Evening star., 1936-09-26
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Excavation of prehistoric foundations
Of what may have been one of the larg-
est "cities" east Of the Mississippi when
Columbus discovered America is report
ed by the Bureau Of American Ethnology
of the Smithsonian Institution.
This was the capital of the kingdom
of Anilco," now buried under the town
of Troyville, La. fernando De Soto
saw Anilco in 1542 at the height of
its prosperity. From accounts of De
Soto's followers a contemporary his
torian, Garcilaso the Inca. wrote: 1T
is on the banks of river wider than the
GuadalQuiver and has about 400 good
houses, with a beautiful square in the
middle. The dwelling Of the cacique Is
upon an eminence which commands
the town. The lord was, at the arrival
of the troops, in front of this place at
the head of a battalion OF 1,500 men,
the elite of his subjects"
Through the succeeding centuries the
great mound, probably the one upon
which the palace" stood, was variously
an object of wonder and nuisance.
Four years ago 1t had practically dis
appeared. providing earth for highway
operations near Troyville. It was at
this time that Winslow M. Walker, then
q member Of the staff Of the Bureau OF
American Ethnology, started digging
into the foundations which had been
left intact by the highway engineers.
Mr.. Walker tentatively identified the
great mound with the city of Anilco but
he found that the prosperous Indian
town of four centuries ago had repre-
sented only one stage in an occupancy
of the site extending into an unknown
antiquity. The original occupants. he
found, had been members of an unknown
Indian race whose culture closely re-
sembled that of the mound builders Of
the Ohio Valley. They. had constructed
the first part Of the great mound
carrying masses Of clay from nearby
lowlands In sacks made Of skins and
packing down hard each load after 1t
was dumped into place. After q plat
form q few feet high had been built
in this manner something happened.
Work was stopped and the surface be-
came Uttered with campsite refuse
ashes charcoal, burned and broken ami
NAL bones and fragments OF clay pots
This resting period lasted long enough
for two small pecan trees to take root
and grow on the slope.
Whether the same people who built
the original mound were also responsible
for the second stage Of construction Is
not certain. They introduced important
changes. A portion of the fire-littered
slope between the two pecan stumps was
dug through and q line Of stout posts
was set up, the butt Of each extending
down several feet into undisturbed soil,
and tamped about with mottied clay.
Inside this palisade level platform
several feet wide was built and over 1t
was spread q layer OF feddish-yellov
sand. Two logs, one on top OF the other,
were placed outside the posts on the
down slope, which was left with
smooth, slippery surface, almost as II
it had been oiled. A little further along,
ut the base Of the slope. nine logs were
laid In pile, each carefully cut and
trimmed ut both ends. A series Of long
slabs, mostly Of hickory. was laid on the
slope. A little above them q gully, or
hollow. had been flled by placing In 1t
two logs Over the top 1of these logs
was placed covering Df cane layers
many inches thick which were con-
structed In the form OF great sheets
made Of split cane stalks, each thickness
criss-crcssing the one beneath IT.
At the western dde of the sicpe .