Charcoal-Filled Pits

Three features (Features 35, 36, and 37) deserve some separate consideration because the fill they contained was more rich in carbonized plant remains than the fill of burial pits, other pit features, or Structure 5. Features 35 and 37 contained large quantities of wood charcoal, but few plant food remains (Table 35). Feature 36 may be described as a cob-filled pit, although it contained some wood charcoal as well as charred corncob fragments and a single corn kernel fragment (Table 36). These three shallow pits occurred close together in a nearly linear configuration, and all of them probably resulted from smoldering fires (judging by the density of fuel materials) constructed for a particular purpose (such as hide smoking or pot firing).