 The Tennessee, Green, and lower Ohio rivers expeditions of Clarence Bloomfield Moore (University of Alabama Press 2002)
Clarence Bloomfield Moore 1852-1936
248- Classics in Southeastern Archaeology
Tennessee River in Eastern Tennessee.
Dwelling-Site on Chattanooga Island, Hamilton County.
Citico* Mound and Site, Hamilton County.
A short distance above the city of Chattanooga, in view from its water works and from Tennessee river, is a mound in a large, cultivated field, belonging, at the time of our first visit, to Mr. George W. Gardenhire, of Chattanooga, and when the place was again visited by us, to the Montague estate, represented by Mr. N. Thayer Montague, of Chattanooga. The mound, which takes its name from nearby Citico creek, 15.5 feet in height, has been quadrangular with a flat top, but as every part of its surface has been under cultivation, the corners of the mound are now rounded, though the sides are astonishingly steep considering the plowing and subsequent wash of rain to which they must have been subjected. In basal diameter the mound is 110 feet by 145 feet; the summit-plateau in corresponding directions, 71 feet by 42 feet.
The investigation of the mound described by Mr. M. C. Read in the Smithsonian Report for 1867, tells of a tunnel carried into the mound, of skeletons found below the base, and of the discovery of post-holes, etc.
Probably a structure of some kind had existed and burials had been made beneath it, or it had been erected over burials and the mound had been built around and above the structure.
The mound, however, was domiciliary and not a burial mound, as an excavation 12 feet square sunk by us to a depth of 12 feet from the center of the summit- plateau encountered no interments or signs of interments. Evidence of former
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ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER. 371
digging was found in places, but no trace of skeletal remains was present in the
Extending ENE. and WSW. from the mound, which is near the western end, is a ridge with flat top, about 250 feet in width and 600 feet in length, and having a height, judging from holes put down from the surface to undisturbed clay, of about 4 feet. On the eastern end of this ridge is an elevation of about 3.5 feet. The ridge is artificial, or mostly so, and has grown up under prolonged occupancy.
Over the surface of the ridge, the elevation, and part of the mound is abundant midden-debris, including shells, considerable pottery, and fragments of flint. The pottery, shell-tempered, is as a rule coarse and undecorated, some of the fragments, however, bearing very elementary, incised designs rudely executed. One sherd, however, of hard, smooth ware and having but little shell-tempering, if any, had an incised decoration of partly interlocked scrolls, fairly well executed. Another bore a design conferred by the aid of a stamp, and a fragment of yellow ware was found bearing part of a design in red paint.
Finished artifacts on the surface were rare, the site evidently having been carefully searched by visitors from town, where there is a ready market for antiquities, and we learned that a former resident of Chattanooga had systematically dug into the ridge for a considerable period in search of artifacts to sell. The elevation at the end of the ridge, however, strangely enough, had remained uninvestigated. Our surface "finds" consisted of one rude celt; a number of arrowheads of flint, nearly all triangular, some slender, some almost equilateral, and nearly all less carefully made than the projectile points taken later from the graves by us; a part of a small pipe of earthenware, having much of the bowl missing and the marginal surfaces carefully smoothed to allow the part of the pipe remaining to serve some purpose; a small, undecorated pipe of soapstone.
On various parts of the ridge and of the elevation at its eastern end were fragments of human bones.
Trial-holes in the elevation which soon reached burials, showed it to be some what unlike the ridge, the elevation being composed in part of midden debris, but having also local layers of clay of varying shades to within one foot of its surface, above which was midden deposit. Presumably the elevation had been built on the ridge and then lived upon.
The ridge was carefully dug over by us, and burials were found to be widely scattered in it and to have almost no artifacts with them. Presumably, more important persons had been interred in the elevation, which was constructed for burial purposes exclusively.
In all, one hundred and six burials were discovered, and numerous fragments and scattered bones. Such burials from the elevation as were comparatively
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372 ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER.
deep had been deposited in graves which could be traced almost from the surface down, and no doubt had been made from the surface, but the confusion arising from cultivation of the field made impossible a determination as to the upper few inches of the soil.
