Mound B
This low, approximately circular mound was located on the floodplain of Cypress Creek, about 125 feet south of the stream channel, at the south end of the lake ([Fig. 1]). A shallow depression about eight feet across lay just southwest of the mound, and a similar but smaller depression was recorded at the northeast edge of the mound. These features probably are borrow sources. An intrusive pothole, located near the center of the mound, was three to four feet in diameter at the surface, but fortunately it proved to be quite shallow and damage to the mound was slight. The maximum diameter of Mound B, measured north-south, was 55 feet ([Fig. 4]), and the mound reached a maximum height of 2.8 feet above the floodplain.
Mound B was staked for excavation with the usual grid of 5-foot squares oriented on magnetic north. The base stake was 100 feet south and 100 feet east of the approximate center of the mound. Excavation was carried out by the quadrant method as previously described, the southeast and northwest quadrants being excavated first, the southwest and northeast quadrants last. Each quadrant was taken down by ½-foot levels which were keyed to the vertical reference datum. In addition to work in the mound itself, the area immediately south of the mound was tested by means of trenches ([Fig. 4]). The trenches were dug in ½-foot levels measured from the surface of the floodplain at each square.
The excavating and recording methods used at Mound B were generally the same as described for Mound A.
STRUCTURE OF MOUND B
The excavations in Mound B revealed clearly its internal structure ([Fig. 3]). An old soil surface, unmistakably defined by a dark humic zone, underlay the entire mound at an average elevation of 99 feet, or approximately the same elevation as the modern surface of the floodplain. This evidently represents the surface humic zone (Zone IIc) of the floodplain at the time the mound was built. Yellow-brown sand (Zone IIb) extended below the buried humic zone to an undetermined depth. Zones IIb and IIc beneath the mound contained a few scattered stone chips and an occasional artifact, but there were no concentrations of cultural material.
Fig. 4
HARROUN SITE
41 UR 10
MOUND B AREA
contour interval = 0.5 feet
shading indicates excavated area
Resting directly on the old floodplain surface was the basal structural component of the mound, a rather compact, circular lens of dark brown sand up to a foot or more thick and averaging about 17 feet in diameter. This lens, which contained abundant charcoal, burned clay daub, bone, shell, and a few artifacts, represented the floor level of a house, designated House No. 3. In and above the floor level were the remains of several charred poles, presumably derived from the burned framework of the house. A burned area approximately four feet in diameter in the center of the lens proved to be the remains of a central fire hearth. It was filled with complex lenses of various shades and textures. A large post mold was found beneath the hearth in the approximate center of the house.