The _play-ground_ occupied the northwestern angle of the public square, and formed an oblong segment of it, of rather irregular shape. It was made distinct from the rest of the square by one or two low embankments or terraces; in its centre stood, on a low circular mound, a four-sided pole or pillar, sometimes forty feet high. A mark fastened on its top served at appointed times as a target to shoot at with rifles or arrows. Around the pole the floor of the yard was beaten solid.