 Based on the southeast orientation of the ramp and the results of a 2009 ground-penetrating radar survey, the summit of the mound is thought to have been the seat of the townhouse in which Cherokee leaders hosted British and American delegations through the years.A single 5′ x 5′ test shaft dug by University of North Carolina archaeologists in 1963 constitutes the entirety of formal digging known to have been undertaken at Nikwasi.The mound's excellent state of preservation owes much to the fact that it was never opened by the Smithsonian during the later part of the 19th century.