Tennessee Archaeology
Abstracts 2005-2010

These journals are available for free access, viewing, and download:

1. INTRODUCING A NEW JOURNAL. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore. 1(1):1. 2005.
2. THE SOGOM SITE (40DV68): A MISSISSIPPIAN FARMSTEAD ON COCKRILL BEND, DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Mark R. Norton and John B. Broster. 1(1):2-17. 2005. Archaeological excavations for a new state prison in Davidson County uncovered a Mississippian farmstead at the Sogom site (40Dv68). A refuse-filled pit with shell-tempered plain and cordmarked ceramics near the Mississippian structure yielded a corrected radiocarbon date of cal A.D. 1033-1160. This date places the Mississippian occupation at 40Dv68 within the Dowd phase (A.D. 1050-1250). Also exposed during the limited investigations were features dating to earlier Archaic and Woodland occupations. These features include a refuse-filled pit with an uncorrected date of 6590 +/- 90 B.P., and a semi-flexed pit burial with an uncorrected date of 1250 +/- B.P.
3. THE ENSWORTH SCHOOL SITE (40DV184): A MIDDLE ARCHAIC BENTON OCCUPATION ALONG THE HARPETH RIVER DRAINAGE IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. Aaron Deter-Wolf. 1(1):18-35. 2005. During the summer of 2003, TRC, Inc. conducted a burial removal project at site 40Dv184 on the grounds of the new Ensworth High School in Davidson County, Tennessee. A total of 335 prehistoric features were exposed during the search for human graves. Sixty-four of these features contained human skeletal remains. Artifacts recovered during the removal project indicate an enduring use of the site area from the Early Archaic through Mississippian periods. Seven burials yielded Benton biface caches along with other lithic and bone artifacts. These caches along with additional Benton artifacts from non-mortuary pit features and surface collections indicate a significant site habitation at 40Dv184 during the late Middle Archaic Benton phase. Over two-thirds of the Benton specimens were manufactured from non-local lithic resources.
4. FIELDWORK AT SWALLOW BLUFF ISLAND MOUNDS, TENNESSEE (40HR16) IN 2003. Paul D. Welch. 1(1):36-48. 2005. Swallow Bluff Island, located in the Tennessee River portion of Hardin County, has two Mississippian period mounds that have been known to archaeologists for nearly 100 years. Unfortunately, erosion of the riverbank has removed most of the larger mound. A short expedition to the site in 2003 mapped the remaining part of the site, and recorded information about the stratigraphy of the large mound. The mound had been constructed in four stages, achieving a final height of 5.5 meters.
5. INTERIOR INCISED PLATES AND BOWLS FROM THE NASHVILLE BASIN OF TENNESSEE. Kevin E. Smith, Daniel Brock, and Christopher Hogan. 1(1):49.57. 2005. This report presents information on the limited sample of interior incised ceramic sherds from the Nashville Basin of Tennessee. These specimens favorably compare to the type O’Byam Incised variety Stewart. Comparative information on the distribution of interior incised vessels supports the assertion that O’Byam Incised was not manufactured or used by local residents, but rather brought to the Nashville Basin from the lower Cumberland or Ohio River valleys.
6. EARLY INVESTIGATIONS AT GORDONTOWN (40DV6): RESULTS OF AN 1877 EXPLORATION SPONSORED BY THE PEABODY MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY. Michael C. Moore. 1(1):58-68. 2005. Recent research at the Harvard University Archives discovered four pages of field notes from a previously unknown 1877 excavation at T. F. Wilkinson’s Farm (later determined to be the Gordontown site in Davidson County, Tennessee). These notes included a sketch map with invaluable site details, including two previously undocumented mounds. These mound notations provided key insights into puzzling features recorded during later 1920 (Myer 1928) and 1985-1986 (Moore and Breitburg 1998) investigations. The 35+ burials dug across the site area in 1877 yielded a modest assemblage of such artifacts as ceramic effigy vessels and ovate knives.
7. EDITORS CORNER. 1(2):69-70. 2005. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
8. ARCHITECTURAL SEQUENCING AT THE SAMUEL DOAK PLANTATION, GREENEVILLE, TENNESSEE. Nicholas Honerkamp. 1(2):71-93. 2005. Archaeological testing at the Samuel W. Doak plantation (40GN257), in Greeneville, Tennessee, resulted in the discovery of two extensive architectural features adjacent to an extant plantation house and the Doak “academy,”or schoolhouse. Artifacts associated with both features (a large cellar and a brick footing and chimney base, respectively) indicate that they predate the initial construction dates of buildings documented for the site. This archaeological challenge to the archival version of the plantation’s history has resulted in a more accurate but at the same time more complex reconstruction of the Doak occupation.
