them- selves to boats, and retreated down the river into the Mississippi, through into Lake Pontchartrain, and scattered abroad over the country now known as Alabama and Georgia, and where they were found by the first white people.” To prove that the narrator had definitely in mind the site across from Trinity, Dr. Kilpatrick states as a fact the remarkable phe- nomenon, “that for many months in the year the waters of the Tensas River run across Black River into Little River, and this last named river runs upstream.” (Sic!) This statement would hardly . seem worth further credence were it not true that the writer himself heard of instances of some of these swampy bayous backing up in times of excessive rainfall when the main streams experienced a rapid rise and spread back for some distance up their tributaries. Whether or not the legend of a former Creek occupation of this par- ticular region is correct, it is true, according to Swanton, that most of the Creek origin legends point to an ancestral home west of the Mississippi,’ and at least the description of a mound called the Great Fire is interesting material for the advocates of the theory that the Great Mound was a ceremonial fire tower. During the period of the Civil War the Great Mound underwent an alteration which greatly changed its appearance by having the summit cone virtually cut down to provide space for a rifle pit at the top. The displaced dirt spread down the slope principally on the north and south sides to such an extent that when Palmer saw it in February 1883 it appeared almost 90 feet longer from north to south 10 Kilpatrick, 1852, p. 266. 11 Swanton, 1928, pp. 33-75. 28229—36——2 [BULL. 113 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 10 4133uLS ONOD3S 433U1S ANOd ‘ZEGL JO SMONBABOXS SUTMOYS ‘PpUNOW }eIH JO SeuT[}NO UOT}OIS ssOIQ—'g MUNDI '€61 JDVsyNS LN 43381S GYIHL 43301S MOTIIM WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS tl than from east to west, and so gashed and mutilated that the observer found it difficult to determine just what the original shape had been. Evidently he did not know of Dunbar’s description. The plan given in figure 3 embodies the dimensions given by Dun- bar. Palmer’s report provided Dr. Cyrus Thomas with the data for his brief description of the Troyville mounds, which occurs in his “ Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnol- ogy ”, and in it he gives a plat of the group showing its location CATAHOULA PARISH Little River = = = = = — = —_ = -_ = = = = = = = LTT Ty yanvnait 7 WZ Ficurn 4.—Plan of Troyville Mound group, about 1871 (after Thomas and Beyer). at the town of Troyville on Black River.’? It is not, however, wholly accurate, as the town which was laid out in 1871 was com- posed of 16 blocks filling the entire area inside the ancient embank- ment, and these blocks were oriented parallel to the axes of the two rivers bordering it. Thus early in the town’s history nearly all of the mounds were subject to a greater or lesser amount of disturb- ance. The Great Mound, No. 1 on the Thomas plat (fig. 4, No. 5), occupied the major part of block 11, lying across it from north to south. Beyer’s plan, made in 1896, which shows 9 mounds, is 2% Thomas, 1894, p. 251. 12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 more nearly correct, but by the time he visited the group the large ponds shown on the earlier plan as connected with 3 arms of a bayou penetrating the embankment from the southwest had dwin- dled to such small proportions that their former outlets were no longer recognizable, and the embankment is indicated as an unbroken ridge forming the western and southern bounds of the town and terminating in a mound on the bank of the Black River.** Both of these plats have been utilized in preparing the plan of the group presented as figure 4 and the mounds are numbered as Beyer listed them. Thomas describes the group as consisting of 6 mounds (Beyer found 7), within an enclosing wall or embankment, and artificial ponds and canals. The Great Mound was then (1883) 45 feet high, 270 feet long, and 180 feet wide, and in one of the deep gashes on the north side, which was as much as 25 feet in depth, a layer of “charred cane 1 foot thick” was visible at a height of 30 feet, ex- tending into the mound’s interior. No attempt was made, appar- ently, to trace out more of this cane, although a specimen of it was brought back. Concerning the other mounds the following information is given: Mound 6 (Beyer No. 2). 15 feet high, 90 feet long, 75 feet wide. Two excavations disclosed nothing but hard greasy clay. Mound 5 (Beyer No. 1). 200 feet long, 90 feet wide, 8 feet high. Ancient burial mound used as modern cemetery; pottery found with skeletons. Mound 4 (Beyer No. 7). Nearly destroyed, originally 20 feet high. Mound 3 (Beyer No. 6). Largely destroyed. Mound 2 (Beyer Nos. 3 and 4?). Largely destroyed. The four artificial depressions which presumably furnished most of the dirt used in the construction of the Great Mound were con- nected with each other and the bayou to the southwest by canals, “which are still from 10-12 feet wide and 5 feet deep. As the bayou connects with the [Black] river 3 miles below, it is apparent that canoes could reach the inclosure by this route.” Of the em- bankment Thomas continues, “The wall which encloses the area on the south and west is very nearly or quite 1 mile in length, and at the points where least disturbed from 7 to 8 feet high and 20 to 25 feet wide.” 1# Prof. George E. Beyer, of Tulane University, visited the mounds in June 1896 at the instigation of the Louisiana Historical Society. 13 Beyer, 1896, pl. XIII. 14 Squier and Davis, 1848, in footnote to p. 118 give Dr. M. W. Dickeson as authority for the statement that “the great enclosure at the Trinity . .. is partially faced with sun dried bricks”, and that many of the ditches and ponds of Louisiana “are lined at the sides and bottom with bricks.’’ The bricks are said to be from 16 to 18 inches in length and of proportional width. Presumably the observer has been misled by the cracked and dried appearance of the clay chunks which he took for “ bricks.” Nothing like “ bricks ’ was found in 1932. WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 13 The name of the town had previously been changed from Troyville to Jonesville, which it remains to the present day. Beyer, although he did a little digging in some of the other mounds, devoted most of his attention to the Great Mound, which he says Prof. C. G. Forshey had visited in 1840 and found to consist of two sections— a base of about 40 feet in height, and a tumulus surmounting it of nearly the same height, which he called the Great Temple Mound. Beyer confirms what Palmer had previously reported, that the tu- mulus had been leveled down to the top of the second terrace and a large pit scooped out of the platform to serve as a fortification during the Civil War, and further he discovered on the north side of the mound a thick layer of what he calls “ charcoal ”, probably only the fragments of the cane layers which on exposure to sun and air quickly turn black and tend to curl and crack into tiny pieces. This was found— extending about 20 feet around the mound—in some places 12 to 14 inches in thickness. This bed consisted of buried cane and wood, in all iikelihood sweet gum, and had been deposed crossways in systematic layers. There were, however, no signs of bows, crockery, or other remains. A little further to the west, but between 3 or 4 feet higher up, I discovered another layer of charcoal; it consisted, like the former, of cane and wood, and, although I followed it up to a distance of about 8 feet into the interior of the mound, all search after human remains or utensils proved futile.” * He concludes that the mound must have been terraced on the northwest side at the time these supposed “fires” were kindled, but no traces of fire could be detected elsewhere on it. Pottery and chipped artifacts which had been found in earlier times scattered over the surface in innumerable quantities no longer remained, due to the washing away of so much of the original mound surface. Beyer inclined to Forshey’s theory that the mound was built as a place of worship rather than as a burial tumulus. He advanced the idea that smoke from a fire kindled on the summit could have been seen within a radius of 30 miles and could have served as a direct means of communication to the Larto Lake group, the Little River mounds, and those on nearby reaches of the Black, Tensas, and Ouachita Rivers. Most of the other mounds were already serving the purpose of house foundations or elevations cleared for other buildings. Mound 7 (Thomas No. 4) on the bluff had been graded down to allow easier approach to the steamboat wharf, disclosing potsherds and imple- ments plentifully strewn about. The greater number of burials were, however, found not in the mounds but along the bank of Black River. Sinking a pit into what was left of Mound 2, a single skeleton accom- panied by vessels of earthenware was found, but no other artifacts. 18 Beyer, 1896, p. 29. 14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 The pottery displayed a variety of “ exceedingly pleasing designs in ornamentation ”, which were also found on the potsherds scattered over the surface of the embankment. The subsequent growth of the town of Jonesville resulted in a cor- respondingly rapid demolition of the mounds, particularly of the Great Mound, which supplied dirt to fill up the hollows and ditches from which it had been taken originally. Even dynamite was re- sorted to in order to hasten the process, and the dirt distributed to form a shelf or bench out to the edges of the block. Even so, a good- sized hill remained which served an extremely useful purpose as a refugee camp during the floods which came between 1912 and 1927, since it was the only spot in the town above the reach of the water (pl. 2, a). But the owners still regarded it as a hindrance to the development of their property and determined to get rid of it at the most favorable opportunity. The decision of the Louisiana Highway Commission to build a bridge across Black River just south of the main part of the town, to join the ends of the proposed new highway, provided the longed-for chance. A long, high approach had to be built at each end of the bridge and the mound offered the most con- venient and satisfactory source from which to obtain the earth needed. A contract was made with the owners to permit the removal of 21,000 cubic yards of dirt, which resulted in reducing the mound nearly to street level. The work of removal was begun during the early part of the summer of 1931 and continued without cessation for a period of more than a month. Day and night shifts were employed, and it required steam shovels, horses, and scrapers, and large gangs of laborers with picks and shovels to accomplish the undertaking, so hard and closely packed was the clay which the aborginal builders had placed there. During the cutting down of the mound nothing of interest was found except a variety of colored clays—red, brown, gray, blue, and olive— and extensive layers of the cane sheets, some of which were quite thick, separated from other layers by masses of clay. This cane was still a greenish yellow when first exposed, but almost immediately turned black on coming in contact with air and sunlight, which prob- ably accounts for its charred appearance according to Palmer and Beyer. Much of it, however, had a bright blue tinge due to the presence of a substance later identified as “ vivianite ”, a constituent of the river-bottom clays. Reports among the bystanders that human bones were discovered could not be verified. Various descriptions of the appearance of the cane layers in one or more dome-shaped contours were obtained from townsfolk who were present during different stages of the removal. But the only lucid account was furnished by Dr. H. V. Howe, geologist at Louisi- ana State University, Baton Rouge, who kindly furnished the writer WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 15 with photographs and data secured during a day’s visit to the site in July. At that time, according to Dr. Howe, the whole southern half of the mound had been cut down and cleared away by a steam shovel cutting along an east-west line across the block. The machine was then standing on a shelf about 5 feet above the base of the mound, iearing up great strips of cane in its scoop along with the clay. Traces of a terrace level could be seen part way up the outside slope, although the face of the cut was not much over 20 feet high at the time. Near the center of the cut were four circular areas of cane, the largest being 24 feet in diameter, consisting of several nearly con- SECOND STREET UNCUT SURFACE FACE OF CUT ON JULY 15,1931 >, : WILLOW STREET POND STREET t Rw sss % areasy ag ba ene & 9 CANE DOMES HED) THIRD STREET SCALE ° so 109 tee ne eee re FEET Ficgurm 5.