Tennessee Archaeology
Abstracts 2005-2016

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. 2010. 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. 2010. 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. 2010. 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. 2010. 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. 2010. 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. 5(1):100-125. 2010. 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 contexts re presented here.
58. EDITORS CORNER. 5(2):127-130. 2011. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
59. PESTS IN THE GARDEN: TESTING THE GARDEN-HUNTING MODEL AT THE RUTHERFORD-KIZER SITE, SUMNER COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 5(2):131-141. 2011. Jennifer M. Clinton and Tanya M. Peres. Garden hunting as a prehistoric subsistence strategy has been studied in the American Tropics and the American Southwest, and as a modern strategy in the Peruvian Amazon. The concept of garden hunting is centered on the idea that as human groups focus more time on agriculture-related activities, they have less time to spend on hunting. This case study is the first time the garden-hunting model has been tested with data from the Mississippian period in the Southeastern United States. We build on previously published primary zooarchaeological data from the Ruther-ford-Kizer site, located in Middle Tennessee, to test the garden-hunting model of animal exploitation. Our analysis indicates the Rutherford-Kizer site residents practiced a selective hunting strategy that targeted terrestrial animals that thrive in disturbed habitats, such as cultivated fields.
60. EXCAVATIONS AND DATING OF LATE PLEISTOCENE AND PALEOINDIAN DEPOSITS AT THE COATS-HINES SITE, WILLIAMSON CO8UNTY, TENNESSEE. 5(2):142-156. 2011. Aaron Deter-Wolf, Jesse W. Tune, and John B. Broster. The Coats-Hines archaeological site (40WM31) consists of a Paleoindian butchering site and Pleistocene bone bed located in northern Williamson County, Tennessee. Archaeological examinations since 1977 have documented the presence of various Pleistocene species, and recovered Paleoindian artifacts in direct association with those remains. The authors directed excavations in October 2010 designed to evaluate archaeological integrity and assess the eligibility of the site for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. These investigations resulted in the recovery of Pleistocene faunal material, Paleoindian stone tools, and radiocarbon samples. As a result of the excavations, the Coats-Hines site was added to the National Register in July 2011. This article provides a summary of work conducted at the site to date, presents previously unreported Paleoindian artifacts and radiocarbon dates from earlier excavations, and discusses the significance of the Coats-Hines site.
61. THE AMES SITE (40FY7): A VERY UNOBTRUSIVE MISSISSIPPIAN SETTLEMENT LOCATED IN SOUTHWESTERN TENNESSEE. 5(2):157-172. 2011. Andrew M. Mickelson and Eric Goddard. Research at the Ames Mound and Settlement Complex (40FY7), located at the headwaters of the North Fork of the Wolf River, utilized a magnetometry survey, controlled surface collections, test-pits, and large scale excavation to examine prehistoric landuse ca. A.D. 1000-1200. The study resulted in the discovery of a large palisaded settlement associated with a small mound complex. Although the mound complex has been known to archaeologists for over half a century, the town remained undiscovered until recently. Our research demonstrates that in the Loess Plains of West Tennessee, discovery methods such as shovel testing and controlled surface collecting can produce results that underestimate the significance of buried archaeological deposits to the point that large settlements are being missed. The implication is that west Tennessee probably had several small mound complexes with associated towns during the Early Mississippian period.
62. RECOVERY AND REBURIAL OF THE REMAINS OF AN UNKNOWN CIVIL WAR SOLDIER, FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE. 5(2):173-191. 2011. Samuel D. Smith and Larry R. McKee. In May of 2009, backhoe trenching on a commercial development project on the southern outskirts of Franklin, Tennessee uncovered the remains of a Civil War soldier. Archaeological investigation of the find resulted in the recovery of all disturbed remains and full exposure and recovery of the undisturbed portion of the skeletal remains. The work also confirmed this was an isolated grave rather than the location of an undocumented cemetery. Forensic analysis of the remains found no evidence of cause of death but did determine that the individual was a male in his early twenties, with dental characteristics suggesting he had both European and Native American genetic heritage. Buttons found in association with the remains indicate the man was buried in military clothing but do not make certain which side of the war he fought on. Following the removal and study of the remains, Franklin residents arranged for the soldier to receive a formal funeral followed by reburial in the historic town cemetery.
