DD 5.5 to 6.0. The soil began to change to the color of the subsoil at DD 6.0 in the NW corner. Further work revealed a fired clay floor, and outline of same worked out as shown on horizontal profile (took photographs).
The fired clay floor did not cover the entire outline of the house pattern and where the fired floor was missing, there was evidence of its having been there, this evidence was on the west part of the house. Explanation of this evidence is due to the soil color—where a piece of the fired floor was removed there was a pink or red color indicating intense heat. The same color was found outside the area of the fired floor as was noted under the piece of floor lifted. There was a definite outline of the west edge of the fired floor and at the same level the soil changed to subsoil west of the line indicating the floor area. There were no postmolds to be seen. The soil color, as before mentioned, is an orange to yellow or very light tan color and since this was built atop the subsoil the postmolds should have been visible.
Evidently the debris had been removed if the house had burned, but there was a small amount of charred poles sizes from .1 to .2 foot in diameter at the northwest end of the pattern. The pattern at the west and north sides was in a square arrangement. There was a depression in the fired floor and associated with it was a pottery vessel, F. S. 406, and it was complete except for the top part. Also in the depression was charcoal but no ashes. The color of the depression indicated it was or had been used as a fireplace, Feature 22. The west and northwest end of the square indicated the house was square or rectangular in shape.
41R22, March 22, 1960
The west 4 feet of this square was opened and the house presented a problem. The fired floor as well as the color representing the soil under the fired floor was not evident, but being careful, following the vertical profile we were able to determine the approximate west line of the house. For safety’s sake we listed the east wall as indeterminate. There was no evidence to be seen of any postmolds. The south end of the house pattern was in this same condition. Further work on the adjoining squares produced another house. The house in 41R21 and 41R22 was partly under the house in 40R21, 40R22, 39R22, 39R21 and 39R22.
The preceding has been a selected sample of essentially unedited field notes not including much detail and barely mentioning the carefully drawn maps, and horizontal and vertical profiles that accompanied the written description. Profiles showing soil color changes were done in color, using colored pencils in an attempt to duplicate the colors observed. Photographs, both black and white and color were taken whenever anything showed up of possible use for record or interpretation. (The Editors).
EXCAVATIONS
A north-south cross sectional profile along the R22 line shows a rise of 3.4 feet from the south base line to a point of maximum elevation some 400 feet north. The midden deposit shows a corresponding increase in depth. The zero base line was on the south end of the site in an area that appears to have been destroyed by an early St. Francis River meander. Excavation was carried on from this point to square 40R22, a distance of 400 feet north, but not to the northern end of the site which is some distance beyond. The northern portion of the profile indicated that this was an area of major house building activity while to the south and just north of the area washed out by the St. Francis River meander there is some indication of a court or open community center. The ancient river meander was filled with a bluish sandy clay. This ends near stake 9R22 with a datum elevation of 1.2 feet above the base line.
From 5 to 8R22 there was a sandy deposit below the plow line which probably represents a deposit from standing water as the meander activity comes to a stop and filling in became a slow silting process. From 8 to 17R22 there was a thin hard-packed deposit from .2 to .3 feet in depth. Test pits through this section yielded almost no archaeological material while just north of 17R22 the midden deposit abruptly deepened. This area, almost 100 feet north-south, was also seen on the east-west profile. It is this area that gives the impression of being a plaza or community center ([Fig. 2]).
Starting just north of this open area there was a bank of clean sand and the midden deposit below suddenly dipped downward until at 21R22 it was quite pronounced with evidence of a sand boil. This disturbance was due to the New Madrid earthquake and can be clearly seen in many areas of this state. Here, the evidence for land subsidence, along with large sand boils originating from considerable depth, is clear. This earthquake evidence was no longer apparent north of square 29R22 and the full undisturbed midden deposit of 1.5 foot depth gives evidence of the Indian occupation. At square 40R22 the deposit was 1.8 feet deep and it is at this point that houses 2 and 3 were found. The excavation was not carried any farther north.