—Cane areas according to Howe, 1931. centrie layers of clay and cane, suggesting the structure seen in a sliced onion, and rising in the form of an arch where seen against the face of the cut (fig. 5). Hach cane layer was composed of many pieces of flattened cane stalks crossing each other at right angles and forming a thickness of as much as 3 inches. None of these circular areas extended anywhere near the periphery of the mound, however. Some potsherds found on the terrace bore simple incised curved lines and some raylike figures. Just 1 month later, when the writer arrived, nothing was to be seen of the former Great Mound which had once stood 80 feet high 16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 118 and covered the better part of the block. Even the 5-foot level had been scraped down until not even the outlines of the base of the mound could be distinguished. Only here and there irregular patches and lines of cane broke the surface over an area extending some 160 feet in a northwest-southeast direction. A few sandy spots were discovered, in some places partly surrounded by the cane. This circumstance led to the belief that the absolute bottom of the mound might not yet have been reached, a surmise strengthened by the discovery that even after subtracting the total cubic contents actually removed from the theoretical estimate of the original con- tents a total of more than 75,000 cubic feet would remain, but spread about over a 300-foot square town block. Remnants of five of the other mounds were seen, most of which were serving as foundations for houses in the town. Mound No. 1 (Beyer) is still used for a cemetery. Mound No. 7, in front of the Magnolia Hotel, affording an unobstructed view of the three rivers, was two-thirds gone, leaving a high, steep face fronting on Black River. From this point the bluff forms a steep escarpment around to Little River, and at its base quantities of potsherds bearing va- rious incised designs were picked up from among the refuse of the town dump. Bone fragments also were found, which circumstance suggested that the bluff had been used as an ancient burying ground. Where the new highway cut through the embankment on the west side of the town there were likewise traces of pottery. These con- siderations taken together indicated that there might still be cause for further investigations of the Troyville group and resulted in the excavations of 19382 which form the subject of this report. EXCAVATIONS IN 1931-32 Great Mounp Sire METHODS AND OPERATIONS Preliminary excavations were attempted for 4 days in November 1931, but heavy rains put a stop to further digging at this season. A portion of the cane layers, sloping at an angle of about 45°, was cleared in the northwest corner of the site and found to end at a point 116 feet from the corner of Willow and Second Streets. Traces of a fallen log were found along the edge of this cane layer. At the extreme southeast corner of the site was a patch of cane, 8 inches thick, lying almost flat on the surface, which contained by count 15 layers of flattened cane stalks, each crisscrossing the one beneath it. Below the cane were traces of wood and bark, and im- mediately adjoining to the south was a section of long slabs of woodlike boards, lying side by side, each 8 to 10 inches wide. They WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA.. MOUNDS 17 measured more than 7 feet in length as they lay, but their upper ends had been shorn off by the action of the scrapers and it was not possible at this time to trace them down more than 314 feet into the sticky wet mud and clay. Apparently they rested on a sharply inclined slope. Also on this slope just east of the cane patch a small piece of matting was found lying humped over a chunk of clay. It looked like a piece of a basket, possibly used for transporting the dirt used in building the mound, but it was so fragile that it could not be separated from the gummy clay which adhered to it, without serious damage, so it was merely photo- graphed in situ (pl. 5, a). After 2 days of steady rain it was de- cided to fill in the excavations and wait for a more favorable time of year before resuming work. Intensive excavations were begun the first week in September 1932 by the writer, assisted by his father, E. F. Walker, from the staff of the Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, Calif. A gang of from 6 to 8 Negro laborers was employed, and operations were carried on until the middle of November, broken only by heavy rains on four differ- ent days. Since the examination of this site required a somewhat different method of approach than that usually employed in the exca- vation of Indian mounds, a few words on the field methods used may be of interest. The trenching technique was necessary because there was no mound actually visible, not even the outlines of the area formerly occupied by it. The objects of the investigation were, first, to ascertain if possible the point of origin and purpose of the cane in the bottom of the mound, and second, to determine the outlines of the original mound itself. Through the courtesy of the bridge engi- neer’s office, profiles of the mound were obtained, showing elevations prior and subsequent to its removal. Utilizing the same base and sec- tion lines, the block was laid off into 50-foot squares by means of transit, rod, and tape, and the position of the projecting cane layers charted on the field plan. These squares were again subdivided into 10-foot squares over the particular areas where digging was in prog- ress, which were marked off by steel surveying pins used as reference points to determine the exact location of everything found within the square. As the work proceeded, unexpected complexities of struc- ture were revealed which made it necessary to uncover portions of several adjoining small squares at the same time, when attempting to follow out features that appeared related. This required the prepa- ration of not one but several ground plans, in cases where one layer of material had to be cleared away in order to discover what lay beneath it. These diagrams were then coordinated to produce the final ground plan (fig. 6) and the cross sections through the slope (fig. 7). 18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 Following the method of the preceding season, the slope previously discovered was followed down until undisturbed sandy loam was reached at a depth of 6 feet below the surface,’® and this was assumed SURFACE GREAT MOUND JULY, 193! SURFACE 16.2° TO 1931 95° — SCRAPED SURFACE | MOTTLED RED CLAY MOTTLED RED CLAY STRATIFIED SAND & CLAY TRENCH — oescsneoed BLUE CLAY FIRE LEVEL DARK LAYER, SECTION ~ LINE 310 YELLOW SANDY LOAM t SCRAPED SURFACE RED CLA REE: STRATIFIED SAND & CLAY RED CLAY MOTTLED CLAY LIGHT BLUE CLAY LOGS ORM J) OG Th WHITE ASH STRAMFIED SAND & CLAY — BLUE CLAY BLUE GRAY SANDY LOAM SECTION - LINE 300 a Fr 3 c SCORED BY CANE MOTTLED CLAY ae RED CLAY MOTTLED CLAY FIRE LEVEL WHITE ASH FIRE AREA BLUE CLAY RED SANDY CLAY UNDISTURBED REDDISH SANDY LOAM STRATIFIED SANDS & CLAYS BURNED AREA BLUE CLAY BLUE GRAY SANDY LOAM Section - Line 290 9! [eye 97' 7 MOTTLED CLAY P, TRENCH SCALE “SET SKULL ee BLUE oF San FEET SECTION - LINE 277 SANDY LOAM FicgURE 7.—Cross sections of slope of original mound in south pit. to be the level upon which the mound was originally erected. The slope was then followed for some distance both east and west, result- ing in the excavation of the large irregular-shaped pit seen in the The term “surface” as used in this report denotes the ground level remaining after the removal of the mound, unless otherwise specified. WALKER | TROYVILLE, LA.. MOUNDS 28229—36 STREET (Face p. 18) 1g Us SET OUND 1934 te, GNOg wnt ig in, INOW TOE, A ianereniyory, 4 wif “ “wy My aNete ee “ny Mh 1931 SCALE So RoEsE tT HoeR Db FEET 28229—36 (Face p. 18) Ficure 6.—Plan of excayations, Great Mound site. waixne | TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 19 southeast corner of the plan (fig. 8). Side trenches were also dug to determine if the margins of the Great Mound had actually been reached, and shorter trenches were cut into the interior of the orig- inal mound at likely places. Because of the toughness of the clay, which became softer and more tenacious toward the bottom, nearly ‘ Se ’ = Oe a Gees R RED ome 7 Anges ae ee FIRE AREA SCALE 5 FEET oe Scogi as Ronene Kappes ISAs Si pa MIGRRET | EDGE OF EXCAVATION TRENCH ‘ \ A \) i) | Sh / “) PALMETTO , 1 Z\' iF PALMETTO STAKE HOLE Ficurn 8.—Diagram of features of construction uncovered in south pit. @- POST TIMBERS O- POST HOLES AR- STUMP 6 weeks were required on this part of the excavations before the con- tents of the slope could be satisfactorily exposed, sketched, and photographed. The time remaining was spent in cutting two long trenches across the site, intersecting at what was assumed to be the center of the mound, at the same time cutting through the most complex part of 20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 the pattern made by cane layers on the surface. These trenches, 245 feet east to west, 195 feet north to south, and 3 feet wide, were dug to undisturbed soil, which was found at varying depths of 5 to 6 feet. By this means reliable cross sections of the bottom of the mound were obtained, and also its limits at different periods in its history could be seen. When a hypothetical ground plan of the mound described by Dunbar was superimposed on the field plan it was found that the point of intersection of the cross trenches was close enough to the postulated center to have revealed the existence of any sepulchral chamber or other substructure, had anything of the kind been present. Short trenches were also dug through the two so-called “domes” for the same reason, but with no better results. Although it would have been desirable to have trenched the other corners of the hypothetical mound indicated by the plan, it was not possible to do so for reasons already explained. Nevertheless, enough was accomplished to warrant the belief of the excavators that but little more data could have been obtained from such effort. Too little of the mound remained after its destruction by the steam shovels to justify an assumption that all of the problems relating to its construction, purpose, and history could be solved. STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS Excavations at the southeast corner of the Great Mound site dis- closed the existence of at least one inner original mound, on whose slopes numerous traces of charcoal, ash, bone fragments, and pot- sherds lead to the assumption of more than one building period for even