63. EDITORS CORNER. 6(1-2):1-4. 2012. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
64. RECENT RESEARCH IN THE MIDDLE CUMBERLAND RIVER VALLEY: Introduction to a Special Volume. 6(1-2):5-17. 2012. Aaron Deter-Wolf and Tanya M. Peres.
65. A FLOOD OF LOOTERS: ENDANGERED MISSISSIPPIAN RESOURCES ALONG THE MIDDLE CUMBERLAND RIVER. 6(1-2):18-30. 2012. Danny Gregory. New South Associates conducted an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded Section 110 project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following the flooding of the Cumberland River in May of 2010. This article discusses investigations exploring the effects of the 2010 flood and looting of Mississippian components at three sites on Cheatham Lake and Lake Barkley. First is a synopsis of archaeological reconnaissance at the Old Citadel, a mound complex and stone box cemetery atop a 200-foot bluff at the mouth of the Harpeth River in Cheatham County. A sophisticated level of looting is explored in the Mississippian stone-box cemetery at the Stone site on Lake Barkley in Stewart County. Finally, geophysical prospection is used as a survey tool for the deeply buried cultural deposits at site 40SW40 located near the town of Dover in Stewart County. These site investigations reveal the Cumberland River watershed to be rich in archaeological resources and research potential despite the destruction caused by the recent flooding and looting.
66. A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE SANDERS #1 SITE (40CH193), CHEATHAM COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 6(1-2):31-39. 2012. D. Shane Miller, John B. Broster, Gary L. Barker, David G. Anderson, and Stephen B. Carmody. Archaeological components dating to the Paleoindian and Early Archaic periods (>8000 rcybp) are relatively rare in the southeastern United States. However, the Middle Cumberland River contains several previously reported stratified sites dating to this time period. Here, we provide a preliminary description of one of these sites (Sanders #1, 40CH193), where lithic material, charcoal fragments, and a probable hearth feature were found eroding out of the shoreline of the Cumberland River 4.0 to 4.5 meters below ground surface. A radiocarbon date derived from this feature (AA96399; 9412 ± 54 14C yr BP; 10,649 ± 88 cal yr BP) indicates it is Early Archaic in age and may be associated with the Lost Lake and Kirk Corner¬–Notched bifaces recovered from the shoreline lag deposits. Other temporally diagnostic Paleoindian and Early Archaic artifacts were also recovered from the shoreline lag deposits, thus making a direct association between the radiocarbon date and the corner-notched bifaces somewhat tenuous at this time.
67. ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A MULTICOMPONENT SHELL-BEARING SITE IN DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 6(1-2):40-52. 2012. Tanya M. Peres, Aaron Deter-Wolf, and Gage A. Myers. Site 40DV7 is one of several large shell-bearing sites located along the Cumberland River near Nashville which were heavily impacted by catastrophic flooding and looting activity during the spring of 2010. Emergency sampling and ongoing monitoring at 40DV7 since that time have identified deeply-stratified deposits spanning the Archaic through Mississippian periods. These deposits, and particularly the temporally-distinct shell midden components, may help inform our understanding of human occupation, species interdependence, and environmental change along the Cumberland River over a period of more than 5000 years.
68. RADIOCARBON DATES FROM THREE SITES ALONG THE MIDDLE CUMBERLAND RIVER NEAR NASHVILLE. 6(1-2):53-72. D. Shane Miller, David G. Anderson, Thaddeus G. Bissett, and Stephen B. Carmody. Archaeological investigations by the authors along the Cumberland River near Nashville in 2009 and 2010 recovered materials from stratified deposits at three archaeological sites that collectively span the Early Archaic through Early Woodland periods. A series of 29 AMS radiocarbon determinations, all but five obtained from close interval flotation sampling of stratigraphic columns, document the age of these deposits. Two shell midden deposits at sites 40DV14 and 40CH171 were dated to the Mid-Holocene, between ca. 5800 to 6200 14C yr BP. Numerous dates were obtained from artifact bearing deposits above and below the shell midden at 40CH171, demonstrating that the site was occupied throughout the Middle Holocene and into the Late Holocene, from ca. 8000 to 4000 14C yr BP. A third site, 40DV307, was characterized by pit features dating to the early Woodland period, ca. 2700 14C yr BP. This research greatly expands the inventory of absolute dates from secure archaeological context in the western portion of the Middle Cumberland River valley, and demonstrates the utility of careful fine screen/flotation procedures for the recovery of datable materials from deeply stratified sites in riverine environments.
