It was Raymond Baby who exposed the floor of the earlier rectangular building in 1975. It was the floor of this later building, and its associated features, that Squier and Davis and Mills and Shetrone encountered in the 1840s and 1920s respectively. Afterwards, a new floor was laid atop it and a second circular or oval building was constructed above that. The earlier of the two buildings was rectangular and had been dismantled at some point.
In fact, Mound 8 covers the remains of two different wooden buildings. When Mound 8 was re-investigated in 1975 using more modern – and cautious – excavation techniques, it was found that the burials, basins and deposits found in Mound 8 had once been housed inside a single-post wooden building. Piled on top of a slight depression was a heap of ashes mixed with nearly 200 broken stone effigy pipes carved into the shape of animals and human heads, galena crystals, pearl and shell beads, and copper items like discs, tubes and other ornaments, some of which were coated in silver. Pioneering archaeologists Squier and Davis first excavated a shaft into the center of this mound in the 1840’s and found a basin that was about 2 x 1 meters in size. And, even though Mound 8 was small, it contained huge quantities of some of the most remarkable Hopewell artifacts ever found. Along with the post molds Squier and Davis originally located, Mills found eight people cremated during the time the shrine/mound was built and the remains of two people interred into the mound around 400-600 years later. To approximate HOCU 4048’s original context it is important to discuss Mound 8 and its contents.
Unfortunately, they did not record its exact context, likely out of disinterest – an attitude typical for early Hopewell archaeologists who ignored all textiles except colored ones. It was found in Mound 8, burial 1 at Mound City by Mills and Shetrone during their 1920-21 excavations. As evidenced by the green flecks and stains on its surface, this fragile artifact was preserved in contact with a copper item. HOCU 4048 is a small (3.4 x 2.0 x 0.1 cm), crescent-shaped item made of woven plant fibers.
NPS photo/A.Weiland Where was the artifact was excavated? Wonderfully preserved ancient textile from Mound City Group.
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