DISCUSSION

Excavation of Mound C revealed that a circular house (House No. 1) was built on the south bank of the Harroun Site lake, was occupied for an unknown period of time, then was burned—perhaps intentionally. After a thin layer of sand had been strewn over the burned ruins, a second, smaller house (House No. 2) was erected on the remains of the earlier house. House No. 2 was likewise destroyed by fire, after which the remains of both houses were buried under a mound of sand.

Both houses probably had centrally located hearths, and one or both of them had an entranceway opening to the west. As at Mound B, a low pile of sandy soil may have been banked around the outside of one or both houses before they were destroyed. Architecturally the houses at Mound C were quite similar to the one at Mound B.

The sparse occurrence of artifacts and other cultural refuse suggests that neither House No. 1 nor House No. 2 was an ordinary domicile. It appears likely, rather, that both were ceremonial structures of some sort. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the houses were considered important enough to be afforded burial beneath a mound, probably after having been ceremonially “cremated.”