The burials, whose heads were directed to various points of the compass, were: of adults, 70; of adolescents, 4; of children and of infants, 32.
The forms of burial were as follows:
Extended on the back, 2.
Closely flexed to the left, 1.
Partly flexed to the right, 17.
Partly flexed to the left, 17.
Partly flexed on the right, 15.
Partly flexed on the left, 6.
Bunched, 1.
Positions to be described in detail, 8.
There were also seven disturbances, recent and aboriginal.
The reader will recall that, when not otherwise stated, burials are those of adults, and that the form of burial of infants and children is not included.
We shall now describe in detail all burials from this place with which any artifact was found, as well as such burials which otherwise may seem worthy of special notice.
Burial No. 2, but a few inches from the surface, partly flexed to the right, the cranium pointing S. by E. At each side of the head was a shell ear-plug made from a conch-shell, and resembling a bracket in shape. 1 At the neck were shell beads rather badly decayed.
Burial No. 3, one foot down, extended on the back and having the right fore arm flexed back on the humerus, the hand resting on the shoulder, the head SE. At the outer side of the left forearm was a small, undccorated pot of inferior earthenware.
Burial No. 4, partly flexed on the left, the head S. by E., lay in a pit 2 feet deep, 25 inches wide by 4 feet in length. Under the body, so that both elbows rested upon it, where probably it had slipped, was a mask-like gorget of shell, showing human features. This ornament, which belongs to a well-known class, 2 is greatly decayed and somewhat broken in one place.
Burial No. 5, a child, 9 inches deep, the skull SE. At each side of the cranium were small, shell ear-plugs of the "bracket" shape.
Burial No. 6, presumably a bunched burial, having three skulls together, the long-bones being somewhat loosely placed.
2 William II. Holmes, op. cit., p. 293 et seq. George Grant MacCurdy in "American Anthropologist," July-Sept., 1913, p. 395 et seq. C. B. Moore, "Antiquities of the St. Francis, White and Black Rivers," pp. 287, 321, Figs. 16, 45; and "Some Aboriginal Sites on Mississippi River," pp. 412, 415, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Vol. XIV.
ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER. 373
Burial No. 7, the scattered bones of a disturbance, presumably including two skulls, at a general depth of 16 inches. Somewhat apart from the bones, though no doubt originally with them, was an implement of gray flint, somewhat more than inches in length (Fig. 86). One of similar shape, but smaller, was found
FIG. 86. Blade of flint. With Burial No. 7. Oitico, Tcnn. (Full size.)
by us in the aboriginal cemetery on the Bradley Place, 1 Crittenden County, Ark. We have not been able to find other illustrations of mplements exactly like this one in publications relating to aboriginal work in stone. Dr. H. M. Whelpley of St. Louis, however, whose collection is so well known, tells us the specimen is not uncommon and that in his collection are a number similar in type.
Also out of place among the bones was an ear-plug of the pin-shape variety, made from the columella of a conch-shell and having a considerable knob at the head; and a small arrowpoint of flint.
Burial No. 8, partly flexed to the right, the head ESE., in a grave 2 feet in depth. Under the skull was some red pigment, red oxide of iron.
Burial No. 9, about one foot deep, had that part of the skeleton which is
below the pelvis cut away by another grave. The head was directed SE. On
the lower part of the thorax was a handsome celt of argillaceous, sedimentary
rock somewhat exceeding 8 inches in length and plamly showing where the
handle had been attached. Immediately on this implement lay a celt of iron
or of steel, about 4 inches in length.