69. THE HARPETH SHOALS MARINA SITE (40CH195): A TERMINAL ARCHAIC FIRE-CRACKED ROCK COMPLEX ON THE CUMBERLAND RIVER, CHEATHAM COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 6(1-2):73-94. 2012. Marc E. Wampler and Larry McKee. In 2006, data recovery excavations at 40CH195 along the Cumberland River in Cheatham County, Tennessee resulted in the discovery and excavation of 29 intact fire-cracked rock (FCR) features. Radiocarbon dates from the features place activity within the Late or Terminal Archaic periods (2820–3820 BP). FCR feature complexes of similar nature and age have been found throughout the Eastern Woodlands and elsewhere in North America, and are interpreted as representing a range of cooking facilities. Morphology (size, shape, and evidence of burning) and content analysis of the FCR features assign them to the general functional categories of earth ovens, FCR pits without evidence of burning, or dump/discard piles. Radiocarbon dates from fourteen of the FCR features at 40CH195 provide data on their contemporaneity as well as site structure and use history. The evidence suggests the site served as a resource-processing center where varied cooking techniques were applied to a diverse set of raw foods. Comparable archaeological and ethnographic evidence place the site in the context of increased use of plant resources requiring special processing in the Late and Terminal Archaic period. Finally, analysis of Chenopodium seeds recovered from the site serves as a contribution to research on the early stages of plant domestication in the region.
70. COCKRILLS BEND SITE 17C:A REPRINT FROM THE SIAS JOURNAL 1972. 6(1-2):95-104. 2012. John T. Dowd and John B. Broster (annotated by Kevin E. Smith). In 1972, John T. Dowd and John B. Broster published the results of their 1969 excavations at a Mississippian site on Cockrill Bend in the one and only issue of the Southeastern Indian Antiquities Journal. Given the limited distribution and availability of that journal, the report has been reformatted here to reach a broader audience. While reformatted, the text and figures reflect a 1972 perspective on the important site now known as 40DV36 and do not necessarily reflect the current perspectives of the authors. Annotations to the original text for clarification are provided by Kevin E. Smith.
71. CHANGING INTERPRETATIONS OF SANDBAR VILLAGE (40DV36): MISSISSIPPIAN HAMLET, VILLAGE, OR MOUND CENTER?. 6(1-2):105-138. 2012. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore. Identification and recording of information from the Sandbar Village site (40DV36) was initiated between 1967 and 1974 by avocational archaeologist John T. Dowd. Dowd conducted surface collections during that period as well as limited test excavations in 1969. Additional test excavations were completed at the site in 1989 by Tennessee Division of Archaeology staff, and in 1990 by Vanderbilt University Archaeological Field School students. Here, we summarize the results of all documented artifacts, structures, and features from the site, along with a series of radiocarbon dates. Although Sandbar Village was previously interpreted as a Mississippian hamlet, we suggest that the apparent contradictions created by the presence of several artifacts usually associated with larger Mississippian communities can be resolved by understanding the site as a remnant of a more substantial settlement. Alternatively, we propose the (then) contemporary Cumberland River channel was located to the south of 40DV36, and that Sandbar Village represents a peripheral section of a large town (and possible mound center) that includes what is currently known as the Widemeier site (40DV9) located directly across the river.
72. SKELETAL EVIDENCE OF AQUATIC ACTIVITIES FROM A MIDDLE CUMBERLAND MISSISSIPPIAN SITE IN DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 6(1-2):139-148. 2012. Courtney L. Cox. This study provides an overview of human skeletal remains recovered from the West site (40DV12), a Mississippian village and cemetery located on the Cumberland River in middle Tennessee. The burials were excavated in 1967, with limited skeletal analyses conducted prior to this research project. Among the more significant results from the current analysis is the presence of auditory exostoses in three adults. These bony growths in the auditory canal are associated with prolonged exposure to cold water. Further evidence for aquatic subsistence at the West site includes mussel shells found in association with several human burials. Furthermore, it is notable there are fewer skeletal indications of nutritional stress than typically associated with an agricultural diet in the Mississippian period.