the bottom 6 feet of the Great Mound. How many more periods ensued before it reached its maximum height of 80 feet must remain a matter of conjecture. On the western slope of the inner mound thick cane layers extended to the surface, where the action of the steam shovels prevented tracing them farther. But unless the shallow cane patch first uncovered, on the opposite slope, repre- sents a continuation of this same sheet or layer, no other correspond- ing descending layer was found. This patch, composed solidly of cane, filled a small hollow to the depth of 8 inches and beneath it were two logs. The logs lay lengthwise in the hollow in a north- south direction, apparently so closely joined at the upper ends that they were at first thought to be parts of the same trunk, but this was disproven when the larger was seen to be a split log slightly hollowed and pointed at the upper end, while the other covered partly by it was a smaller but still rounded, complete trunk, includ- ing the butt. On the east side of the split log was a pointed stake braced against it at right angles. Other sticks were found beneath the upper end. The under sides of both logs were charred, and the WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 21 burned and blackened earth contained fragments of animal bones and a few mussel shells. A deep trench pit was sunk below all of this to determine if any stratification of material was present in this original mound. Reddish mottled clay formed the top layer and 6 to 8 inches below the surface was a stratum of sand and clay, evidently water borne. This immediately covered the upper fire level in which was the camp debris above mentioned. Below this was 2 feet of blue clay, then another water-borne stratum of sand and clay overlying a blackened level of darker blue clay. Unlike the upper fire level, this lower one showed no trace of human oc- cupancy, only the charred remains of twigs and grass roots and a few scorched but unbroken small animal bones, and a discoloration of the soil to a depth of several inches. Because this condition clearly indicated a conflagration of considerable intensity and ex- tent, this stratum was designated merely as the “burned area” in contrast to the upper “fire level.” Below the burned area the blue clay extended for 12 or 14 inches and then gave place to blue sandy loam. As the trench pit was dug to a depth of 9 feet below the surface, and no indication of human activity occurred lower than the burned area, this was taken to be the original ground level on which the mound was built, 44% feet below the present surface at this point. Adjoining the patch of cane but farther down the slope were the long boardlike slabs, 7 feet or more long, one-half to 114 inches thick, and 4 to 10 inches wide (pl. 3). They were laid close together lengthwise up the slope, immediately east and west of that portion of cane which covered the two logs. South of this area were other planks, lying sidewise on the slope, in part covered by those lying lengthwise. The former extended westward along the slope some 20 feet, although in places nothing but their imprints were left in the underlying clay. At their western limit a surprising feature was found. Extending up the slope at intervals of a few feet were four logs lying in a horizontal position, with the intervening spaces filled with a matting of grass and fibers which were found to be palmetto fronds. At right angles to the east of them lay another log on the slope. A stake was found driven in at a sharp angle on the steepest part of the slope above the uppermost log and from there to the sur- face there was nothing to be seen but the scoring of cane stalks in the clay. The lowest log was at the foot of the slope, not more than a foot above undisturbed sandy loam which here was reached 8 feet below the surface. Less than 3 feet away was a large stake hole in the mud, but the stake itself had rotted away. Beneath this log a few inches away was a human skull lying crushed laterally into the blue mud which covered the sandy loam floor of the mound. a2, BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 Nothing but the calvarium was present; face, lower jaw, and all other bones of the skeleton were missing. This is the only instance of human remains found in place at the bottom of the mound, but it lends credence to the reports that human bones were found higher up in the mound during its removal. This part of the slope with the logs on it has the appearance of a ramp with a stepped approach, as it ascends with an easy grade of not more than 30° to the surface, where it has been cut off by the scrapers. That this explanation is not improbable is seen by comparison with the description of the dwelling of the chief of Ossachile, prob- ably a town in southern Georgia, by Garcilaso,’’ the historian of the De Soto expedition : The Indians endeavor to place their towns upon elevated places. But because in Florida, they rarely meet with this sort of place where they can find the necessary conveniences to build, they raise themselves eminences in this manner. They choose a place where they bring a quantity of earth which they elevate into a kind of platform, two or three pikes high; the top of which is capable of containing ten or twelve or fifteen or twenty houses to lodge the cacique with his family and all his retinue. They then trace, at the bottom of this elevation, a square place conformable to the extent of the village which they would make, and around this place the most important persons build their dwellings. The common people lodge in the same manner; and thus they all environ the house of their chief. In order to ascend to it they draw, in a straight line, streets from top to bottom; each one fifteen or twenty feet wide, and unite them to each other’ with large posts, which enter very deep into the earth and which serve for walls to those streets. Then they make the stairs with strong beams which they put across, and which they square and join in order that the work may be more even. The steps of these stairs are seven or eight feet wide; so that horses ascend and descend them without difficulty. However, the Indians steepen all the other sides of the platform, with the exceptions of the stairs, so that they cannot ascend to it; and the dwelling of the chief is sufficiently strong. At the eastern end the slope was steeper, especially at the lower edge of the boards, where it dropped down abruptly to a kind of platform shelf built also of clay but with a level surface over which 2 inches of reddish-yellow sand had been spread. The platform, 2 feet wide, extended for a distance of 12 feet east and west, and at its outer edge a line of posts was discovered, many of them still firmly in place with their butts sunk several feet down into the sandy loam. These posts, of which there were 7 placed along the platform edge, were found to be part of an alinement of 15 stretching for 40 feet along the base of the slope in an almost due east-west line (pl. 4,6). Both hard and soft woods were used for the posts, which ranged from a few inches to more than a foot in diameter. The longest upright post found measured 6 feet, but others may have been of greater length, as nearly all of the tops and many of the 17 Garcilaso de la Vega, 1881, p. 300. WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 23 butts had rotted away. Inspection of such as remained, however, showed that the ends had been crudely hacked off by some blunt- edged tool, presumably a stone ax. The posts were set apart at irregular intervals up to as much as 3 feet, although there were two by the platform within a foot of each other. Lengthwise to the platform but on the outer side of the posts were uncovered two logs about 11 feet long, which did not, however, lie directly against the posts. Each post had been set into a good-sized hole and tamped down with a mottled clay of different appearance from the light- blue clay which formed the platform and slope of this original mound. Just above the platform on the slope, growing out of the upper fire level which contained plentiful evidences of camp-site refuse, were two small twin stumps of the bitter pecan tree. Their tops had evidently been cut and burned off before the building of the mound was resumed, as the ends of the boards rested directly on the western stump. This fire level is the same one in which the two logs in the hollow were lying, and it practically covered the whole slope down to the platform. But the platform itself covered over the fire level with several inches of clay over which the sand was spread, and the posts and outer two logs as well had been intruded through the fire level, which reappeared unmistakably beyond the logs, 4 feet below the surface. At a depth of 6 feet the lower burned area was en- countered, also broken through by the line of posts. Beneath the two outside logs was a slope bearing a smooth shiny surface which reached undisturbed sandy loam 6 feet beyond the post alinement and about the same depth from the surface. This clearly marked the starting point for the construction of the mound, as the lower burned area, probably due to the burning of the grass and cane over the lo- cation chosen for the building of the mound,* did not extend south of this line. The upper fire level, on the contrary, was found con- tinuously at a depth of 4 feet throughout the length of a trench cut to within 60 feet of Third Street to the south. The most plausible interpretation is that this fire level, indicated by Jenses and pockets of ash, charcoal, and camp debris, marks the location of a camp site in existence at some time subsequent to the start of building operations, and it must have lasted long enough to permit the two pecans to have taken root and grown into small trees before building activity was again resumed. Midway along the outer side of the alinement a pile of nine logs was found lying lengthwise nearly east and west (pl. 4, a). They had been cut and trimmed at both ends, which were of approximately 18The Natchez used this method of preparing fields for cultivation, according to Du Pratz. Swanton, 1911, p. 75. 