9. WORKING ON THE RAILROAD: INVESTIGATIONS OF THE M&O AND L&N TERMINAL SITE (40SY590), MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. Patrick H. Garrow. 1(2):94-124. 2005. This paper summarizes the results of archaeological testing and data recovery on a block in northern downtown Memphis containing the site of the former Memphis and Ohio (M&O) and Louisville and Nashville (L&N) railroad terminals. The M&O terminal stood on the site from about 1865 to 1880, while the L&N terminal was constructed about 1880 and stood well into the twentieth century. Archaeological data recovery focused on two major features: 1) a cistern filled about 1880 with debris from demolition of the M&O terminal; and 2) the foundations and associated deposits of a small building representing the ruins of a freight house or office building built by the L&N about 1889 and razed soon thereafter. The investigated contexts (particularly the cistern) yielded a large, well preserved artifact collection associated with the M&O and L&N railroads. The assemblage included a number of brass baggage tags, many on their original leather straps, which provide unusual insights into the way in which baggage was handled and routed during the period. The contexts also yielded very large quantities of window glass that form the basis for a proposed window glass date adjustment for Memphis.
10. THE EUGENE WOODS CLOVIS POINT. Charles H. McNutt. 1(2): 125-126. 2005. This research report presents information on a fluted Clovis point recovered below the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff in Tipton County, Tennessee during the late 1930s. This specimen comprises one of the few fluted points recorded from the west Tennessee bluffs.
11. SALVAGE OF AN ERODING FEATURE AT THE TELLICO BLOCKHOUSE, TELLICO RESERVOIR, MONROE COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Todd M. Ahlman, Daniel L. Marcel, Nicholas P. Herrmann, and Bradley A. Creswell. 1(2):127-134. 2005. On March 12, 2004, personnel from the Archaeology Research Laboratory (ARL) excavated a feature that was eroding out of the bank on the Tellico Reservoir near the site of the Tellico Blockhouse. A total of 358 artifacts were recovered, including late-eighteenth and earlynineteenth century Euro-American ceramics, faunal remains, wrought nails, and a small amount of curved glass. The recovered artifacts suggest this feature was likely associated with a domestic structure during the Federal occupation of Tellico Blockhouse.
12. EDITORS CORNER. 2(1):1-2. 2006. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
13. ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF A MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD STRUCTURE IN THE LOESS HILL BLUFFS OF SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Gary Barker. 2(1):3-18. 2006. Site 40SY488 is located on a loess ridge along Poplar Tree Creek in Meeman-Shelby State Park. Excavations in 1994 by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology unearthed the burned remains of a wattle and daub, wall trench house. A charred oak post from the structure floor yielded an uncorrected radiocarbon date of 810 +/- 70 B.P. Features and artifacts associated with this Mississippian period structure define a single-family dwelling occupied during the winter months.
14. MIDDLE ARCHAIC THROUGH MISSISSIPPIAN OCCUPATIONS AT SITE 40DR226 ALONG THE TENNESSEE RIVER IN DECATUR COUNTY. Aaron Deter-Wolf and Josh Tuschl. 2(1):19-31. 2006. The Nashville office of TRC, Inc. conducted archaeological excavations and geoarchaeological deep testing at prehistoric site 40DR226 during the summer of 2004. This site, located along the Tennessee River in Decatur County, yielded intact and deeply stratified midden deposits along the top bank of the Tennessee River. Radiocarbon dates and recovered artifacts indicate the site was occupied between the Middle Archaic and Mississippian periods (ca. 8000–400 B.P.). A sequence of ceramic sherds associated with the Late Gulf Formational, Copena, and Miller III ceramic traditions (spanning the period ca. 2250–950 B.P.) are of particular interest.