73. MISSISSIPPIAN CERAMICS AND SETTLEMENT COMPLEXITY: INSIGHTS FROM THE BEASLEY MOUNDS (40SM43), SMITH COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 6(1-2):149-163. 2012. Emily L. Beahm and Kevin E. Smith. Although the Beasley Mounds site (40SM43) has been known since the early nineteenth century, only brief antiquarian notes and limited collections have been available to evaluate its relationship to the Middle Cumberland culture sites of the Central Basin. As part of the on-going efforts of the Middle Cumberland Mississippian Survey to refine the boundaries and chronology of the region, we directed a small-scale mapping and excavation project at Beasley Mounds in early 2008. Resulting ceramic samples suggest that the site residents were more closely affiliated culturally to those of the upper Cumberland and East Tennessee than to their nearer neighbors to the west. A single radiocarbon date from platform mound construction at the site suggests that it served as a socio-political center contemporaneous with those at the nearby Castalian Springs and Sellars sites to the west and south -- but was occupied by people whose material culture was (ethnically?) distinct from those to the west and south and more closely related to those from the east and north.
74. DISCOVERY AND EARLY INVESTIGATIONS OF THE DOVER QUARRIES BY PARMENIO E. COX AND WARREN K. MOOREHEAD, 1926-1932. 6(1-2):164-174. 2012. Kevin E. Smith. The “Dover Flint Quarries” of Stewart County, Tennessee have achieved an almost mythological status in the archaeological literature, based primarily on the widespread distribution of hypertrophic weapons and “eccentric flints” made from this high-grade chert during the Mississippian period. Recent historical research suggests that the Dover quarry sites were first formally identified and investigated by Warren K. Moorehead (Curator of the Department of Archaeology at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts) and Parmenio E. Cox (Tennessee's first official State Archaeologist) between 1926 and 1932.
75. EDITORS CORNER. 7(1):1-4. 2013. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
76. SUBADULT HEALTH AND MORTALITY AT GORDONTOWN: THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF WEANING AND AGRICULTURE. 7(1):5-17. 2013. Kellum K. Everett. This project sought evidence of nutritional deficiencies in the skeletal remains of 36 subadults from the Gordontown site (40DV6) to better understand the role that agriculture played in the health of early agriculturalists. Fetuses, infants, and young children from Gordontown exhibited a high mortality rate, and this high rate likely resulted from nutritional deficiencies such as scurvy and anemia. These deficiencies at times existed co-morbidly, and were characterized in bone by porosity and hypertrophy. This analysis supports the results from other contemporaneous site studies that suggest a heavy reliance on maize agriculture led to general poor health among Mississippian peoples.
77. LINVILLE CAVE (40SL24) REVISITED: MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE TO ADDRESS ASSEMBLAGE FORMATION. 7(1):18-41. 2013. Meagan E. Dennison, Jay D. Franklin, Maureen A. Hays and S. D. Dean. Franklin and Dean (2006) presented the initial paper on the archaeology of Linville Cave in which they discussed the excavations, ceramic assemblage, and lithic assemblage in detail. Their results indicated that the sinkhole shelter vestibule was used as an intermittent late fall hunting and retooling camp by late Middle Woodland peoples. Comprehensive and detailed analyses of the faunal remains and lithic use-wear were not included in that paper. We present the results of a new radiocarbon date, use-wear analysis of stone tools, and a detailed analysis of faunal remains from Linville Cave (40SL24). The faunal assemblage (when compared to three other contemporaneous sites in the region) represents a similar subsistence pattern for upper East Tennessee with a focus on large mammals, mainly white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), but with some reliance on birds, reptiles and fish. The faunal analysis, use-wear analysis, new radiocarbon date, and assemblage formation studies all support the initial contention that the vestibule of Linville Cave was used by late Middle Woodland groups as a temporary situational hunting and retooling camp site. Activities related to initial white-tailed deer carcass processing and tool maintenance were carried out at this location before moving on to another location.