24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 the same diameter, unlike the logs used for posts whose butts were invariably larger than their tops, none of which were left intact. As in the case of the other 2 logs, these 9 also had been laid in place by digging away part of the fire level, for nowhere did this deposit touch either the logs or the posts, although it was present on both sides of them. But beyond the log pile there remained only the single fire level, thus proving that the logs were laid at the very base of the original mound slope. Underneath them were bits of crushed cane in the blue clay. The large post at the eastern end of the line was apparently a corner timber, as it was larger than any of the others and no more posts or holes were found beyond it to the east or south, although there was one hole 3 feet north of it. A trench continued in this northward direction failed to reveal any more holes, but did dis- close the fact that the slope at the eastern end of the excavation was not continuous with the western section and the cane and bark un- covered on it was oriented in a different direction from the other section. Of this bark that overlay the cane layers little more than dust remained, and beneath the cane was the ever-present fire level with its typical camp-site debris. The only other feature of interest at this corner of the site was the presence of pieces of finely woven matting at two points on the south slope. These fragments, illustrated in plate 5, a, b, were at first thought to be parts of baskets used for transporting the loads of clay used in the construction of the mound. But the fragile nature of the specimens, which were woven with delicate strips of cane in a simple one-over-one-under pattern producing a rather open mesh, precluded the possibility of having been put to such rough use. It is more likely that they were broken pieces of discarded baskets such as those used for winnowing and sifting by the Choctaw and other historic southern tribes, and that these fragments were accidentally included with the dirt which went into the building of the mound. No basket-load impressions were seen anywhere in the mound, hence the supposition is that the clay was carried in skins and dumped into place, then packed down by the hands or feet or with clubs. Shortly after a fresh cut in the clay was exposed to the sun and air it was noticed that it began to crack open along definite lines of cleavage. By taking advantage of this situation it was possible to remove large irregular sized chunks of clay, which presumably represented the original loads dumped into place. Well-defined slopes were encountered in some places, which may have indicated the limits of the accumulation heaped up during a certain limited period and allowed to receive a thin film of dust or dirt before being covered in turn by succeeding loads of clay. None of these features WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 25 of construction, however, were sufficiently distinct to permit a posi- tive statement as to the time actually involved. When three sides of the original mound had been uncovered, a trench was cut across it from east to west which revealed nothing more than various colored clays in its interior. To the northwest of it another rounded eminence was found, which was designated as “south dome”, because of the domelike appearance of the cane laid over it east and west (pl. 6). Only a small portion of the top had been cut away by the scrapers, so it was possible here to trace the course of the cane layers more completely than anywhere else on the site. The outer covering consisted of only a few thicknesses of cane overlying an irregular lens of sand as much as 14 inches deep in places. The sand covered an uneven layer of blue clay which gave place to red clay at the eastern side of the dome. Ata depth of 20 inches below the surface the blue clay was separated into an upper and a lower section by another thin cane layer. The lower clay stratum rested on a solid bed of cane 20 to 22 inches thick, overlying the general burned area, found everywhere at the bottom of the Great Mound. Trenching through the center of the dome from east to west disclosed no substructure of any kind, but the cross section showed a curious bifurcation of the cane at the western side (fig. 9). This was the origin of the two upper sheets which extended over and through the dome. At the eastern side the thick bed of cane found on the floor ascended to the surface on the slope of the adjoining mound whose top was cut off, so that it was not possible to follow it farther. The excavations at this time had uncovered the south slope of the original mound down to its base and had cut into the interior of both this and the south dome adjoining it without furnishing any satis- factory explanation for the presence of the cane layers, so atten- tion was next centered on the attempt to find the other borders of the Great Mound. This necessitated the digging of two long cross trenches, east and west, north and south, across the site. In the eastern half of the central cross trench there was uncovered a clus- ter of logs which at first glance appeared to form a definite arrange- ment, but further excavation showed that they were lying at differ- ent angles of inclination from only 5 to as much as 37 inches below the surface, and pointing in different directions. A level of twigs and trash and stratified sands at a depth of 31 inches suggests that these logs were disturbed from their original position by the action of water, possibly during one of those periodic inundations which even yet occur in spite of levees built to hold them out. East of the log cluster the trench cut through a small hump of mottled reddish clay, which showed a fire line rising and failing on 28229363 Ww E SOUTH WALL BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 118 WS SS SSS: RED CLAY é eeensines? cepa soo neeett Methven, BLUE & MOTTLED CLAY eters areany BLUE CLAY ’, op, 14g, em Wig R ITO Oe ead Padi, wor E SAND BLUE CLAY CANE E&W A, YY Y Vip MM, BLUE CLAY bs SANDY LOAM - UNDISTURBED BLUE CLAY NORTH WALL BLUE CLAY BLUE SANDY LOAM Cross section of South Dome. 12 00m wey pp one TOPE pooner rane *008t rpameet ot b+ 004, LAETOLI OO AUT eee eone tee tata? BLUE CLAY em, Yip YY < Ue rated ARE Ficurn 9. rr, 0 cet, 2 ee, aada? bad OP ue pooorsnsns ttle maannassrnnre pre nee nee’ ee va BLUE CLAY RAN OLE THT bg pap TOTP TEETICOCLILPH LEITH ECE pf ip polPedrEbe i att tT ttTT TTTD TDI ITER TERE TAT TITOTIT TE >= > Ss SS iS SSSSs; peeermentertereiete tears, U ” Yi Hf SCRAPED SURFACE jy V/, ty “i My Wp Me 4: 4 SURFACE why “yy Yin Yi dit Mbyte Hi OM) 1 3 ae ene nana EMAC OVALE M08 MEE trnnecay yap 4 tty, SE pe Sar prseererer str tires, y Ca pone Yi, YZ ae CANE * oe UY}, y} Milt SCALE FEET SCRAPED MIXED CLAY y, Y Y, 4 Ss SS SSW SSsys WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 27 the other side. No other distinct eastern slope of the Great Mound could be found, although the trench was dug to within 65 feet of Pond Street. Test holes at the extreme end of the trench showed the same blue clay with its burned and blackened upper surface at a depth of 21% feet. A possible explanation for this failure to find the true eastern slope may lie in the remark made by an oldtime resident of the town that a low ridge once joined the Great Mound with the one southeast of it across the street (mound 4), and the trench probably traversed the length of this causeway, no longer visible on the surface. ig = TO 193) SURFACE MOTTLED CLAY 193) FILL? Nn mee Rez ee \ et hareaseezz ny) at te FIRE LEVEL Loe STRATIFIED SANDS & CLAYS TRENCH FLOOR Be z STRATIFIED ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS 1 I ea ES SoS Ss oe ee Se SS a ae < oo an LIGHT BLUE SANDY CLAY ~~ W. BASE OF MOUND SCALE 5 ° 10 BEET Ficurb 10.—Cross section through east-west trench. The western edge of the Great Mound was not so difficult to dis- cover. Its slope was clearly indicated by a sharply ascending incline against which were deposited horizontal strata of alluvial sands and silts, which extended to Willow Street, 60 feet west. These were due undoubtedly to flood waters around the base of the mound subsequent to its erection. The slope itself was composed of light blue sandy clay covering a darker interior mass of red mottled clay. Where the trench cut through the intricate maze of cane layers appearing on the surface they were found to occur in a no less com- plicated arrangement in the bottom of the mound. The position and appearance of these cane layers can best be understood by referring to the diagram shown in figure 10. Logs and stakes were discovered 28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 118 at certain points, serving either as supports for the cane or as pegs to hold it in place. Throughout its eastern half the trench was dug down to the burned area marking the bottom of the mound, and it was seen that this original ground surface was not entirely even, yet where the bottom lay at the greatest depth from the surface, 51% to 6 feet, the cane layers were also the thickest and most numerous (cf. Explo- rations and Field Work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1932, p. 78, fig. 80). But no satisfactory evidence was found to explain the undu- lating appearance of the layers or their division into branches from a common layer, or the sudden attenuation and complete disappear- ance of a layer which was thick at one place and thin at another. Those in the eastern half of the trench have a definite synclinal trend, whereas the thin line of bark and cane which is all that is seen in the western half manifests itself as a gentle anticline. Two stakes found under the middle of this low flat-topped elevation seemed to be unre- lated to anything else in this section. Potsherds found in the clay beneath and between the cane layers in the eastern part of the trench were similar to those from the fire level of the original inner mound and different from sherds from the western part, believed to repre- sent an outer addition which formed the final Great Mound. Another fragment of matting was also discovered in this trench. Figure 11 is a diagram section of the north trench. Here the cane layers were limited to the southern end of the trench, and beyond them was only red mottled clay extending nearly to the north end, where another blue sandy clay slope with stratified sands and clays impinging on it indicated the extreme northern limit of the Great Mound. This was within 30 feet of Second Street. Other dark lines inclining toward the south presumably indicate the mar- gins of the mound at other periods in its history when the material from the summit cone was spread down the sides, principally on the north and south slopes, as mentioned during the Civil War, the time of Palmer’s visit in 1883, and subsequently. One other side trench off the north trench was dug through an area designated as “ North Dome”, where the cane layers exhibited the greatest degree of complexity. The internal structure appeared as shown in figure 12. A large stump was found on the original ground level 6 feet below the present surface. This stump bore indi- cations of having been cut and burned prior to the raising of the mound. Two logs were found crossing one another through the cane for no apparent reason, but several of the stakes clearly were meant to hold in place the cane layers through which they passed (pls. 7; 8, 6). Immediately north of this trench pit the layers were com- posed of finer strips known as “whip canes”, assuming almost a vertical angle where they broke through the surface. 29 TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS WALKER] *‘youer} YOU YSn0I1y} WoOTJOos ssoIQ—'TT mun 35 anova Pagar, WooTd HONFUL eae $3SN31 ONYS 3NIT SAW YO FS SAVID.3 SGNVS GHIUWALS AV1) AGNYS 3919 JDVIYNS LND AWTD G3 O3ITLLOW Ms ‘Fig Ssseowreemnstomh:aciincaposinnmennineen emt! ee ag Rie | a a COA MI MOMU MLTR ayy he es ByVIS VOT TE rg tO, stetirey , ial pase bs te pscepcsgp ; LES 7 sé SUIAVT INVI eer wen HIN3ZYL 301s "861 Ine GNNOW Lvau9 32vsYNS sor 30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 The south-central trench was not completed at the time work was stopped on the site. At its northern end it cut into a large sandy area bordering which was one layer of cane. This area probably formed part of another dome similar to the south dome already described. The approximate location of the four circular areas, % WHIP CANE STAKE CROSS SECTION OF NORTH DOME N, ELEVATION OF TRENCH, N. DOME na al an Cry, “if An & w 8 z = 9 > 9 = - se o z 7) « e " PALMETTO » ‘ $ my, wig eke, *, 3 “a, rN L ELH tray Cross section of North Dome. Figure 12, <4 CANE SHOWING AT SURFACE, NORTH DOME SCALE De} 6 FEET observed by Dr. Howe during the stage when a shelf 5 feet above the present surface was all that remained of the south half of the Great Mound, is shown by the small circled crosses on the plan (fig. 6). With the extreme western and northern limits of the Great Mound established, it was possible to lay off its outlines as it appeared in 1883, 180 feet wide and 270 feet long. By further delimiting this WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA.,. MOUNDS 31 area to include only the portion occupied by the cane it was found that it could all be enclosed in a 180-foot square, the dimensions of the mound as observed in 1804. A close agreement between the south slope of the