While working in square 37R5 this burial was partly in it (37R5) and there weren’t feet present (see photo 34). The absence of feet has occurred before and it is a trait that may be distinctive.

While removing the skull of this burial, which was on the line (R6), the arm of another burial, in square 38R6, was found. It was not removed, but was left for future investigation since the conditions are the same as the above mentioned burial. The soil color in the levels below the midden is of great concern in this area; there seems to be a discoloration in what appears to be the top part of the subsoil. There will be a thorough check made of the soil.

15R8, June 21, 1957

Accompanied by J. L. Henson and son, Charles, James Vorus, and John, Jr., we moved to the part of the site that I rented for the summer, and decided on a square on the highest part on this end of the site. We established the square 15R8 and put up the shelter over the square to protect us from the sun. We removed all potsherds from the plow zone to DD 4.7, at DD 4.7. There appeared a black area in the NW ¼ of the square. The NE ¼ had indications of burned clay. The black area suggested a pit but there was no outline of one. At DD 5.0 the black area was still there and contained above the normal amount of charcoal but still no define outline of a pit. At DD 5.5 we outlined the black area and sketched in the square form. At DD 6.0 the area did not exist. The only difference in this area and the rest of the square was the dark color; the contents or number of potsherds, and other evidences appeared to be the same as the rest of the square. I could not positively say that this area was a pit.

At DD 5.5 the soil changed to a lighter brown. There were tree root impressions visible that were not visible in the above level. This suggested another natural level. Also, there was little material to be found. The few sherds were not in a midden. There was little other sign of an occupation in this soil (the lighter brown soil).

This lighter brown soil was mottled in color, having light sandy streaks and circles and at DD 7.2 there was yellow sand. In this mottled sandy soil was a burial (25) under the R9 line and less than one foot north of the 15 line, and there was no sign of the midden with this burial, though there was a little darker appearance of the mottled soil. The members of the party and all kept up with activities throughout the whole square and it was plain to all that there seemed to be no connection between this burial and the midden above. There was a separation at the knees. Also, there appeared a sunken place in the pelvic region which was reflected in the midden above. It would also account for the separation between the bones at the knees. There was a deformity of the right femur which should be explained at a later time after examination by proper persons.

A different method of taking the soil profile was followed. This time I used the transit at each running foot of the east wall to record the lines inscribed in the wall.

According to the profiles of the four walls, they were nearly uniform in depth, that is, no marked difference was present to warrant drawing all four. The east wall was used because of the sunken area, on the R9 line. During the afternoon we had a shower of rain though we worked on through it.

We finished work at nightfall and then filled the square. It was nearly 9:00 P.M. when we finished. We arrived home after 11:00 P.M.

Highlights of the trip were when we found the burial which was quite a bit of excitement for James Vorus; the boat ride to the car in the darkness; and when we all got to the nearest store we each had three king size cold drinks.

In regard to the sunken area in the square which has shown up in the midden and in the burial in the subsoil, perhaps (this) has some connection with the New Madrid earthquake. This site is in the Sunken Lands. There was also the absence of the two strata profile in the midden. Perhaps future work will reveal the reason for the change.

7R13, July 14, 1957

James Vorus, Mr. F. N. Davis, John, Jr., and myself arrived at the site early this A.M. We had discussed moving to the edge of the site on the south end, which we did. We established square 7R13 and set up for work. The plowzone produced little material. The potsherds were scarce at the bottom of the plowzone. There was no pattern of pits, or other features to be found.

The next level, DD 6.2 to DD 6.5 produced several possible postmolds, but when cross-sectioned, they were either tree roots or just shallow black areas—not postmolds.

This level produced little material, only a few potsherds and debris. From Datum depth 6.5 to 7.0 there was just a handful of potsherds. This is a marked difference over the rest of the site that had been excavated to date. As a rule, the sherds are plentiful. At DD 7.0 when the surface was scraped off, the outline of a fireplace appeared and in the fireplace was a small flat stone, under which was a considerable amount of charred root. Readily identifiable were nut shells and hulls.

At DD 7.5 there was the outline of two pits in the subsoil (subsoil first showed at DD 7.2), one small pit, the other three feet in diameter. The pits were cross-sectioned with a two-foot trench. The two pits were then photographed. The north wall was then scraped and marked with lines at each running foot, the profile sketched in the wall, then photographed, and drawn on the graph paper, using datum depths at each line on each running foot of the profile. The square was filled shortly before dark.

31R17, March 15, 1958

The crew on the site early this A.M., and we decided to work on the east side of the ditch and in the vicinity of the burials that had been found previously. We staked out square 31R17, and began work; we removed the plow zone. We scraped off the new surface in search of any possible pattern of pit outline, or postmold, and there was none to be found. Potsherds, and other items, were collected for that level F. S. 185 which was the plow zone.