15. A RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY FOR MOUND A [UNIT 5] AT CHUCALISSA IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. Jay D. Franklin and Todd D. McCurdy. 2(1):32-45. 2006. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville conducted the initial archaeological investigations at Chucalissa in 1940. Excavations at this Mississippian period community near Memphis, Tennessee were completed before the advent of radiometric dating, and virtually all of the field notes have been lost. Mound A is presumed to have been constructed late in prehistory, during the Walls phase (ca. A.D. 1425-1500), based largely on ceramic chronology. Recent excavations by the University of Memphis aimed to refine the chronology through the recovery and radiometric dating of charcoal samples from the various construction and destruction episodes revealed within the profile of Mound A. The analysis results reveal that Mound A was in fact initially constructed during the latter portion of the Boxtown phase (A.D. 1250-1400). We suggest the periodicity of both mound construction and use was relatively brief, and may represent a final attempt to maintain Chucalissa as a viable community.
16. SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 1948-1971. Stephen Williams. 2(1): 46.58. 2006. This paper provides the personal reflections of the author on nearly fifty years of involvement with the peoples and places important in the archaeology of the Lower Mississippi River Valley.
17. A NASHVILLE STYLE SHELL GORGET FROM THE JARMAN FARM SITE, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Michael C. Moore. 2(1):59-61. 2006. Among the artifacts found during F. W. Putnam’s 1882 exploration of the Jarman Farm site was a Nashville style shell gorget. This marine shell item had been placed in an infant stone-box grave along with a human effigy hooded bottle and a notched-rim bowl. The shell gorget morphology falls within the Nashville II style as defined by Brain and Phillips (1996:171).
18. EDITORS CORNER. 2(2):62. 2006. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
19. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LINVILLE CAVE (40SL24), SULLIVAN COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Jay D. Franklin and S.D. Dean. 2(2):63.82. 2006. Linville Cave is more popularly known in upper East Tennessee as Appalachian Caverns. Sal-vage excavations were conducted at Linville Cave from late winter 1990 through spring 1991 by S. D. Dean as part of a commercial venture. This article presents a detailed overview of the ar-chaeological record of Linville Cave and a new radiocarbon date. Prehistoric Native Americans intermittently used the cave vestibule as a late fall hunting and retooling camp during the early Middle Woodland into the Late Woodland period.
20. ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON ROPER’S KNOB: A FORTIFIED CIVIL WAR SITE IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Benjamin C. Nance. 2(2):83-106. 2006. Test excavations on top of Roper’s Knob in northern Williamson County exposed Civil War pe-riod fortifications and features. The fortifications included a redoubt as well as the rare example of an excavated blockhouse. The investigations also uncovered evidence of a mid-1800s do-mestic structure likely occupied by the Roper family.
21. DEEP TESTING METHODS IN ALLUVIAL ENVIRONMENTS: CORING VS. TRENCHING ON THE NOLICHUCKY RIVER. Sarah C. Sherwood and James J. Kocis. 2(2):107-119. 2006. Deep testing by trenching is a standard field method used to investigate the potential for deeply buried surfaces or archaeological deposits in alluvial environments in the eastern US. This technique, however, can be both destructive and dangerous. We review the use of hydraulic coring in combination with microartifact analysis as an alternative to deep testing. A Phase II study on the Nolichucky River is used to directly compare trenching vs. coring and their effec-tiveness in providing data needed to identify buried sites in a floodplain and terrace environ-ment. When combined with microartifact analysis and detailed description, the hydraulic coring protocols provided a qualitative and quantitative measure for the presence of buried surfaces that extend significantly deeper than trenches can efficiently reach.
22. A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF CLOVIS THROUGH EARLY ARCHAIC COMPONENTS AT THE WIDEMEIER SITE (40DV9), DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. John Broster, Mark Norton, Bobby Hulan, and Ellis Durham. 2(2):120-127. 2006. Recent archaeological work by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology at the Widemeier site (40DV9) has uncovered an extensive amount of evidence for Paleoindian and Early Archaic oc-cupations. Paleoindian specimens recovered from the site area include Clovis and Cumberland projectile points along with blade tools, blades, and blade cores. Early Archaic projectile points include Harpeth River, Big Sandy I, Kirk Corner-Notched, and Lost Lake. These artifacts likely derived from a series of small extractive camps placed around small streams and springs over-looking an earlier oxbow of the Cumberland River.
