Note is made of
the similarity in the size, form, and general appearance of these depressions and earthen rings to those of the earth lodges of the abandoned Mandan towns along the Missouri River.
It appears, too, that certain sites were occupied for long periods, new houses being constructed when necessary. In describing mounds in Poinsett County, Arkansas, the same writer says (p. 205) that
The positions and relations of these beds * * * make it evident that upon the site of one burned dwelling another was usually constructed, not infrequently a third, and sometimes even a fourth, the remains of each being underlaid and usually overlaid in part by very dark, adhesive clay or muck. * * *
The peculiar black color of these beds is chiefly in consequence of the large proportion of charcoal with which they are mixed, some of it doubtless the fine particles of burned grass and reed matting with which the cabins appear to have been thatched.
These layers of "very dark" material undoubtedly are remains of mud from the adjacent swamps, which was mixed with or plastered over the grass roofs. It is difficult to understand how they could have become mixed after the burning.
As showing the extent to which this prolonged occupancy was carried, we are informed (p. 254) that in Coahoma County, Mississippi, a mound was—
oval and rounded on top, 210 feet long, 150 broad at the base, and 16 feet high. This mound and several smaller ones near it are so nearly masses of fire beds, burnt clay, fragments of stone and pottery, together with more or less charcoal and ashes, as to indicate clearly that they are the sites of ancient dwellings thus elevated by accumulation of material during long continued occupancy.
In still other portions of the country besides those already mentioned are evidences of similar houses whose sites are now marked by mounds. In southern Ohio, especially, records of excavations contain numerous references to post holes under mounds both large and small. In the case of the former, so far as we may judge from the reports, the houses were destroyed before the mounds were built, and it does not appear that they were ever covered with earth. In the small, low, flat mounds, under which such holes existed, no thought was taken that these may mark the position of posts used to support a roof; all mounds were explored with the idea that they were for burial purposes, consequently no attention was paid to these features.
The Mandan houses, as described by Lewis and Clark, Catlin, and others, when fallen into ruins would leave exactly such mounds or hut rings as those found in Missouri and Arkansas.