78. TENNESSEE'S ANCIENT PYGMY GRAVEYARDS: THE "WONDER OF THE WESTERN COUNTRY". 7(1):42-75. 2013. Kevin E. Smith. In July 1820, newspapers first reported the discovery of Tennessee graveyards filled with the stone-lined coffins of a primordial "pygmy race." Over the subsequent two centuries, Tennessee Pygmies became a persistent and recurring part of national and international "archaeological folklore." Despite efforts by antiquarians and archaeologists to disprove these stories, the legend of the Tennessee Pygmies survived those challenges -- eventually entering the nineteenth century literary world as the central plot of two novels. Most recently, the Tennessee Pygmies were resurrected after the discovery of Homo floresiensis in Indonesia as "proof" of an ancient global race of pygmies.
79. X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS OF TWO METAL BEADS FROM THE DAVID DAVIS FARM SITE (40HA301), HAMILTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 7(1):76-82. 2013. Sarah A. Blankenship, Bruce Kaiser, and Michael C. Moore. A 2007 burial removal project at the David Davis Farm site in southern Hamilton County yielded 189 individuals with roughly 550 associated funerary objects. Among these graves were six people buried with evidence of direct or indirect Spanish contact in the form of metal artifacts. Burial 92 comprised a young child interred with two metal beads in addition to a partial shell-tempered vessel and one small discoidal. An analysis of the beads with a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument determined these items were manufactured from a lead-bismuth alloy and plated with silver.
80. NEGATIVE PAINTED PLATES AND BOWLS FROM THE MIDDLE CUMBERLAND REGION OF TENNESSEE. 7(1):83-102. 2-13. Emily L. Beahm and Kevin E. Smith. This report presents new information on interior negative painted plates and bowls from the Middle Cumberland region of Tennessee. While these specimens compare favorably to the type Angel Negative Painted, they appear to reflect a distinctive regional variant rather than imports from the more common production areas in the Ohio Valley proper.
81. EDITORS CORNER. 7(2):103-109. 2015. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore.
82. ‘NO TERMS BUT UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER’: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE FORT DONELSON CONFEDERATE MONUMENT LANDSCAPE, STEWART COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 7(2):110-140. 2015. Shawn M. Patch, Christopher T. Espenshade, Sarah Lowry, and Patrick Severts. Recent archaeological and geophysical work conducted around the Confederate Monument at Fort Donelson National Battlefield yielded significant information. An integrated approach was used that included close-interval shovel testing, intensive metal detecting, and ground penetrating radar (GPR). Results indicate a very high density of military artifacts and features in a narrowly confined area that witnessed major action during the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862. Interpretations are offered regarding different phases before and after the battle and subsequent activities associated with monument construction in the 1930s, as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of systematic, intensive metal detecting and the potential of geophysics on battlefield sites.
83. THOMAS M.N. LEWIS: THE MAKING OF A NEW DEAL-ERA TENNESSEE VALLEY ARCHAEOLOGIST. 7(2):141-179. 2015. Marlin F. Hawley and David H. Dye. Thomas M.N. Lewis was a noted Tennessee archaeologist, getting his start as a professional archaeologist during the heady, early years of the New Deal and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) archaeology program, first under William S. Webb and then at the University of Tennessee. Lewis and his associates spent nearly a decade involved in field activities in advance of the impoundment of the Tennessee River and its major tributaries. Out of their effort came several now classic archaeological reports, including Hiwassee Island and Eva: An Archaic Site, both with Madeline D. Kneberg. Lewis’s path to becoming a leading Tennessee archaeologist was a long and complex one, with archaeology initially pursued as an avocation around his hometown of Watertown, Wisconsin. Lewis parlayed his success (and income) as a businessman into an expansion of his archaeological interests, venturing far from Wisconsin to collect and excavate, while devoting substantial portions of his income to amassing a collection of artifacts from across the United States. We review what is known of Lewis’s early life, from his birth in Pennsylvania in 1896 to the eve of his being hired for the TVA Norris basin project in January 1934. Finally, we chart the influences that led him to become a professional archaeologist, including his early membership in the Wisconsin Archeological Society, which served as a model for his development of the Tennessee Archaeological Society.
