The Etowah River formed the southern border of the village, while a series of borrow pits connected by a large ditch, once 9 to 10 feet deep, surrounded the rest of the site. The ditch originally enclosed more than 50 acres before portions were filled during the nineteenth century for agricultural purposes. Using handmade stone tools, native peoples dug the soil to form the borrow pits and ditch and carried it in baskets to build six earthen mounds. Mound building took place at the site for more than 300 years, with renewal of the mounds and new mound construction occurring at various times. Archaeological evidence indicates that a wooden palisade of upright 12-foot-high logs embedded in the ground stood directly inside the defensive ditch, with a series of rectangular bastions that strengthened its defensive capabilities. Villagers most likely crossed the ditch on land or wooden bridges, and the palisade could be entered only through a series of easily defended parallel, offset openings. Archaeologists believe the ditch and palisade wall were not completed until sometime after A.D. 1325, although the site had been occupied at various times since approximately A.D. 1000. Evidence of charred posts indicates that the palisade burned sometime after A.D. 1350, possibly as the result of an accidental fire, warfare, or site abandonment.