23. EDITORS CORNER. 3(1):1-2. 2008. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
24. EARLY MISSISSIPPIAN SETTLEMENT OF THE NASHVILLE BASIN: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS AT THE SPENCER SITE, 40DV191. W. Steven Spears, Michael C. Moore, and Kevin E. Smith. 3(1):3-24. 2008. Salvage excavations at the Spencer site in Nashville recorded evidence of an early (and possibly emergent) Mississippian period occupation. Radiocarbon assays from selected structures and features date the primary site occupation between A.D. 900 to 1150. The shell-tempered wares from Spencer favorably compare with ceramic assemblages from other early Mississippian sites in the Middle Cumberland River valley. A small percentage of chert and limestonetempered ceramics, along with a feature date of cal A.D. 403-567 (one-sigma), denote the presence of a Middle Woodland component.
25. A SURFACE COLLECTION FROM THE KIRK POINT SITE (40HS174), HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Charles H. McNutt, John B. Broster, and Mark R. Norton. 3(1):25-75. 2008. This report provides a description of Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic material from a surface collection made near the Eva site in the Western Tennessee River Valley. This material adds to our understanding of early occupations in this section of the interior Middle South.
26. TWO MISSISSIPPIAN BURIAL CLUSTERS AT TRAVELLERS’ REST, DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Dan Sumner Allen IV. 3(1):77-86. 2008. Two adjacent Mississippian period burial clusters were removed at the Travellers’ Rest site (40DV11) in Davidson County, Tennessee from August through November 1995. A total of fourteen individuals from twelve stone-box graves and one pit grave were exhumed during the project. Cluster 1 contained five graves adjacent to the east corner of the carriage house, whereas Cluster 2 consisted of eight graves grouped just to the southeast of the carriage house. Six shell-tempered vessels were among the associated mortuary goods recovered from the graves, including an exceptional anthropomorphic rim-rider from Burial 5.
27. LUMINESCENCE DATES AND WOODLAND CERAMICS FROM ROCK SHELTERS ON THE UPPER CUMBERLAND PLATEAU OF TENNESSEE. Jay D. Franklin. 3(1):87-100. 2008. Luminescence dating is a poorly understood and little used radiometric dating technique in Southeastern archaeology that has several advantages over radiocarbon dating. This study explores these advantages and reports on new luminescence dates from two rock shelters on the Upper Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The dates, bolstered by radiocarbon dates and site stratigraphy, shed new light on Woodland ceramic succession on the Upper Cumberland Plateau. Future directions for luminescence dating are also highlighted.
28. EDITORS CORNER. 3(2):101-104. 2008. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
29. BRICK MAKING AS A LOCAL INDUSTRY IN ANTEBELLUM KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE. Tanya M. Peres and Jessica Bain Connatser. 3(2): 105-122. 2008. The local manufacture of bricks in the Antebellum Upland South is poorly understood. Few brick kiln sites have been excavated, and the reports of these few are descriptive in nature. While the importance of feature description is recognized, especially for drawing comparisons, the people that participated in brick manufacturing are of equal interest. Previous excavations of six brick kilns in Tennessee and Kentucky are described and compared here. Historical documents and comparative research are used to give an overview of the individuals that would have participated (willingly or not) in the manufacture of bricks at small local kilns. The importance of these individuals to the building of many of American’s national historic landmarks cannot be underestimated.
30. OBSIDIAN RESEARCH IN TENNESSEE AND ALABAMA. Mark R. Norton. 3(2): 123-130. 2008. Seven obsidian artifacts found in Tennessee and Alabama were sent to the Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon for x-ray fluorescence sourcing and hydration measurement tests. The results indicate obsidian was traded into our region from sources in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona possibly as early as the Late Archaic period (ca. 2000 BC).
31. AN ANALYSIS OF OBSIDIAN AND OTHER ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS FROM THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF NEELYS BEND ON THE CUMBERLAND RIVER, DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Bobby R. Braly and Jeremy L. Sweat. 3(2):131-138. 2008. During the late 1930s, Kenneth Brown collected artifacts near his home in Neelys Bend along the Cumberland River in Davidson County, Tennessee. His collection included a number of Paleoindian and other temporally identifiable projectile points, as well as a Nashville Style marine shell gorget. The collection also contained the medial section of an obsidian projectile point. Analysis identified the obsidian source as Obsidian Cliff in Wyoming.