84. QUALLS CAVE (40RB2): A MULTI-COMPONENT SITE OVERLOOKING THE RED RIVER, ROBERTSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 7(2):180-198. 2015. John T. Dowd. Explorations of the Qualls Cave site (40RB2) were conducted from late fall 1969 through late summer 1970 by members of the Tennessee Archaeological Society. Stone, ceramic, shell, bone, and other artifacts indicative of Archaic through Mississippian occupations were recovered over the course of the investigations. The excavations also exposed over twenty burials, including a jumbled mass of seven individuals in a front chamber. Fourteen pits holding 12 flexed bodies and 2 cremations were discovered in a rear chamber. Many of the rear chamber burials contained associated burial objects made of shell, including a sandal sole gorget from Burial 11. Sandal sole gorgets are associated with the Glacial Kame mortuary complex, a terminal Archaic to early Woodland complex generally defined for northwestern Ohio through southern Ontario. The specimen from Qualls Cave represents the southern-most example discovered to date. In addition, a King Helmet Conch shell with bone fragments was recovered from a pit initially defined as Burial 19. Recent analysis determined the pit was not a burial as the bone fragments were identified as mostly turtle rather than human.
85. EDITORS CORNER. 8(1-2):1-3. 2016. Kevin E. Smith and Michael C. Moore
86. INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL VOLUME. THE OLD MAN AND THE PLEISTOCENE: JOHN BROSTER AND PALEOINDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE MID-SOUTH. 8(1-2):4-7. D. Shane Miller and Jesse W. Tune
87. A RETROSPECTIVE PEEK AT THE CAREER OF JOHN BERTRAM BROSTER. 8(1-2):8-23. Michael C. Moore, Kevin E. Smith, Aaron Deter-Wolf, and David E. Stuart. This work presents an overview of the life and archaeological career of John Bertram Broster. Few people have equaled John’s diverse experiences in archaeology, from his initial exploits on Mississippian sites in the Nashville area, through his graduate and early professional work in New Mexico (with side stints in Mexico, Europe, and Colorado), and concluding with his long and distinguished service with the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. John’s legacy to Tennessee archaeology, aside from side-splitting tales, includes his seminal research on the Paleoindian record through explorations at such sites as Carson-Conn-Short (40BN190), Coats-Hines (40WM31), and Johnson (40DV400).
88. THE PALEOINDIAN AND EARLY ARCHAIC RECORD IN TENNESSEE: A REVIEW OF THE TENNESSEE FLUTED POINT SURVEY. 8(1-2):24-41. Jesse W. Tune. Tennessee possesses some of the densest concentrations of Paleoindian and Early Archaic artifacts in North America. As a result, it is an ideal location for research related to the early human colonization of the continent. Under John Broster’s guidance, as of 2013, there are nearly 5,500 points documented in the Tennessee Fluted Point Survey. Early Paleoindian points are the most prevalent point type recorded in Tennessee. Clovis/Gainey and Cumberland/Barnes make up over 40 percent of all Paleoindian and Early Archaic points documented in the state. The highest density of Paleoindian and Early Archaic points is recorded from the Highland Rim, and accounts for approximately two-thirds of all points in the state.
89. QUANTIFYING REGIONAL VARIATION IN TERMINAL PLEISTOCENE ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE LOWER TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY USING CHERT SOURCING. 8(1-2):42-58. Ryan M. Parish and Adam Finn. The study examines the distribution of Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene groups in the Lower Tennessee River Valley by chert resource selection. The source data obtained via provenance analysis of 349 Middle/Late Paleoindian and Early Archaic bifaces potentially provides a method to differentiate hunter-gatherer groups through resource selection decisions. Periodic aggregation of Late Paleoindian groups is tentatively offered as an explanation for ‘exotic’ chert resources found within eight site assemblages. Analysis of the undocumented Late Paleoindian component of the Jim Parris collection compliments John Broster’s legacy of collaboration. John’s pioneering work with avocationalists in recording the spatial distribution of Paleoindian sites inspires a new generation of researchers.
