Feature 55

Description

by H. Trawick Ward

Feature 55 was located just inside the palisade at the southern entrance into the village (at 190.5R36.7). A circular stain of dark brown loam mottled with orange clay (Zone 1) defined this pit at the subsoil surface. The orange clay was more pronounced around the edge of the feature. Zone 1 also contained small flecks of charcoal and calcined bone. Cultural materials consisted primarily of a few potsherds, animal bones, and glass beads. At a depth of 0.3 ft below the subsoil, the dark loam was replaced by a mottled orange clay with some brown loam (designated Zone 2). Very few artifacts were recovered from this fill, which extended to the bottom of the pit at a depth of 0.6 ft. The bottom was flat and the pit walls were irregular but generally sloped inward at the bottom. The feature measured 2.6 ft by 2.9 ft at the base of plowzone.

Feature 55 apparently intruded a segment of a wall trench associated with Structure 13. Zone 1 fill was very similar to that of the wall trench. The sparsity of cultural remains in both fill zones, the similarity between the wall-trench fill and Zone 1, and the mottled clay comprising Zone 2 suggest that the pit was quickly refilled with soil that was removed during its excavation. It is difficult to determine the original function of the feature; however, it may have resulted from soil-recovery operations.