32. EVIDENCE OF PREHISTORIC VIOLENT TRAUMA FROM A CAVE IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. Shannon Chappell Hodge and Hugh E. Berryman. 3(2):139-156. 2008. Some time in the last ten millennia, in what is now Middle Tennessee, a young man in his 20s or early 30s experienced a traumatic encounter with one or more assailants that resulted in his death. This attack left him with a projectile point embedded in his left femur. An isolated fragment of this femur (including the embedded projectile) was examined by bioarchaeologists from Middle Tennessee State University. Lacking the rest of this individual’s remains and the context of his burial, we can only speculate that he may have met an untimely end due to various forces ranging from simple interpersonal violence to more wide-ranging conflict resulting from broad trends of culture change within the Archaic societies of the Mid-South.
33. NEW FINDS OF PALEOINDIAN AND EARLY ARCHAIC SITES ALONG SULPHUR FORK IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Aaron Deter-Wolf and John B. Broster. 3(2):157-162. 2008. During the winter of 2008, staff from the Tennessee Division of Archaeology conducted reconnaissance and test investigations at two sites (40MT1041 and 40MT1043) situated within a planned residential development along Sulphur Fork in Montgomery County. These investigations resulted in the recovery of Paleoindian and Early Archaic materials at 40MT1041, including three blade endscrapers, a blade knife, and three Kirk Corner-Notched projectile points. A Kirk Corner-Notched (var Pinetree) projectile point was recovered from 40MT1042.
34. THE CUMBERLAND STONE-BOX BURIALS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE. John T. Dowd. 3(2);163-180. 2008. This report presents the observations and speculations of an avocational archaeologist with over 40 years of experience on Middle Cumberland Mississippian sites and other prehistoric occupations across the Nashville Basin. Excavations results from the West (40DV12) and Gordontown (40DV6) sites are used to define the Cumberland Stone-Box grave type. Cumberland Stone-Box graves are generally form-fitting to the interred individual, and may incorporate a variety of materials for coffin construction and floor preparation.
35. THE NELSON SITE: LATE MIDDLE WOODLAND HABITATION ON THE NOLICHUCKY RIVER, WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Jay D. Franklin, Michelle L. Hammett, and Renee B. Walker. 3(2):181-199. 2008. The Nelson site (40WG7), a large open habitation locale on the Nolichucky River in Washington County, Tennessee, was excavated in the 1970s by avocational archaeologists from the Kingsport Chapter of the Tennessee Archaeological Society. Although notes are lacking, a large artifact assemblage consisting primarily of prehistoric ceramics and faunal material was donated to the Archaeology Laboratory at East Tennessee State University. Here, we address the late Middle Woodland occupation represented in these collections. The ceramic assemblage is generally consistent with other sites in the eastern Tennessee Valley, but indicates regional interactions with the summit region of western North Carolina and perhaps beyond. We discuss Middle Woodland ceramic typology and chronology in upper East Tennessee along with presentation of the first Middle Woodland radiocarbon dates from the Middle Nolichucky River Valley. Based on recovered faunal elements from the collection, the Nelson site assemblage appears typical of a warm weather habitation site.
36. RECENT RESEARCH AT THE AMES MOUND COMPLEX AN EARLY MISSISSIPPIAN SITE IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE. Andrew M. Mickelson. 3(2):201-218. 2008. Ames (40FY7) consists of a group of four mounds located at the headwaters of the North Fork of the Wolf River in Fayette County, Tennessee. Although Ames is well known to archaeologists, limited research has taken place there, and its cultural affiliation to either the Woodland or Mississippian periods was previously unknown. Radiocarbon dating results and recovery of ceramic materials in mound contexts indicates that Ames was initially occupied by the Early Woodland period. Mound construction took place beginning ca A.D.1000 and terminated probably by A.D. 1250. Furthermore, the presence or absence of prehistoric habitation sites adjacent to the mounds has remained untested until now. Research tentatively indicates that Ames represents a vacant center with stable residential households dispersed across the surrounding landscape. Based on these data, the regional context of Ames is briefly discussed.
37. EDITORS CORNER. 4(1-2):1. 2009. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
38. COLLEAGUE, MENTOR, AND FRIEND: Essays in Honor of Charles H. Faulkner. Timothy E. Baumann and Mark D. Groover. 4(1-2):2-12. 2009.