Several celts of this kind were found with burials at the Citico site, yet
absolutely no other objects indicating contact with white people were present
except four glass beads found with a comparatively superficial burial. One
would expect in a site where the aborigines had been able to obtain iron from the
whites that many other articles of European origin would be present. We
were so impressed by this anomalous character of the deposits at this place
thai though we realized the chances of having found celts of meteoric iron
(which, as the reader knows, could have been made by the aborigines without
374 ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER.
mined by submitting one of the celts to Harry F. Keller, Ph.D. (whose tests,
especially in the case of copper, have aided us to such an extent in the past),
with the request that an examination of the celt be made with a view of deter
mining the possible presence of diamonds and nickel. Dr. Keller reports as
follows :
"The iron blade shows no distinct crystalline structure when etched with
dilute nitric acid or with iodine, and careful chemical tests show that the metal
is free from foreign metals such as nickel, cobalt, and copper. A solution ob
tained from several grams of the metal, after precipitating the iron, did not
respond to that most delicate of reactions for nickel: the dimethylglyoxime test.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that this iron is not of meteoric origin."
Here, then, we find the aborigines possessed of a number of blades of iron
manufactured by the whites, and yet apparently having almost no other objects
of European provenance.
Burial No. 10, in a grave 35 inches deep, was a skeleton partly flexed on the
right, the head SE. At each side of the skull was an ear-plug of the pin-shape
variety, about 6 inches in length. At the right of the cranium were the remains
of a rattle consisting of the shell of a turtle or a tortoise, enclosing pebbles, and one valve of a large cockle (Cardium robustum), a marine shell. At the outer side of the left shoulder, grouped together, were: fragments of the shell of a turtle or a tortoise, with a number of small pebbles, mingled with which were some of the throat teeth of the fresh-water drum-fish (Aplodinotus grunniens), 1
which no doubt made an excellent substitute for pebbles; the penis-bone of some
animal; 2 a bone piercing implement; nine musselshells (Lampsilis anodontoides) .
On the upper part of the thorax was a gorget of shell with scalloped margin,
much resembling one shown by Thruston 3 and by Holmes, 4 which has incised
centrally a triskele. With the gorget was a shell bead .75 inch in length. In
the space between the femora (which the reader may recall were drawn up)
and the trunk was a bowl of earthenware, 6.5 inches in diameter, undecorated
save for six small lugs projecting from the margin of the opening.
Burial No. 11. This skeleton, 22 inches down, heading SSE., lay on the
back, the right thigh extended in line with the trunk, the left thigh slightly
bent toward the right one. Both legs were flexed to an acute angle with the
thighs; the left forearm was flexed closely on the humerus.
Burial No. 12. In a grave 3 feet deep lay a skeleton partly flexed to the
right, the head NW. At each side of the cranium was an ear-plug of the pin-
shape variety; small shell beads were at the neck and at the right wrist. At
the right hand was an earthenware pipe badly crushed, which has since been
restored (Fig. 87).
2 This bone went astray when submitted for identification.
3 Op. cit., Fig. 230.
4 "Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans," PI. LVI.
This interesting pipe is of a form characteristic of the Citico site. MKluire 1 shows a pipe somewhat like ours as coming from Caniden County, (Ja., mentions another from Blount County, Tenn and says they apparently establish quite an interesting conventional treatment of the beak of a bird.
At the upper end of the left femur were three discoidals of fine-grained, igneous rock, each about 1.5 inch in diameter. Six slender arrowpoints of flint lay near the knees.
Burial No. 13 had been somewhat disturbed by the plow, but there were clear indications that the bones had been partly flexed to the right, the head NNW. Near the skull was a celt 5.5 inches in length, which was presented to Mr. Gardenhire, the owner of the property.
Burial No. 14, partly flexed to the right, the
i i cidT-i i i ii i -L i 11 1 1(1 - s ~- Pipe f earthenware,
head bbE., had at the right shoulder a small, NVi(h Hui . iul No 12 ( , iti( . o T( ,, m
undecorated pot, a part of which had been (About full size.) plowed away.
Burial No. 15 consisted of remains of a skeleton somewhat disturbed but with
parts in order. At the knees and neatly piled were twenty small arrowheads
of flint, all triangular and all pointing the same way.
Burial No. 16, a child, the bones somewhat disturbed by an intersecting
grave. With this burial were two discoidals of igneous rock, each about 1.25
inch in diameter.
