. Bulletin. Ethnology. WEBB] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN 81 Upon the removal of the "altar" upon this secondary floor and the clearing of the fallen structure, another fire basin or altar was dis- covered in the primary floor. It was a square of hard-burned clay 44 inches on the side raised about 2 inches above the floor level. The corners were rounded and in the center was a single circular concave basin 23 inches in diameter and nearly 4 inches deep at the center. A close-up of this basin or altar is shown in plate 132, &, with other similar basins shown for compariso
. Bulletin. Ethnology. WEBB] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN 81 Upon the removal of the "altar" upon this secondary floor and the clearing of the fallen structure, another fire basin or altar was dis- covered in the primary floor. It was a square of hard-burned clay 44 inches on the side raised about 2 inches above the floor level. The corners were rounded and in the center was a single circular concave basin 23 inches in diameter and nearly 4 inches deep at the center. A close-up of this basin or altar is shown in plate 132, &, with other similar basins shown for comparisons. The altar was placed nearly symmetrically in the center of the structure, as shown in figure 34. When the altar was removed there was found under it two post molds 9 inches in diameter and about 18 inches deep. It was thus. SITE 9 MOUND 2 FEATURE 8 Figure 35. revealed that the altar was built up of clay plastered over a depres- sion in the primary floor. When the primary floor was carefully swept off with whisk- brooms, a definite impress of split-cane matting was revealed. This cane formed a broad border along each wall, as shown in plate 42. The cane had been pressed into the clay floor, leaving an imprint of each stalk. Plate 43 shows a section of the interior edge of this cane-covered area and also shows how the whole surface of the floor was once dry and hard and cracked. It showed no evidence of fire. At the corners the imprints clearly showed that this border over- lapped from side and end to give a cross-checked pattern. Plate 44 shows the entire plan of the post-mold structure of the primary 154676—38 7. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington : G. P. O.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1901