39. SIFTING THROUGH THE BACKDIRT. An Interview with Charles H. Faulkner. Timothy E. Baumann and Charles H. Faulkner. 4(1-2):13-24. 2009. This interview was conducted in June 2008 with Dr. Charles H. Faulkner to have him reflect on his career and his impact on the field of archaeology. Dr. Faulkner was born on October 16, 1937 in Plymouth, Indiana and grew up in Culver, Indiana. He attended Indiana University (IU) for his undergraduate and graduate training in anthropology, focusing on Indiana archaeology. Beginning in 1964, he spent most of professional career as a professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee (UT), retiring in 2005. His research has included both prehistoric and historical archaeological studies primarily in Tennessee. He has been honored with numerous awards for his scholarly research and his professional/community service. His most recent honor was the 2007 Southeastern Archaeological Conference Award for Lifetime Achievement in Southeastern Archaeology.
40. UNDERSTANDING HISTORIC FARMSTEAD CONTINUITY AND CHANGE USING HUMAN BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY. Todd M. Ahlman. 4(1-2):25-47. 2009. The study of Upland South historic farmsteads has typically employed a normative approach where sites are placed in a comparative context with an ideal farmstead. Human behavioral ecology provides an approach that does not rely on the norm but allows for the direct comparison of farmsteads to understand diachronic continuity and change. In this study, an optimization model is developed using data from sites in Tennessee and the surrounding states. The model is explored further by in-depth analysis of the Tipton-Dixon farmstead, which was occupied from 1819 to 1969.
41. CAMPS TOLERABLY WELL POLICED: ARTIFACT PATTERNS AND FEATURE FUNCTION AT THE FLORENCE STOCKADE. Paul G. Avery. 4(1-2):48-65. 2009. Excavations in the camp of the Confederate guards at Florence Stockade revealed a large number of features in a wide variety of forms. The 179 excavated features produced nearly 6000 artifacts. The relationship between the artifacts and the features from which they were recovered was an important analytical tool in interpreting the site. This paper presents a brief discussion of how the artifact patterns vary within and between feature types, how they reflect the function of a specific feature and how those patterns were influenced by various factors.
42. THE WEB OF CULTURAL IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY AND “SOUL FOOD”. Timothy E. Baumann. 4(1-2):66-93. 2009. A new model of cultural identity is presented as a tool to visualize the complexity of personal/ group identity formation through social interaction and stratification. In this model, artifacts are seen as remnants of this identity process, but they do not create identity by themselves. Instead, they can be used by an individual or a group to create and reinforce kinship and community relationships or to deny full citizenship of others through segregation and racial stereotypes. Foodways probably provide the best evidence to explain this model and to understand past cultural identities. A case study on African-American identity as seen through “soul food” is offered from two sites in Missouri’s Little Dixie Region.
43. EARLY ARCHAIC RAW MATERIAL USE PATTERNS IN TENNESSEE. Andrew P. Bradbury and Philip J. Carr. 4(1-2):94-116. 2009. Models of Early Archaic settlement patterns are often proposed for a specific area of the Southeast and then an individual model is treated as if it has pan-regional applicability. The Band- Macroband model is arguably the current choice, but there are alternatives. Here, it is argued that no model is easily transferred from a specific region to another due to variation in the environment and uneven knowledge of both the environment, particularly raw material distribution, and the archaeological record. An overview of lithic material sources and Early Archaic archaeological record of Tennessee demonstrates that the wholesale adoption and testing of any current model is not currently possible. The challenge is to provide more detailed syntheses and begin to build models appropriate to specific physiographic regions and test these models with available data.
44. SOCIAL CHANGE AND NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES: THE URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THREE COMMUNITIES IN THE OHIO VALLEY. Tanya A. Faberson and Jennifer L. Barber. 4(1-2):117-144. 2009. Recent urban archaeological research in the Ohio Valley by Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., has focused on three large-scale projects in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, and Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Differing field research methodologies on each of these projects have provided unique opportunities to examine late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europeanimmigrant, African-American, and white communities in the region. Preliminary results suggest that economic, political, and social factors affected residential patterning in each community differently over time. However, the results also demonstrate similarities between these communities’ transformative residential processes. Preliminary results of fieldwork are presented as well as a discussion of how differing field methodologies affected research results.
45. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS OF WORKSHOP ROCK SHELTER, UPPER CUMBERLAND PLATEAU, TENNESSEE. Jay Franklin and Sierra Bow. 4(1-2):145-161. 2009. The following research presents the results of archaeological survey and testing of Workshop Rock Shelter (40FN260), a small upland “rock house” on the Upper Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. Luminescence dated ceramics and the ceramic assemblage from Workshop Rock Shelter are used to highlight an approach for establishing the prehistoric culture history of the region, a culture history that is expected to be significantly different than those of adjacent lowland regions. Specifically, the proximate aim of this essay is to elucidate Woodland ceramic systems on the Upper Cumberland Plateau. Problems with existing formal ceramic type designations are also discussed. Lastly, it is further suggest that scholars and cultural resource managers working in the Tennessee region use luminescence dating to aid in their archaeological investigations and National Register assessments.
46. EXPLORING HOOSIER MATERIAL CULTURE: LANDSCAPE AND ARCHITECTURAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE MOORE-YOUSE HOUSE AND HUDDLESTON FARMSTEAD. Mark D. Groover. 4(1-2):162-179. 2009. Excavations conducted at the Moore-Youse house and Huddleston farmstead in east central Indiana illustrate typical landscape and architectural changes that transpire at dwellings occupied by multiple households. The two sites presented in this essay demonstrate that archaeologically identified landscape and architectural events, such as the movement of refuse disposal areas over time and dwelling expansion and renovation episodes, often correspond to domestic transitions in which a new household succeeds a previous household. Further, the two Midwest case studies discussed in this essay also illustrate the variety of cultural and material conditions that existed among Hoosier households during the 19th century.
47. PRELIMINARY EFFORTS TOWARD A CULTURAL RESOURCE SURVEY OF THE CHARCOAL-BASED IRON INDUSTRY IN EAST TENNESSEE, CA. 1770-1890. C. Alan Longmire. 4(1-2):180-193. 2009. Tennessee led the southeast in iron production for the first part of the nineteenth century, with production centered in the eastern part of the state. Although some studies have been done in the past by historians and geologists, there has to date never been a holistic attempt at cataloging the cultural resources connected with that industry in the eastern part of the state. This paper will outline the steps to be taken in that regard, with the ultimate result to be a publication on the subject similar to the 1988 survey of Tennessee’s western highland rim iron industry by Smith, Stripling, and Brannon.
48. NEW ROCK AND CAVE ART SITES IN TENNESSEE: 2007. Jan F. Simek, Sarah A. Blankenship, Nicholas P. Herrmann, Sarah C. Sherwood, and Alan Cressler. 4(1-2):194-210. 2009. Between 2006 and 2007, a number of previously unknown prehistoric open air rock art and dark zone cave art sites were discovered by archaeologists from and associated with the University of Tennessee. Included among these new sites are the oldest directly dated pictograph from the eastern woodlands, found in a cave near Knoxville, several cave burial sites that have associated art, and a number of pictographs found high on the bluffs of the Cumberland Plateau. Variability in this prehistoric art is discussed and several patterns in their nature and distribution are documented.
49. BUFFALO ROCK (11JS49): A HISTORIC PERIOD NATIVE AMERICAN ROCK ART SITE IN JOHNSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. Mark J. Wagner, Mary R. McCorvie, and Charles A. Swedlund. 4(1-2):211-228. 2009. The Buffalo Rock Site is a pictograph site located in a rockshelter in Pope County, Illinois. Here, we present a site description, history, and historical context for the location. We conclude that the Buffalo Rock site paintings represent a series of related images created over a very short period of time, possibly even in a single visit, by ca. A.D. 1700-1800 Native American peoples traveling along the Golconda-Kaskaskia Trace through southern Illinois.
50. CRADLE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS?: CERAMIC AND ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS OF TWO SOUTHEASTERN URBAN HOUSEHOLDS. Amy L. Young. 4(1-2):229-241. 2009. The emergence of the American white-collar middle class followed on the heels of the Second Great Awakening and coincided with the creation of industrial capitalism. It is within this cultural framework that the “cult of domesticity” arose. This phenomenon, though national in scope, has been the subject of archaeological studies predominantly in the urban Northeast. This study presents data from two middle-class urban sites, Blount Mansion in Knoxville, Tennessee and The Oaks in Jackson, Mississippi. Analysis of ceramics, domestic architecture and historical data indicate that Southeastern housewives during the late antebellum period were full participants in the cult of domesticity that sought to define the values of the emerging middle class.