original mound uncovered at the southeast corner of the site and the south side of this hypothetical square ground plan is thus apparent, but complete excavation of this entire outline would be necessary in order to confirm their absolute identity. In all prob- ability the actual original outline would be found to be much less of a perfect square than the one postulated, but the existence of a stepped approach at or near the southern corner of the mound tends to confirm Dunbar’s casual remark about “the kind of abutment or projection seen at each angle.” Even in his time, undoubtedly, the layers of cane on the slope were hidden from sight by the talus in which was growing the thick canebrake, through which he forced his way with much difficulty to the top. The mottled clays dug away during the excavations can then be satisfactorily explained as the accumulation of material removed from the summit during the Civil War and at later intervals, and spread down the sides until this south slope became covered by more than 10 feet of detritus at the time of the final demolition in 1931. ENETE Mounp Excavations were also carried on at four other sites in the vicinity of the Great Mound, all being constituent parts of the whole Troy- ville group. Beyer in 1896 dug into a mound shown as No. 2 on his plan. (See fig. 4.) At that time much of it still occupied the middle of Mound Street, so named from this circumstance, but a portion of it was fenced off as private property and had supplied considerable soil for garden purposes. By sinking a shaft down from the top, hard, greasy clay was encountered for the first 3 feet before reach- ing sand. One skeleton was found resting on this sand, covered by clay. There were no objects associated with it, but removal of the top soil elsewhere over the mound yielded more bones and decorated pottery.*® Other excavations were reported made in this mound about 20 years ago and some pottery removed. But no written record of this work has as yet come to light. When seen in 1932 the mound was hardly one-third of its former size, all of the section out in the street having been cut away and leveled. Most of what remained was sit- uated on the property of Dr. C. E. Enete, of Jonesville, who kindly granted permission for further investigation of it. The cut face along the sidewalk measured 75 feet in length and 6 feet in height. 12° Beyer, 1896, p. 31. 32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 Thomas’ description of his Mound 6, whose dimensions he gives as 90 by 75 feet, seems to be corroborated by the latest findings, but there is a discrepancy of 9 feet in the height between the time of his statement and the present. Going back still further to 1804 it is even more difficult to reconcile either of these later measurements with Dunbar’s estimate of 20 feet high and 100 by 300 feet at the top for each of the four large mounds surrounding the Great Mound, yet this mound was apparently one of the four. Clearing the steep face of the cut made possible a good vertical section of the mound, 8.5 feet deep, which gave the following results: 2.2 feet, gumbo clay; 3.3 feet, yellow gray sandy loam, with charcoal in it; 1.8 feet, alternate light and dark strata, indicating successive overflows; fire level overlying yellow sand. A trench 20 feet wide, started well outside the base of the mound and dug toward the central crest, failed to yield any new information. Some potsherds were found but no skeletal material, so that the bulk of evidence points to this as having been used primarily as a dwelling site, in which later a few interments were made. Buurr Mounp Anp BuriAu SITE Preliminary survey of this part of the Troyville group where the high bluff fronted on the confluence of Little and Black Rivers indi- cated a greater profusion of surface potsherds than anywhere else, which suggested that the principal cemetery of the ancient town was located at that place. The mound itself (No. 7) being built at such a commanding point on the bluff where it overlooked the mouths of the three rivers, it can hardly be doubted that it served as a lookout station to warn of the approach of hostile canoes from any of those directions. High water and intentional grading down had left only a remnant of this mound, shown in plate 8, a. Clearing the steep face of the trash and grass which covered it revealed near the base a distinct layer of camp-site debris, including bones and potsherds, which continued around the bend in the bluff. But the bluff slope itself showed two such levels, clearly the source of the sherds and bone fragments scattered over the slope below. Unfortunately the owner of this most promising piece of land could not be reached, so no digging was done there, but the owner of the adjoining property on which stands the hotel was eager to have his part of the site investigated. Taking advantage of this offer, a trench pit was dug on top of the bluff at the north edge of the mound. No burials were found, but a good idea of the soil strati- fication of the bluff was obtained. It consisted of 0.5 foot overflow silt; 1.5 feet gray clay; 1.3 feet bluish sandy clay; 1.2 feet reddish clay; 0.6 foot light sand; 0.5 foot dark clay, overlying a fire level WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 33 several inches thick containing camp-site debris. Undisturbed earth was reached at 7.5 feet. Another attempt was made farther along the bluff at the end of Mound Street which yielded better results. At this point a bridge LITTLE RIVER BLUFF EDGE eS CELT Yr CHARCOAL Jn Yn me KK ee K men Ih ems YC renee ' FENCE HOUSE Ficurp 13.—Diagram of bluff burial ground. formerly crossed Little River, connecting Jonesville and Trinity, but due to high water in this stream a few years ago the south bank began to cave back so rapidly that the supports for the bridge at the Jonesville end were undermined and it collapsed into the torrent. During the caving away of great areas of this bank human skeletons 34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 were exposed at several places, and it seemed more than likely that there might be others still undisturbed. A small plot of ground on the brink of the bluff almost at the bridgehead was selected and dig- ging commenced. It resulted in the discovery of three groups of burials, comprising altogether 12 individuals. A diagram of this burial ground appears in figure 13. Burial No. 1, a young individual, lay close to the edge of the bluff, extended full length on the back. It measured 5 feet, in situ, head to the southeast, only a few inches below the surface. The skull had been badly crushed and scattered about, presumably as the result of having been removed and then thrown back upside down, and not enough fragments remained to make possible any careful study of it. A pronounced curvature of the spine was noticed, but this, too, may have been due to post-mortem dislocation, and the bones were not in good enough state of preservation to permit their removal. No artifacts were associated with this burial, but about 14 inches from the head was a large mass of clamshells, and several feet away toward the fence was found a fine celt of a hard, fine-grained bluish stone flecked with white spots. Another celt found along the same part of the bluff was donated by the finder, Mr. Willard. One other object of interest discovered only 6 inches below the surface was a spherical ball of lead, probably a relic of the skirmish with the Federal gunboats in 1863. Burial No. 2 consisted of two adults, lying next to each other, one at full length on the back, the other on its right side with back to the first. Both measured about 5 feet 6 inches as they lay, heads toward the northeast. Like the first burial, the skulls of both these skeletons were crushed beyond recognition, probably as the result of post-mortem causes due to being only 18 inches below the surface. There were no associated artifacts, with the exception of a tiny notched and stemmed arrow point lying with its tip almost touching the right knee of the skeleton. From its position when found it may very readily have been embedded in the flesh, although it had failed to penetrate the bone. The dirt covering these bodies contained quantities of potsherds, bone fragments, charcoal, ash, and other camp debris, but no more than a few pieces of pottery belonging to the same vessel. ; Burial No. 3 contained a mass of nine skeletons, representing in- fants and adults of both sexes and varying ages (pl. 2, 0). They had been piled over and beside one another indiscriminately, care having been taken only to extend the bodies full length, all heads to the north. Although all of the skulls were crushed out of shape, those farthest from the edge of the bluff, and consequently protected by a few inches more of dirt over them, were in better condition than WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 35 the others, thus strengthening the theory that post-mortem causes were responsible for their battered appearance. The skeletons lay from 20 to 24 inches below the surface on sandy loam which ap- peared to be the original ground level. They represented apparently 4 males, 2 females, and 3 infants, ranging in length, as they lay, from 5 to 6 feet. Teeth of all adults were in good condition, though much worn down in some cases. No pathological deformities of any of the bones could be observed, and there were no artifacts with this multiple burial, which, like the others, was covered only by a few inches of dirt taken from the camp site with its typical refuse. Unfortunately it was not possible to remove any of the bones for study, owing to the intense and insatiable curiosity aroused in the local populace by the discovery. Not content with flocking around the site in such numbers during the day that they seriously interfered with the work of the excavators, they returned to the scene under cover of nightfall, tore off the coverings placed to protect the skele- tons, and committed such acts of vandalism that the owners of the ground felt obliged to put a stop to the nuisance by requiring all work to be stopped immediately and the bones to be covered over as before. Time was allowed only to take a few photographs of the burials. More extensive excavations would have been desirable, as the burial ground undoubtedly stretched along the bluff for several hundred yards in either direction, yet it is doubtful how much more light such effort could have shed on the aborigines who built the mounds. Posi- tive evidence linking the individuals buried on the bluff with the builders of the Great Mound is lacking, as no whole pottery of the specific type characteristic of the bottom of the mound was found with the burials, although there were loose sherds of this type in the dirt along with many others. EMBANKMENT AND TERMINAL Mounp The long ridge enclosing two sides of the town is what remains of the ancient embankment seen by Dunbar and Hunter. They give very little description of it beyond mentioning that it was in the form of a glacis within and nearly perpendicular on the outside. This suggests its use as a rampart for purposes of fortification, especially when account is taken of the deep ditch or moat on the outer side. But it is also possible that it served another purpose, as it does today, that of a protection levee against backwaters creeping up on the town. A cursory examination of it showed plentiful indications of pottery on its surface, principally near the bend at the western corner. Where the new highway cut through the ridge large potsherds were uncovered, differing decidedly in design 36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 from those dug out of the interior of the Great Mound. There were also present certain widenings along the crest which might at one time have been