constructed of perishable material, such as was supplied in
abundance by the forest region in which they dwelt. It is
therefore apparent that in this respect at least the dwellings of
mound-builders were similar to those of Indians. But this is not
all that can be said in reference to the houses of the former, for
there still remain indications of their shape and character,
although no complete examples are left for inspection. In various
places, especially in Tennessee, Illinois, and southeast Missouri,
the sites of thousands of them are yet distinctly marked by little
circular depressions with rings of earth around them. These
remains give the form and size of one class of dwellings that was
common in the regions named. Excavations in the center usually
bring to light the ashes and hearth that mark the place where the
fire was built, and occasionally unearth fragments of the vessels
used in cooking, the bones of animals on whose flesh the inmates
fed, and other articles pertaining to domestic use.

During the explorations of the Bureau in southeastern Missouri and
Arkansas, finding the remains of houses in low, flat mounds was a
common occurrence. Although the wood in most cases had
disappeared, what had not been converted to coals and ashes having
rotted away, yet the size and form, and, in part, the mode of
construction, were clearly indicated. The hard-tramped, circular,
earthen floor gave the size and form; the numerous fragments of
burnt clay forming a layer over the floor--often taken by
explorers for brick-revealed the method of plastering their
dwellings; the charred remains of grass and twigs showed that it
had been strengthened by this admixture; the impressions left on
the inner face of these lumps of burnt plastering revealed the
character of the lathing, which was in some cases branches and