The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-21

man bone in his ha nds. Another is (
 By P. A. BRANDON, Curator, state department of archives and history.
 That the aboriginal inhabitants of Alabama were fond of soup, and that the Tennessee valley Indians were es- pecially fond of snail soup, is forcibly evidenced in the finding at the mouth of Town creek by the surveyors sent out from the bureau of American eth nology. of a mound more than 15 feet in height and nearly 300 feet across which is made practically entirely ot the shells of Littorina littorea.
 The fresh water periwinkle is va riety of mollusk having fleshy cen tral disk and a turbinated shell. It was formerly very prevalent in most Of our swift flowing streams and is yet to be found in limited quantities though it lives best in clear water.
 Town creek, the dividing line between Colbert and Lawrence counties, emptles into the Tennessee river flowing due north, and at the mouth of this stream there is evidence that the early inhab- itants of this locality were located over a long period. The kitchen hidden from which was taken the material for the construction of this mound no doubt served hundreds of years, and the mound indicates that it was used over periods, abandoned for times, then re- used. There are deposits of the loam caused by the overflow of the river, which is adjacent, in the center of the mound, indicating that it must have been abandoned for a period at least after the high waters.
 aluable Finds Made
 Gerard Fowke, an archaeologist working for the Smithsonian institution, is making some very variable finds in this mound. Literally thousands of bone tools have been taken out. These shivers of bone, the most of which is that of deer and bear, have been rubbed down on rough stones, which form needles or picks or awls, these little implements being used to pull the an- imal out of the shell after it had been cooked in the soup. That it was easier to make new ones than to hunt for the lost ones, is evidenced by the fact of the finding so many of these in the garbage which was thrown out from the kitchen. The majority of them are perfect yet. Many of them have been perforated on the supper end in order that they. could be tied with a string, and doubtless, some were sus- pended from the arms or the neck.
 In addition to this character of man. ufactured pick, is one made by na- ture. It is the dorsal fin of the river catfish. The majority of these are about four inches long and are perfor- ated at the lower end which joined the backbone.
 Skeletons Found
 The crew of Mir. Fowke has trenched the mound about half through. He is rushing the work in order that he may make a thorough investigation before the rising water of the lake caused by Wilson dam has covered it. The mound is not burial mound though there have been found some eight skeletons to date. Only one child of the total number has been met. This one had two perforated shell beads, objects of shell being very rare along the Ten nessee river.
 In addition to the bone implements, few of shell, and number of clipped objects, MT. Fowke has taken out quite few buekhorn tools used by these people in the manufacture of their clipped objects The large number of awls and skivers found in the mound in- dicate that either the deer and the bear were very common in the neighborhood, or that these people here hunted in a territory where these animals were quit numerous.
 If the time will permit, it is the purpose of the Smithsonian institution to investigate other mounds along the Tennessee river before they are finally oblierated by the power plants which a great engineering enterprise.