small mounds incorporated into the embankment to serve as platforms similar to those found by Fowke in the wall enclosing the Marksville earthworks.” Two exploration trenches were cut through the embankment at points where it was thought there had been the least disturbance of the original earthwork. These it was hoped would disclose the pres- ence of any post holes which might have once formed the line of a stockade guarding the crest of the ridge. But the evidence on this point was mainly negative, as what small holes were found were made by stakes and fence posts set up recently. This does not neces- sarily preclude the possibility of a stockade having once existed there, as the removal of a comparatively small amount of earth from the top would have sufficed to have effectively destroyed all trace of such a palisade. But the nature of the soil and its contents left little doubt of the aboriginal origin of the earthwork. In trench No. 1, cut across the part of the embankment separating the slough from the bayou proper, the section showed that the greater part of the ridge had been built of a light yellow sandy clay overlying a darker, heavier clay. There were traces of bones and shells in the floor of the trench, which directly below the crest was 6.8 feet. Even a slight remnant of the glacis or banquette could be seen (fig. 14). Trench No. 2 was dug farther west, along a due east-west line, across a wider part of the embankment. It reached floor level 6 feet below the summit, but the profile showed a more rounded. and gentle slope (fig. 14). Below the top layer of reddish-yellow sandy loam was a distinct band of dark clay, then more sandy loam, turn- ing to brown at the bottom. At the western end of the trench a thin stratum of black clay was interposed between the sandy loam floor and the upper band of clay. Potsherds were more plentiful through- out this trench, indicating that the dirt had been carried presumably from nearby camp sites. The few holes exposed in the trench were considered to be due to burrowing animals or the decayed roots of trees. They did not show any resemblance to the line of a stockade. The Black River terminus of the embankment is a mound (No. 9), but as it was occupied by several buildings it was not a suitable site for excavation. Beyer dug a little in this ridge mound and reports finding modern crockery and a curious effigy-head pipe which he re- gards as certainly intrusive. This is the only clue to the presence of historic Indians at the Troyville site.22 2° Fowke, 1928, pl. 64. (Cf. Barrett, 1933.) * Beyer, 1896, pl. XIV, fig. 2. .. TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS ae WALKER] ‘JuoMYyUBqMe JO SUOT}JES SSOIQ— FL AIA HEN DEN AV1D AGNWS MO1I3A LHONI 310HO O SGY3HSLOd =d aan Wy07 AGNYS NMOUa WVO01 AGNYS NMOUS AY) wow1a 7 Wwv0ol WVO1 AGNYS MOTIZA ~ WVOT AGNWS MOTI3A-HS1G03¥ LHOIT HONIYL NOILWYOIdXZ GNOI3S 38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 MATERIAL CULTURE ANIMAL REMAINS Contrary to what might have been expected from the quantity of split and broken bone fragments recovered from the camp-fire refuse, the actual number of animal species represented is surprisingly small. Bear (Zuarctos luteolus), deer (Odocoileus virginianus lowisianae), and gray squirrel (Sciwrus carolinensis fuliginosus) comprised the mammals, and of these the bones of the deer were the most numerous. There were two species of turtles; the snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and the soft-shelled turtle (Amyda sp.). Ducks and wild turkeys comprised the avian fauna. Among the fishes, bones of the catfish (Ameturus sp.), drumfish (Aplodinotus grunniens), and alligator gar (Lepisosteus tristoechus) have been identified, and the tooth of a shark. Scales of the gar were used widely by the southern Indians as projectile points or inserts for weapons, according to Du Pratz,?? and the writer found evidence that these scales were copied in the form of tiny flint points by the Indians living along Red River in Natchitoches Parish.2* But at the Troyville site they were found burned and blackened along with other refuse from the aboriginal cooking fires. A few fresh-water clam and mussel shells were pres- ent, but not in abundance, and one small gastropod shell broken to bits. It is worthy of note that no bones of the dog or buffalo oc- curred in the deposits. Identification of these bone fragments is due to the courtesy of the following staff members of the United States National Museum: Dr. A. Wetmore, Mr. H. H. Shamel, Dr. D. M. Cochran, and Mr. E. D. Reid. PLANT SUBSTANCES In the soil from the fire level at the bottom of the Great Mound along with the bones and pottery fragments were many traces of seeds, leaves, stems, etc., of a great variety of vegetable substances. In order to determine what species were present and which ones were edible this material was sent to Dr. W. L. McAtee, Chief of the Divi- sion of Food Habits Research, Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture, and the following identifications were made by Mr. A. C. Martin: Cattail—Typha (latifolia?). Sedge—Carea frankii. Grass—Panicum sp. Sedge—Careg sp. Grass—Syntherisma sanguinale. Oak—Quercus sp. Sedge—Cyperus sp. Dock—Rumez sp. = Swanton, 1911, p. 58. > Walker, W. M., A Caddo Burial site at Natchitoches, La. Smithson, Misc. Colls., vol. 94, no. 14. WALKER] Smartweed—Polygonum sp. Lambsquarters — Chenopodium bum?). Lambsquarters—Chenopodium sp. Pigweed—Amaranthus sp. Pokeweed—Pihyiolacca decandra. Carpetweed—WMollugo verticillata. Pussley—Portulaca sp. Peppergrass—Lepidium sp. Dewberry—Rubus (hispidus?). (al- Honeylocust—Gleditsia (triacanihos?). Sorrel—Ozdlis sp. Spurge—Huphorbia (preslii?). Spurge—Euphorbia sp. Grape—Vitis (cordifolia?). Grape—Vitis sp. TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 39 Passionflower—Passifiora incarnata. Primrose-willow—J ussiaea (lepto- carpa?). Hercules-club—Aralia spinosa. Verbena—Verbena (urticaefolia?) Nightshade—Solanum sp. Buttonweed—Diodia virginiana. Cleavers—Galium sp. Elderberry—Sambucus canadensis. Gourd—Cueurbita pepo. Ragweed—Amobrosia artemisiaefolia. Clasping Coneflower—Dracopis am- plexicaulis. Yerba de Tajo—Eclipta alba. Sneezeweed—Helenium tenuifolium. Thistle—Cirsium sp. Violet—Viola sp. Of these 38 species listed only the grapes, berries, gourd, and pos- sibly the Nightshade and Passionflower are considered edible. The most striking omission, of course, is any mention of maize, but as the cache pits of the village were not located, nor the fields belonging to it, this does not necessarily prove that maize was not grown here. Porrery DESCRIPTION No complete vessels were found anywhere at the Jonesville site during the excavations of 1932, and if any were discovered by earlier investigators they have not recorded the fact in print. So, the determination of ceramic types rests perforce on the study of potsherds picked up as surface finds at several different points over the site and those dug out of the bottom of the Great Mound. Even the term “surface finds” is likely to be in part misleading, because it refers to specimens from localities some of which are known to have been disturbed from their original condition by the building activities of the town. This circumstance makes it necessary to be extremely cautious in statements regarding the possible horizon from which a particular type of pottery has come. Nevertheless, the discovery in the bottom of the Great Mound of potsherds bearing certain distinctive design characteristics and the nonoccurrence at this level of other types found abundantly at the surface localities furnishes the basis for a division into at least two periods of probable occupancy, involving possibly several dif- ferent tribes. The ware, while not homogeneous in regard to texture, color, or hardness, is, nevertheless, composed of the same constituents of local gray and buffy clays and sands, and no shell or grit particles 40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 have been found in the tempering. It is principally the proportion of sand in the clay which determines the appearance of the paste and the finish of the surface, producing the characteristic “ sandy feel” of many of the sherds, particularly of those painted with a red wash or ship. For tempering material tiny particles of hard clay have been used, but whether or not these were the product of pulverizing older discarded sherds it is not possible to state with certainty. However, in the accompanying table (p. 45) the term “sherd” has been used for this type of tempering material in accordance with the practice of many recent archeological writers. Undecorated potsherds comprise 46.1 percent of the collection, but this is not regarded as a particularly noteworthy criterion, in view of the fact that the ware is no different from that of the decorated specimens, and also because many of the plain sherds, which came presumably from the body of a vessel, are too small to indicate whether the same vessel might not have been decorated elsewhere, as around the neck, for example. So it is deemed suffi- cient in this report, for purposes of description, to group the char- acteristic pottery types according to styles of decoration alone. Guthe’s method of ceramic description ** has been followed with a few modifications, principally in regard to the categories relating to technique and design. As the technique employed often seems to have been the major factor in the style of decoration produced, it has been placed ahead of instead of after the subheading “ Design.” Illustrations of the several different types of pottery described are given in the plates. In the accumulated debris of the fire level in the bottom of the Great Mound the prevailing type of pottery was that decorated in the style of the Hopewell pottery, with curvilinear bands or figures outlined by broad grooves, and adjoining areas uniformly roughened by means of the roulette or fine punctations. Setzler has recently described pottery of this kind found by Fowke in the mounds at Marksville, La., which he regards as comparable to Hopewell.2> The sherds from the Troyville Mound differ in one important respect, namely, that instead of showing the characteristic crosshatching and line of bisected cones on the neck as seen on the Marksville speci- mens, the rims are plain with a tendency to flare outward. The paste is a gray or buff clay containing very little sand, tempered with conspicuous particles of “sherd.” Its texture is medium fine, rather hard, and the surface color is dark gray, brown, or blackish, scraped and smoothed and rubbed to a shiny polish. Probably used for culinary purposes, the vessels are in the form of shallow sloping 24 Guthe, 1927. 