With no visible pattern in the horizontal profile at DD 5.0 we began the next level collecting potsherds, which were designated F. S. 187. At DD 5.0 to DD 5.5, and at two-tenths of a foot in the level there appeared the top of a skull (See burial form 34). Burial 34 had a skull at its feet, possibly a trophy skull, and was a positive association with burial 34. At the completion of the square, the following information was recorded:

There were four burials directly beneath Burial 34, and in a very compact arrangement; two of the burials were adults, and two of them infants. They were in a very disturbed condition, at the time they were discovered. The problem arose as to what took place. They were in an east-west direction, and in very compact arrangement. It seems as though each burial was disturbed when each succeeding burial was placed in the pit. The question arose, due to the placement of one atop each other in such an exact arrangement, could there have been some sort of mark to denote the location (That is, if each one had a time space between them.) But the search produced nothing to indicate such a marker; no postmolds could be found.

These burials began atop the subsoil, and continued upward to datum depth 5.2. If there was a pit outline in the square it was not visible to us, and that is one of the items we are so careful about. In spite of the fact that the burials were disturbed and in a very poor state of preservation, one assuring condition was the position of the remaining vertebrae which indicated the four burials were under burial 34. There was a broken bottle associated with these burials, and in all probability belonged to burial 34 F. S. 191; DD 5.7 to the bottom of the vessel.

The soil changed to a lighter brown at DD 5.5 and continued about the same to subsoil which was listed as DD 6.0. The DD was based on the average depth of subsoil.

About two inches south of the 32 line, there appeared another burial, which was almost entirely in the square to the north, square 32R17. The south half of square 32R17 was also opened in order to record this burial. In doing so, the top of a bottle appeared, about two feet north of Burial 32, and nearby were the fragments of an infant burial and there were no artifacts associated with it. The burial was partly in the plow zone, and was almost completely destroyed. The bone was in poor condition and crumbled in removal.

The bottle was associated with a burial. The burial was on top of the subsoil and consisted of part of one arm, the radius, ulna, and hand—nothing else. There was no indication of disturbance, and no missing bones were found in the midden. Less than two feet north of burial 34 was another burial, the feet extending into parts of squares 31R16 and 32R16. The burial was in a shallow pit in the subsoil, and had one association with it, a bowl F. S. 190. The vessel had little nodes on four sides near the top, four nodes to each side except one side which had three nodes. This burial was .4 ft. below the average datum depth of the subsoil of this square. There was no disturbance to burial 32 and burial 33 was partly under burial 32. Burial 33 was in a lighter brown soil than that above datum depth 5.5.

There have been many burials in somewhat similar condition in regard to the missing bones, both disturbed and undisturbed, throughout the whole site in which burials were found. The skeletons were removed to the best of our ability, one of the burials in its entirety.

We filled the square and returned home.

27R32, January 25, 1959

J. T. King, Dan Printup, and myself returned to the site. Continuation was in square 27R32 beginning at DD 5.5. There had been some disturbance to the square since we were there last. A large potsherd had been removed from the ground plan DD 5.5, and a portion of the skull that was showing in the east wall of the square had been dug out. Most of the skull remained. Otherwise things were just as we had left it.

We began removing the level DD 5.5-6.0. The soil was in the best of condition to work by the method of taking thin vertical cuts. The square produced as follows: in the SE quarter the soil was similar to the subsoil in color which was of a light brown or yellow color and with a high content of sand. There were lighter streaks and blotches throughout this area, and as has been found in most of the other squares, there was a small quantity of sand tempered fabric impressed sherds in the top part of this soil just described. The NW portion of the square had a concentration of the midden as is usually found in the main occupation. The NW quarter of the square produced a good quantity of shell tempered sherds. This area was screened but produced only sherds and a few small animal bones. This deposit continued through the depth of the level and was evident in the ground plan or horizontal profile at DD 6.0 though nearing the termination of it.

The ground plan at DD 6.0 revealed what appeared to be several postmolds in an arc-like pattern. Photographs, black and white and color were taken of this ground plan. These areas which appeared to be postmolds were cross sectioned and the cut was photographed in color. To date it is doubtful that they could be postmolds for the following reasons: there were no definite lines to indicate the post, the sand streaks were evident in the unbroken pattern of the rest of the soil, the soil appeared to be stained, and in one of the patterns in question, the stain was in a pattern similar to an outline of a postmold. In the others the depth varied from less than a tenth of a foot to five tenths and they were in an irregular shape in the cut or profile where it was cross sectioned.