90. A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE LATE PLEISTOCENE AND EARLY HOLOCENE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ROCK CREEK MORTAR SHELTER, UPPER CUMBERLAND PLATEAU, TENNESSEE. 8(1-2):59-77. Jay Franklin, Maureen Hays, Frédéric Surmely, Ilaria Patania, Lucinda Langston, and Travis Bow. Rock Creek Mortar Shelter (40PT209), in Pickett State Forest on the Upper Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, possesses an intermittent 11,500 year occupation history. This history may be consistent with previous ideas of first colonization of upland rock shelter zones at the end of the Younger Dryas with significant climatic amelioration. However, culturally sterile deposits have yet to be encountered and the site may be older still. This work focuses on the late Pleistocene and early Holocene components, paying particular attention to unifacial, blade, and blade-like tool production and technology, use-wear analysis, and depositional history. Variability in blade production during the late Pleistocene deposits suggests residentially mobile family groups, and could also represent the colonizers’ struggles with adapting a blade tool technology to the locally abundant small, rounded Monteagle chert cobbles.
91. COLONIZATION AFTER CLOVIS: USING THE IDEAL FREE DISTRIBUTION TO INTERPRET THE DISTRIBUTION OF LATE PLEISTOCENE AND EARLY HOLOCENE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE DUCK RIVER VALLEY, TENNESSEE. 8(1-2):78-101. D. Shane Miller and Stephen B. Carmody. While the timing of the initial colonization of North America is still hotly debated, the appearance of the Clovis culture likely represents an early, widespread colonization episode at the end of the Pleistocene. Here, we use the Ideal Free Distribution from Behavioral Ecology to interpret variability in the spatial distribution of previously recorded archaeological sites in the Duck River Valley in Middle Tennessee from the appearance of Clovis sites in the terminal Pleistocene though the Early Holocene (~13,250 – 8,880 cal yr BP). We hypothesized that the distribution of Clovis sites would be skewed towards the confluence of the Duck and Tennessee Rivers, and then subsequent populations would spread to higher elevations over the course of the Younger Dryas and Early Holocene as boreal forests were replaced by mixed hardwood, deciduous forests. After correcting the sample of archaeological sites to account for survey and taphonomic biases, we found that sites dating to the latter part of the Younger Dryas and the Early Holocene become more frequent at higher elevations. However, contrary to the predictions of our model, site frequencies become less frequent during the Early Holocene at the confluence of the Tennessee and Duck Rivers. Our results are consistent with other studies that have proposed that the Cumberland Plateau and the Appalachian Highlands were not intensively occupied until well after the disappearance of the Clovis culture.
92. THE PALEOINDIAN AND EARLY ARCHAIC HILLTOP OCCUPATIONS AT THE TOPPER SITE. 8(1-2):102-113. Derek T. Anderson, Ashley M. Smallwood, Albert C. Goodyear, and Sarah E. Walters. Recent AMS dating of charred remains from the Paleoindian occupation of the upper hillside area at the Topper site has provided the first precise radiocarbon date in the Southeast that is directly associated with diagnostic Clovis lithic artifacts. This paper presents the results of dating, geoarchaeological, and lithic analyses in this area of the site, with a focus on the Paleoindian and Early Archaic components.
93. CLOVIS BLADE TECHNOLOGY AND TOOL USE ALONG THE SOUTH ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN AND PIEDMONT OF THE LOWER SOUTHEAST. 8(1-2):114-131. Douglas Sain and Albert C. Goodyear. John Broster has contributed to our knowledge and understanding of Southeastern Archaeology over the course of his career, and in this capacity has been an inspiration to the work of numerous individuals. The discovery of Paleoindian sites across the Southeastern U.S. has revealed a substantial presence of blades, and blade cores. While fluted points have been extensively recorded as part of the Paleoindian Database of the Americas, less research has considered the role of blades in such contexts. This paper presents the formation and development of a Clovis blade database to account for the distribution of these artifacts across the Southeast U.S. A technological and morphological analysis of a sample of blades from this dataset demonstrates patterns of variation when compared with blades from known quarry sites in the Central Savannah River Valley.
94. MAKING A DIFFERENCE: JOHN B. BROSTER AND PALEOINDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN TENNESSEE. 8(1-2):132-146. David G. Anderson.