25 Setzler, 1933. waLKnr] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS Al bowls and plates with flat or rounded bottoms and a variety of medium thick rims ranging from straight to sloping, incurved, or flaring profiles. Some of them were evidently quadrilateral in shape. On none of the sherds is a complete design motif displayed intact, but among the many curvilinear figures present it is possible that the distinctive Hopewellian bird forms were represented. Other types of incised decoration include horizontal, vertical, and diagonal grooves, and a combination of curved grooves and small circular pits (pls. 9, a, 6; 10). Noticeably absent from this, the lowest pottery-bearing level found in the Great Mound, were the following varieties common at all the surface sites: Cord-marked, painted, punctate, or “ overhang ” grooves. Outside of the Great Mound, sherds were collected from seven other sites in its vicinity, viz: 1, The bluff burial ground; 2, the bluff sur- face at the point fronting on the two rivers; 3, the test pit on the bluff near the hotel; 4, the surface of the slope below the bluff; 5, the ash layer at the base of the bluff mound; 6, the embankment; 7, the Enete Mound (the Great Mound fire level is listed as No. 8 in the table). Examination of these sherds shows that the five principal categories of cord-marked, incised, impressed, painted, and punc- tate wares are represented in varying proportions at each of these sites. Reference to the table will indicate the occurrence of each type at the several sites. Next to the undecorated ware, that with incised designs of some sort is most numerously represented, totaling 19.6 percent of all the sherds gathered (pl. 11). Pottery bearing the same kind of incised grooved design as that from the bottom of the Great Mound was found at several of the surface sites, but without the evidence provided by stratification its significance cannot be as- certained. Other variations include fine lines and grooves, rim band lines with a row of scallops at the base, and unusual designs such as the dot-in-diamond (pl. 11, 2), or concentric circular lines. A few specimens of the “ overhang” type of parallel rim grooves found by Collins at the prehistoric Deasonville site in Mississippi?® are also present at Jonesville. At both of these sites this type of ware is similar in composition, consisting of a coarse-textured grayish paste, tempered with pulverized sherds. But all the Jonesville pot- tery, as has been stated, possesses a variable amount of sand particles, which when present in large quantities give a sandy feel to the pot- tery and in consequence the surface is softer than that of the other variety from the same site, which has only traces of sand. The bowl and small jar fragments bearing incised decoration have medium thick walls with rounded, flat, flarmg, or scalloped rims and either circular or square flat bottoms. 26 Collins, 1932. 28229—36——4 42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 113 Painted pottery forms the third largest class present, comprising 16.1 percent of the total sherd collection. The paste used for this ware is light gray, buff, or even pinkish, and the texture is medium fine, due to the large amount of sand present and the small, fine particles of sherd used in the tempering. Much of it has a smooth sandy feel to the surface, which is generally buff in color, and over it an ochreous red paint has been applied as a slip or wash. Some of this pottery is red painted on both the inner and outer surfaces; in other specimens only one surface, the outer, is painted, or perhaps the rim alone. Although no decorative patterns can be made out, some sherds have the colored area limited to a broad band on the inside surface. A few vessel fragments have also a single incised line below the outward bulging rim, or an equally simple line decora- tion inside the rim. The red paint is a fugitive coloring matter, occurring in several shades from vermilion to turkey red, which is immediately soluble in water. Hence it is unlikely that these colored vessels were used as culinary containers, and as a matter of fact very few of them exhibit smoke-blackened exteriors. Painted pottery was conspicuously absent from the fire level in the bottom of the Great Mound, although a few sherds ornamented in this manner were found on the outer surface while the mound was in process of being leveled. The impressed style of decoration was used for many small jars and bowls (pl. 12). In 7.6 percent of the potsherds it appears in two forms, both of which are ascribable to the same rocker technique, that of rolling a simple disc or a cogged wheel back and forth over the moist clay. The roulette variety is that associated with the Hopewell type pottery found in the bottom of the Great Mound, and it also occurs at several of the other sites. Moreover, it bears a striking resemblance to pottery found by McKern in the Trem- pealeau Mounds of Wisconsin.” The other variety, also characteristic of the Hopewell, that of closely compressed zigzags appearing in bands outlined in some instances by grooved lines, was also present in the Great Mound. A type of compressed zigzags unenclosed was found most plentifully at the burial site on the bluff and to a lesser degree at sites 3, 6, and 7. Other kinds of impressed decorations, such as check-stamped or paddle-marked designs, were not found at Jonesville. The next pottery type to be considered (in order of its numerical importance, 6.8 percent) is designated as cord-marked, from its prin- cipal characteristic of fiber cord imprints on the exterior (pl. 13). Large jars and urns, made of a coarse gray paste heavily sherd tempered but containing little sand, were the principal kinds of ves- sels thus decorated. Impressions of netting fabrics as well as those ™ McKern, 1931, pl. XLIV. WALKER] TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS 43 made by cord-wrapped sticks are present, distinguishable chiefly by the size and shape of the interstices left between the marks of the cords. Some of these jar rims carry an extra fillet of clay which has been allowed to project slightly to form a collar. This bears the marks also of cords or else is notched. A considerable number of fragments of a large cord-marked jar whose diameter measured approximately 914 inches were found at the bluff burial site, but not in actual association with any of the burials. Positives made from the several different varieties of cord-marked sherds show a range of simple twisted fibers from coarse thick netting cords to fine slender strings. But there is no evidence of textile marked ware of the kind found in the so-called “ salt-pans” of Tennessee as fig- ured by Webb and Funkhouser.” No cord-marked ware of any kind was found in the bottom of the Great Mound, although pieces of it were picked up from the cut surface, and at all the other sites. Punctate pottery is the smallest class represented (3.8 percent) and is divisible into two varieties: One characterized by a combina- tion of deeply incised grooves and pits (pl. 14, a, 0, ¢, d, g, k) ; the other having smaller punctations in bands or triangular areas out- lined by fine incised lines. The indentations in the first variety take the form of circular pits, crescents, bisected cones, or elongate dashes, bordered by broad grooves. This type was found at several of the surface sites but not in the bottom of the Great Mound. The second variety, which is more typical of sites along the Gulf coast, was found only at sites 8, 4, and 7, at Jonesville (pl. 14, e, 1 er Oe ea) It is sherd and sand tempered but lacks the “sandy feel” of the other variety, and is also harder and less smooth surfaced. Only small fragments of vessels decorated in the punctate style were re- covered, so that it is impossible to tell what design patterns were intended. Additional features of surface decoration, such as handles or effigy heads on bowls, seem to be absent. One or two sherds bear a decoration made by pinching portions of the surface into small cup- like pits, and another has a single knob. But with the exception of two cylindrical-shaped objects of clay which might have been parts of broken dipper handles, nothing else resembling a handle was seen. A few notches on the rim form the only decoration on several sherds. AREAL DISTRIBUTION The historic seat of the Natchez Tribe was not distant more than 30 miles from the Troyville Mounds and this circumstance has led some historians to regard those Indians as the builders of all the 3 Webb and Funkhouser, 1931, pls. 50-59. 44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 113 mounds in this region, but the archeological evidence secured does not support this theory, as none of the potsherds found at Jones- ville bear the scroll-and-disc design characteristic of the Natchez pottery. Yet possibly there is a similarity in the painted ware, as Du Pratz 2° mentions the beautiful red earthenware vessels made by the Natchez, colored with ochre obtained from a bluff known as “Encore Blanc,” which is shown on the De Crenay map as located at the next bend south of Fort Rosalie on the Mississippi. This coloring matter was applied to the surface of the vessel before it was hardened and then dried over the fire, and it was finally rubbed to produce a good polish, if the specimens on display in the State Museum at Jackson, collected by M. B. Chambers from a mound on the Fatherland Plantation, are typical of this Natchez ware. How- ever, none of the painted pottery found at Jonesville was thus polished. 2 Swanton, 1911, p. 62. 45 TROYVILLE, LA., MOUNDS WALKER] “ed Ay [Jomedoy 1 ne “OTN MINIDOIN |v asmer cen pedoyjjeos ‘punoy |---~-~~-7- =F" OD ase ols fae spueq peAing |----~~ sjjd pus SOAOOIQ) |-~~-~-~ 777 Cugqugl ood qyyai nie |imaraiee + meen stom 4ey ‘pepunoy |~-~-""-~ Sv. SP MOG! |maoes: mae ws (AT WONT all ecn sar enna [239 (6 U2) 09 0 | fa SMOTO ol ce nee poaoois ‘peyoJON |---- 7-77 ~ Faeroe a Ree oul] [o[[ered ‘ssolossTIp, 7777777 poxIVUI-O[ PPP coca wh Oege eee % A Beer --"poyx1eul plop SOL ILOVMIC ie | eee Saae ae Lae ee (0) Os Saal [sea ae OS SIG laa wee See APO) = PUL TAT |e saan antennae OD are ale ag eens, LMOMGST Ess... SeE ae It (0) (oT 00g gy gO1 ANE | Swe em. a hen out ties Nee DODOTON iar at eee =30D See aes Bacc Ra rae er. S20D Gar IF = ap qepulyso pexooy [~~~ Sales + eee ae I ; 1382317, *HOIQ} 03 UIQ} UINIpeyy j---- posielue “4ye,q |~7~- 7-777 SB[AKO GT: |ltus wc. eee --"seole POI] |~~~~~~"9949e[MOI poyooy [~~~ == 9 ‘9 ‘p ‘ g ‘Viltasce as eae OeOLOOt :pesseidmy “780 ‘mInIpey, | ‘suley ‘peammour ‘punoy |--~~~ soqyerd ‘spmog |~---"-7~ USB ‘pol OATRISMN YY [7-7-7777 z= DOGG Gillsaases ot MO ECG aT Bao =" e=s=5"5""-poltyed {puourelp-U-}0p ED) ieee cise ae a. ee qep ‘oyejoung |------~~ siel ‘spMog | ‘peAIMo ‘[euoseIp ‘4qsIVIyg |-~~~~ soul] ‘Spuvq YOON [777777777 QUO SOU Tal west eas sean *HOIq) waNIpeyy |~~peyojou ‘pedoy[vos ‘punoy |---~---- ~~~ s[Mog |-poaino ‘[euoseIp “4ysteyg |----~ S9A0013 pus SOUT |~~~-~~ RYAN eE ETTORE aT il eee ek Gata :posyouy SSOUHOIG,L, wy edeys usIsoqd oruy90,1, Ce ees is ee SS ey oe a a 2 98g 018A JO odAY, W110, moT}e1000q oe oro—“—"—"“—“—“—SX—S—Y—s—SS50 0— 00OoOoseseoqoqo®«>=>S$S$S$>$qoq>»0S “O00 S>SSFSFSwa—s—“s mm" *gnq-ABin |----~ ADIGE JOOUL Ns esis ae aeeer ran preq UInIpeyy [777-7 el) oi fe Soe ptslePa) ole sal eS es1e0o MINTpEPT |~~~~~"- "2 ‘9 “F ‘8 ‘ST 77 ails aba 0 Tig) -UMOM alice cnen a T400UlGh|es eae aa ae 0G Filipe a PACE IPAS PUBS IG55 > cans: cae GIL) {25 Set eee OUT a> wasce ae aee JS | eat GC Stet :048400n “SNQEACIC IUS(Te| vcs seat ae HSUO Me Speke eee DAUM) ULATDOTN |e nue ee sete = OD anes ne FON G*AUIE) |i anes oo eee Dera aes SQ OMy 0 otslal cannes “poexieur nage THMON Qa = scene cas we DOOUINGEIn = ao ae ae ae DIRE Mla ee ee DOOR G-. e a OD a len an en OREO Ai aes aan ek LOM OGL S| ceases me II ‘png 3 <5 mea bee CO Fd patie ae aie 11 1BBZ31Z “ABINH : UE at tl hee ~1 0939TNOY spesseiduay STFU al aie ee ae ‘ol0) olpiiar oe ee ee 49 mound usedivias= 2252s 16 | DunBAR, WILLIAM, explorations See also BURIAL GROUND. Of 2 eee 46 Ceramics. See Porrery. DUNBAR AND HUNTER, Visit of, CuHameers, M. B., specimens col- te Troyville siteo2+.-.2. 