51. EDITORS CORNER. 5(1):1-4. 2010. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
52. A SUMMARY OF EXPLORATORY AND SALVAGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE BRICK CHURCH MOUND SITE (40DV39), DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Gary Barker and Carl Kuttruff. 5(1):5-30. The Brick Church Mound site was a Middle Cumberland Mississippian town with a large platform mound and several smaller mounds located in what is now suburban north Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. The site was initially described by Frederic Ward Putnam in 1878 and remained relatively undisturbed for about a century. However, over the past 30 years the site has been almost entirely destroyed by residential and church development. This work provides a summary of exploratory and salvage archaeological investigations at the Brick Church Mound site since it was first reported some 130 years ago.
53. NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LATE WOODLAND ARCHITECTURE AND SETTLEMENT IN EASTERN TENNESSEE: EVIDENCE FROM THE DeARMOND SITE (40RE12). Lynne P. Sullivan and Shannon D. Koerner. 5(1);31-50. Evidence of Late Woodland (c. A.D. 600-900) settlements has been difficult to find in eastern Tennessee. Burial mounds (“Hamilton” mounds) dating to this time period are well known and have been studied for many years along the upper Tennessee River and its tributaries. The problem faced for decades has been locating contemporary habitation sites, especially those with evidence of structures. Such evidence was in fact found by a Works Progress Administration-era crew at the DeArmond site (40RE12) in the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar reservoir area, but never reported. Recognizing the DeArmond feature as a legitimate Woodland structure and describing the material culture association should allow future researchers to identify similar features in the eastern Tennessee region.
54. X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS OF A MISSISSIPPIAN GREENSTONE CELT CACHE FROM GILES COUNTY, TENNESSEE. C. Andrew Buchner. 5(1):51-64. The results of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis of three greenstone celts recovered from the Parker’s Pasture site (40GL25) in Giles County, Tennessee are presented in this report. The celts were recovered during 2004 from a stone-capped grave identified within a completely excavated single-set post structure. A radiocarbon date on an intrusive feature suggests the burial predates the cal A.D. 1206-1406 range. XRF analysis is an inexpensive and nondestructive trace element analysis that has been successfully used in the past to source obsidian artifacts in the Mid-South; its use on greenstone was considered experimental. The results suggest that the celts could be from two sources within the Hillabee Metavolcanic Complex. Additional comparative samples from greenstone artifacts and sources are needed for this method to have more general utility, and recent advances in portable XRF (pXRF) devices provide a technological advance that could propel such research.
55. THE NASHVILLE SMILODON: AN ACCOUNT OF THE 1971 FIRST AMERICAN CENTER SITE INVESTIGATIONS IN DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. John T. Dowd. 5(1):65-82. During the summer of 1971, construction activity in downtown Nashville, Tennessee exposed cave deposits containing the remains of a saber-tooth cat. Salvage excavation of the deposits by the Southeastern Indian Antiquities Survey (SIAS) yielded other early faunal remains as well, including horse, mammoth, peccary, and possibly musk ox. Human remains discovered above the early faunal remains were determined to be of much later origin. This report documents the author’s first-hand account of events surrounding the 1971 site discovery.
56. DESCRIPTION OF FIVE DOVER CHERT QUARRIES IN STEWART COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Ryan Parish. 5(1):83-99. The prehistoric quarries located in Stewart County, Tennessee have fascinated archaeologists by both their size and the chert material that was extensively procured to fashion intricate prehistoric implements. Despite this interest, very little has been done to survey the spatial distribution of these sites. This study presents the results of a detailed survey of five previously recorded prehistoric quarry sites (40SW64, 40SW66, 40SW67, 40SW68, 40SW80) in Stewart County, with an emphasis on mapping individual quarry pits while placing them in their geographic context.
57. ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS FROM THE 1998 FEWKES SITE EXCAVATIONS, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. Tanya M. Peres. 100-125. The Fewkes site faunal assemblage, excavated as part of a Phase III data recovery project for the Tennessee Department of Transportation in 1998, was analyzed and evaluated in light of its potential to provide significant information about Middle Mississippian subsistence practices and environmental conditions of the area during the time of occupation. Specific goals of the analysis included: (1) defining the subsistence strategies and practices of the people that inhabited the site; (2) determining the relationship of the site to the surrounding ecological habitats; and (3) determining the seasonality of the site. Additionally, the Fewkes faunal assemblage was compared to animal exploitation practices as outlined for the Cumberland River drainage model of Mississippian period sites. The results of the analysis of selected contextsre presented here.