Burial No. 17, about 2 feet deep, lay partly flexed to the right, head ESE.
Under the lumbar region was a small flint arrowhead.
Burial No. 18, 32 inches deep, lay partly flexed 1o the right, the head SE.
The left forearm was across the trunk. Under the skull and extending under
the left shoulder and down the outer side of the humcrus were fifty-nine mussel-
shells, badly decayed and broken. Some of these shells were perforated at one
end for suspension, as doubtless all had been, but parts of some which would
have testified as to the fact, were missing. On the thorax were eleven similar
shells; there were five on the lower part of the trunk, and nineteen on the outer
side of the right forearm.
Burial No. 19 was a disturbance. At the left of the skull lay an undecorated
bowl badly crushed.
Burial No. 21, partly flexed to the left, head E. by S.; depth, 3 feet. Near
the skull were two pebble-hammers.
Burial No. 22, partly flexed to the left, head NW. ; depth, 2 feet. At the neck
were a number of marine shells (Marginella apicina) perforated for use as beads.
Joseph D. McGuire, "Pipes and Smoking Customs of the American Aborigines," Rep. U. S.
Nat. Mus., 1897, Fig. 234.
376 ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER.
Burial No. 23, partly flexed to the left, head NW. ; depth 14 inches. On the
thorax lay a gorget of shell, the surface much decayed away in places, which
had borne a conventionalized design of the rattlesnake. Gorgets better pre
served than this one and likewise having the design of the rattlesnake, will be
shown in connection with Burials Nos. 41 and 56.
Lying immediately on the gorget was a ceremonial axe of porphyry, 5 inches
in length, of the "hoe-shaped " variety. 1 These axes, which have been extensively
figured by others as well as by ourselves, often show where the handle has been
placed on them. "We found, moreover, at Moundville, Ala., 2 a shell ornament
showing one of these axes set in its handle.
The ceremonial axe, including the South American type, has been inter
estingly discussed in the superb work of Vcrneau and Rivet."
Near these, but some little distance from the skeleton, were two undecorated
shell gorgets which had perhaps belonged to a much-disturbed burial, parts of
which were nearby. To the left of the pelvis, grouped together, were a small
chisel of iron or of steel (see our description of Burial No. 9) ; a flat pebble of
flint, 3 inches by 2 inches, much chipped at one end as by use; six small arrow
heads, three leaf-shaped implements and two triangular, all of flint, ranging
between 2.3 inches and 3.5 inches in length; also many flint fragments and
chips.
Burial No. 24, partly flexed to the left, head NW., rested on Burial No. 23.
On the lower part of the thorax was a celt which was given to Mr. Gardenhire.
Burial No. 26, partly flexed on the right, head SSE., both forearms closely
flexed against the upper arms; depth, 2 feet 7 inches. Immediately on this
burial were two slabs of cedar, each nearly 4 feet long and about 5 inches in
width, which had been rudely split, not dressed like planks. On the left shoulder
and extending down over the body were fragments of bones of lower animals.
These fragments did not show decay and evidently had been broken intentionally.
The following animals were represented, according to the identification of Dr.
F. A. Lucas: raccoon, part of jaw; black bear, a large animal, parts of humerus
and femur; Virginia deer, parts of vertebra?, foot-bones, shoulder-blade, etc.;
wild turkey, upper part of tarsus; loon (Urinator imber} femur; soft-shelled turtle
(Aspidonectes spinifer} cranium and shoulder-blade; Mississippi catfish (Amiurus
lacustris) a big fellow, 75 to 100 pounds in weight, back of cranium.
On each side of the head was a shell ear-plug of the pin-shape variety, one of
which had been moved slightly from the skull through some cause or another.
Two similar ornaments lay side by side on the upper part of the thorax, the
2 "Moundville Revisited," Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Vol. XIII, Fig. 99.
3 R. Vcrneau et P. Rivet. Ministcre de 1 Instruction Publiquc. Mission du Service Geog-
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