25 66 lected {bys 4 3 Sar os 44 | Du Pratz: CHICKACHAE SITE, pottery of... 46 cited_-___----___-______ 38, 52, 53 Curr, location of house of__ 58, 62, 64 reference to__----------.. co CHIPPED POINTS: ErriciEs, use of, as idols______- 52 from surface sites_-__-_--_ 47 | Exvas, Frpateo or: See also ARROWPOINTS. account by, of De Soto’s ex- CHITIMACHA: pedition______--__-__-__- a) Sodetton) Ulece se 2 ere 51 Anileo described by_------- 56-57 mention of sacred houses of_ 53 | EMBANKMENT: CHocraw: dimensions of______-___--- 12 identification of pottery of-- 46 Spins eel essces 36 use Of Célis) py. 47 mounds surrounded by_---- 3-4 Cuucacua, a name for the palisaded, general use of--- 62 Mississippi______-___----____ 57 possible purpose of__---_-- 35 CuiaAy, from mound, examination terminated by mound__-__- 36 pe eect Belen eb veel 48-49 ENETE, C. E.: CocHRAN, Miss D. M., acknowl- acknowledem = bes rae 2 cdpinent tote td 33 investigations permitted by 31 COLLINS, Henry B., JR.: a spent: } excavations in_ > ee 31 acknowledgment to_---_--- 3 probable use of______--____ 32 reference to work of------- 41, 46 | Excavations, method used in__ 16-20 CREEK INDIANS, mounds at- Excavators, trouble experienced tributed: tos. a ees 9 Et RNAI Mac MCG DC I 25 Daycao, mention of river of_-_~ 60 | WarneRLAND PLANT ATION, speci- DEASONVILLE SITE: mens. from dic! ee 44 pottery; Of seh eee 46 | wien: reference to___------------ 41 on mound, possible purpose DECORATION, POTTERY : of 4) tee 8 cord-marked__----_---_____ 42-43 perpetual ceremonial______ 8, 52 discussion, of_..—--.+.—-= 40-43 | Free towmr, use of mound as_____ 8,9 impressed style of_----_--- 42 | Froops, of the Troyville region. 61 incised ------------------- 41 | Foun, J..A., cited 2.2. sae 46 painted ~--_-------__-___-- 42 | Forp anp CHAMBERS, reference punctate___-----_____-___- 43 to work: ofc ae eee 4G DEPRESSIONS, ARTIFICIAL, expla- Forpyce, JoHN R., conclusion of, nation @fjus2=2-= 4 ==-2 = 12 regarding Troyville site_____ 55 De Soro, death and burial of- 60] Forsury, C. G., Great Mound DeE SoTo EXPEDITION: examined ‘hy. ae ee 18 authorities one 2 se 55 | Fowkn, Gerarp, reference to probably at Troyville site_- 55 work Of. 222) eee 36, 40 Toute: .Of22— 2. ae 56 | GARCILASO DE LA VEGA: Dickeson, M. W., statement of_ 12 Anileo described by___--_- 57 DIMENSIONS OF MOUNDS, discus- Cited ses 2) gee eS dT, 58, 60 sion OR = es eee discussion of reliability of. 55-56 INDEX 71 GARCILASO DE LA VEGA—Con. Page Page mounds described by______ 99 | KENo PLACH WarH, mention of__ 46 raid described by____--___- 58 | Kizpatrickx, A. R., mounds de- GAR FISH, use of scales of_____- 38 Seribed (Dy 2 9 GLENDORA WARE, mention of___- 46 | La Fon, mounds on map of_____ 6 GREAT MOUND: LAKE St. JOSEPH, Taensa located attempt to determine date OWS Sere AE 2s seh A 51 of ___-_- ~--------------- 49-50 | Lapua, J. E., clay samples ex- belief regarding bottom of_ 16 amined py e eee 48 comparison of, with other Larto LAKE MOUNDS, reference TTETST Ua 0 (Spee DE A Base SL 7 {Oss ae eR SEE ea 13, 47 construction materials of__ 48 | La Sarrn, reference to expedi- dimensions: of..2=u---_.— 12 Pod Ee eee ae ar A a 61 excavation of__--_--------- 16-20 | TL’ENcorE BLanc, ochre obtained human memning/ ines. - > 2-2 21-22 frome soe Pe ee ee aa outlines Wiese deaaee aon 30-31 Lions CLusB, acknowledgment periods in construction of_ 20 fe ee EE PO 3 ee ee fe LI1ITLH RIVER MOUNDS, reference structure and contents of__ 20-25 ts 3 12 pymusiG? Gfs2r oid ess nhs |e ORE ie ciara ety mines gaeir ang meee aot = theory concerning erection LovuIsIaNA HigHway CommMIs- pies Tinbbas isi ES et 64 SION; mention! Of= 22 == 2 == 14 theory of use of___-_-_____ 43 | Louisiana HistoricaL Soctmry, use of, in Civil War____- 9,13 | Teference to----------------- 12 Griera, reference to temple of- 53 | Louistana SratTe UNIVERSITY, GUACHOYA! mention Of. 2524. aaa ole 14 described by Garcilaso____- 58 | McArex, W. L., plant material loedtion’ eile ose te Ss 59 Seni 05S ee ees 38 TEUCEV TLIC EW 0s beeen ee 57 | McCatt, A. G., clay samples sub- GuTuE, C. E., mention of method TRE EeG NG ee ee 48 fay Uae RE OE 9 ee 40 | MoKrrn, W. C., reference to_--- 42 Heaps, HUMAN, impaled on Matiz, absence of, in plant re- AT Ss ca Ran ER 65 mains 2s Se eee 39 Hxsrarp, Jon, land granted to. 34 | MARKSVILLE EARTHWORKS, men- HOPEWELL PEOPLE, theory of mi- EUS ae a Ss 36 eS Stn eae ie Sana untae 63 | MaRKSVILLE MOUNDS, conclusions HopewELl POTTERY: Ghai raiiad (ie ee ee 54 characteristic of_._-_-__._-_--- 42 | MARKSVILLE POTTERY : style of decoration of______ 40 characteristics of______-___ 40 Troyville variant of__.-_-- 47 resemblance of, to that of Houma, reference to temple of__ 53 ve 40, 47, 54 Hows, H. V.: Martin, A. C., plant material data supplied by____------- 14-15 identified by --------------_- 38 reference to___________-___ 39 | Marvin, S. L., acknowledgment Hunter, Grorce: to ~------------------------- - explorations) of..-2=2222.—= 4-§ | Mattine, specimens of___------ 24 reference to journal of____- 5 | Monette, J. W.: IBERVILLE, reference to__------- 5A mounds described by_----- a JONESVILLE: theory of, concerning identification of mounds at_ 1 MOUNGS==5 2225 eee 8 lecationwip i= = cee et 3 | Moore, CLARENCE B., reference to See also TROYVILLE. WOrk¢ Of 2a ee ee ee 46 72 Moscoso, Luys bE, De Soto suc ceeded by2i2e5). = ea Mounp BUILDERS, theory con- CerMing =r es er ee Mounps: construction of, described by Gancila soe jase. ae See also Anitco Mounp; EnetE Mounp; GREAT Mounb; TROYVILLE Mowunps. MUGULASHA, reference to temple MUSKHOGEANS, TRUE, location of_ NATCHESAN GROUP, Troyville re- Son Occupied DY_—— = ===—— === NATCHEZ TRACE, reference to___- NATCHEZ TREASURE, belief con- COTM Gott: Stes en eee NATCHEZ TRIBE: agricultural methods of____- dispersal of_____--- AS Re ae mounds attributed to_-__-__ theory concerning__-______~_ NATCHITOCHES-OUACHITA, cChar- acteristics of pottery of___-_- Nu.co. See ANILCO. NortTruH Dome, trenching OSSACHILE CHIEF, description of dwellingsOf22= 222 ee OUACHITA TRIBE, location of____ PacaHA, location of town of___- PALISADE, skull-topped______--_- PALISADED TOWNS, mention of__ PALMER, mound described by_-- PASCAGOULA, reference to temple Punicaur quoted2. 52 ssh oes PERRIER, Mention of expedition Pirg, cLAy, doubtful origin of_ PLANTS, remains of, in mound__ PLUMMETS, occurrence of____-__ POTSHERDS : conclusion drawn from____~ Sitessyielding= =. 2 + eee types necessarily determined undecorited = 24222 Sea use of, for tempering_____~_ INDEX Page Page POTTERY, JONESVILLE: 60 application of coloring to_- 44 areal distribution of________ 43-44 4344 classified according to deco- ration. eas je untae 40: composition ofi_-—_ 2 39-40: 22 conclusion regarding_______ 48. decoration of. 2...) 2s 41 deseription; ofc. 2-8 -=% 39: earliest type: of-=.. = =2 4T period assigned to___-_____ 46. shapes 0f2.2 32 = eee 40-41 53 table showing characteris- 51 tics; Of} 23°) eee 45. QUIGALTAM : 50 De Soto’s encounter with 6 chief jof=... == 2 eee 59 hostility of, to Spaniards___ 61 2 | Qurinteissa, reference to tempie Of Sige er a 53: 23 | RaFrnesque, C. S., mounds de- 66 scribed byo2222 aste ae (i 8 | Ramp: 43-44 docation \ofiL 2+ sues 65: slope having appearance of_ 22 46 | Range, Roprico, narrative by__ 55. Recorp, 8. J., specimens identi- fied bYel 22 2 ee 49 28-30 | Rem, E. D., acknowledgment to. 38 RowLanp, Mrs. DunpBar, cited__ 5 SACRIFICE, HUMAN, mention of__ 51 “SALT-PANS”, TENNESSEE, refer- ence to. pottery of22-22- eee. 43: SEPULCHRAL CHAMBER: lack of evidence of___..___ 20: See also BURIALS. Serzim, EF. M., cited..-__-- 46, 62, 63: SHAMEL, H. H., acknowledg- ment tos oe 38: SHERDS. See POTSHERDS. SIGNAL TOWER, possible use of Mound: AaSe.22U5 eee 13, 65 SKELETAL REMAINS: discovery of. 22-2225 21-22, 31 See also BURIALS. South Domes, trenching through 2222s ee 25: SoutHwest Museum, reference £0, $o0 es eee 17 SQUIER AND Davis: Cited) eo Ras ee a 12 mounds described by_----- 8: Srreps, mound ascended by__--~ Pipe: INDEX 73 Page Page StropparD, Maz. Amos, theory of, TROYVILLE MOUNDS: concerning mounds_____-____ 6 conclusions regarding his- SWANTON, JOHN R.: CONV OLe = 2 2s ee 63-64 acknowledgment to_____-__ 3 Gestruction: ofi{— === 13, 14, 66 1S) 2 SS esBeat sat 8 dimensions of__-______- 5-6, 8, 12 23, 38, 44, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56 qdiscovery Offs. =—2 4-H conclusion of, regarding discussion of shape of_---- 6 Mroyville site. 5.=.--=- 55 early description of._-_-_----_ 5 Garcilaso defended by_----- 56 identified at Jonesville_-__ 1 quoted on temples_______-- 53 location 0-23 2 ae 3-4 TAENSA: number of___-_- SOOM WS toy yal ay description of temple of__. 51-52 possible identification of__- 62 earliest mention of___----- 51 purpose: of-02. 24+ shee 6, 13 reference to pottery of__--- 46 supposition regarding___-_~_ 4 site occupied by___-------- 51,66 | TROYVILLE REGION: theory regarding =- == === 51 cultural history of--------- 50 TASSENOCOGOULA, meaning of the tribes occupying _____------ 50-51 ART eer Oe os SSR 54 | TROYVILLE SITH: TEMPLES : abandonment of____-___--- 66 characteristic feature of___ 53 earliest occupants of______- 62 location Of: 22208 oS aL 51, 52, 65 identified as Anileco___-__-_ 55 Natchez, description of___-_ 52-53 prehistoric occupation of_-_ 63 Taensa, description of-_-_- 51-52 resemblance of, to Marks- Taensa, destruction of__-__ 52 VAL GSE se oct ee ER 62 Trensas RIVER, unusual course tribeshoccupying==—— === 66 CG En pet ae Ea are ee ee eae ee 9 | TUNICA TRIBE: TEOCALLI, comparison of mounds identification of pottery of_ 46 aU tileweeeren iene ear NE ee Seo 7 location. of22 2) sae ee 51 THOMAS, CYRUS: reference to temple of____-- 53 Girt Cee Sh eee 11, 50 traces of contact with_____-~- 55 mounds described by__---- 12 | Waker, EpwIN F.: mounds located by_-------- val acknowledgment to-------~ 3 TIANTO: assistance rendered by__--~ 17 Ie SOLO? Wb. ot ee 56 ) WaAnKER W. M., cited-__ = —.-—— 38, 46 possible location of__------ 62 | WATCHTOWER, possible use of Tonti, temple described by----- 51 TVLO ULV 1S ee ee 13, 65 TRADITION of the mounds___---~ 9 | Warkins, W. N., specimens TREMPEALEAU Movunps, refer- identified’ pyis-2- sess es 49 TIC CRB LO ee es 42 | Wess, W. S., and FUNKHOUSER, TRINITY, origin of the name___ 3 Wir De cited aoe. ae eee Sa 43 TROYVILLE : WEtTMorRE, A., acknowledgment change of name of___----- 13 {0 fa pe ee ee A Ie pew 33 origin of the name___-_---- 3 | WHEELER, H. M., acknowledg- See also JONESVILLE. TCI COE alr ee ariel Oy TROYVILLE CULTURE, influence on, Oteother tribesso2-= 22. 22 se= 28229—36——_86 easel ; . 2* tics: eat Bhd “FORT Ul JOATY YOR[_ JO pvey wo MotA sAtyoodssed WO poseg "*dNOYD ANNOW ATTIAAOY LL AO HOLANS NOILONYLSNOOSAY SE MAIER 3 ADOTIONHLA NVOIMAWY AO Nvayns | 3ivid e€1l NILATING <<< “ynyq Uo [eng edyinyw “9 “ZZ6L ‘19JUIA ‘PUNO JBOIH JO Opis JSAAA *D @3alW1d ell NILATING ADOIONHLA NVOIMAWY SO Nvayuna BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE b. Close-up of slabs in place. SLOPE OF ORIGINAL MOUND. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113: PLATE) 4 b. Line of post molds BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 5 b. In place on western part of slope. FRAGMENTS OF_ MATTING. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 6 b. Trenched to show structure. SOUTH DOME. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE a. Cane over North Dome. b. Stakes through cane layers. “9UIOC] YION Ul SUOTyBAvOXY “9 ‘punoy YN JO MAIA [e1eueH “dD 8 ALVId €11 NILST1ING ASOTIONHLA NVOIYMAWY AO Nvaynagd BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLEDRIN 113 PLATE 9 a, 6. Vessel fragments from Great Mound. c. Thick section of cane sheets from South Mound. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 10 sence reek patil G Ceti cee Feat eee TES =. POTSHERDS FROM GREAT MOUND FIRE LEVEL. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 11 GROOVED AND INCISED WARE. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 12 IMPRESSED TYPES OF DECORATION. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 13 CORD-MARKED WARE. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULEETIN iis) PUAT Esa PUNGRATE TYPES OF PORTERY. BULLETIN 113 PLATE 15 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY LARTO LAKE POTSHERDS. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 113 PLATE 16 a. Artifacts of chipped flint. b. Stone artifacts , @ ae Wael y | ? ¢ P at ae dee i De Lb be wl ss ; : ¥ ed { ily =o * = 4 a . | > a 2 2 | | | ; | ; | 3 ‘ . ; 2 a= : me hg | :