Morning Program

The Cato Bottom Site (40Tr94) located in Trousdale County, Tennessee along the Cumberland River represents a unique Riverton/Wells Creek Phase site. The Late Archaic to Terminal Archaic occupations identified at the site indicate a group yet rarely documented within the MidSouth. The research completed indicates that the primary occupations are consistent with groups identified well to the north along the Ohio and Wabash River valleys. This presentation explores the unique Merom points and micro-tool industry employed by this group and its implications of identifying similar sites further afield across the broader Southeast.  

Nashville is the largest and most populous city in Tennessee and the thirteenth largest city by area in the United States. In recent years, Nashville has experienced waves of rapid development. As the city grows, more pressure is put on the city’s rich archaeological resources, but without enabling legislation, the ability to legally mandate archaeological assessment and preservation is limited. Recent preservation efforts have focused on building a new public archaeology program to increase awareness of this rich heritage and involve the public directly in local archaeology. This presentation details the creation and growth of a public archaeology program in Nashville through several different platforms, from the development of tours and curriculum to public excavations and partnerships.

In the summer of 2024, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) hosted its annual archaeological field school at the Castalian Springs Mound Site (ca. AD 1200–1350). For the third consecutive year, the focus was Structure 6, located atop Mound 25. Our work concentrated on the structure's western wall, which was determined to be approximately 11.5 meters (37.7 feet) long. Additionally, MTSU conducted a series of ground-truthing excavations at the Cragfont State Historic Site following a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey. The goal of this work was to locate the brick residences of the enslaved community that once lived at the site. This paper provides a summary of the results from MTSU’s 2024 investigations at both Castalian Springs and Cragfont.

In 2020 WSP USA began archaeological removal/grave relocation of five circa 1870-1960 National Register eligible cemeteries, totaling 118 interments in north-central Tennessee. Cemetery mapping used noninvasive geophysical techniques to locate unmarked burials. Archival/genealogical research revealed decedents were from the Odom’s Bend African American Community. The interments were imaged using 3D photogrammetry. Reburial, conducted in consultation with descendants, replicated original cemetery layouts. The historical record of this African American community is limited, and significant contributions on the African American life experience in this region of rural Tennessee can be greatly enhanced through the results of these investigations. The ongoing research is focused on the health of the population through skeletal biological analysis, African American mortuary customs, socio-economic status and a host of other research questions. A synthesis of archival research and results of osteological and artifact analysis serves to ‘tell the story’ of this forgotten African American community.   

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida and continued over 350 miles north in Western North Carolina and Northeast Tennessee as a Tropical Cyclone on September 26, 2024, causing comprehensive damage to the region. The topography and elevation of the Appalachian Mountains played a significant role in the 10-30" of rain that led to loss of life and home, landslides, breached and reconfigured rivers, destroyed utilities, and collapsed roadways and bridges. Assessments of threatened, damaged, and destroyed cultural heritage sites are underway with particular focus of known sites around the Watauga, Nolichucky, and French Broad River systems. In this paper, I summarize the underlying causes of this and other climate emergencies and present a suitability model of affected areas with a high probability to contain undocumented cultural resources that may complement existing site databases of known archaeological resources.   

In April and May, 2024, Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., conducted phase II archaeological testing at Lot C8 on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville ahead of dorm construction. Two cisterns associated with two late-nineteenth century dwellings were uncovered. Both cisterns were partially excavated and yielded an array of cultural material, including animal bone. Of particular note was the recovery of several rabbit specimens. The rabbits were measured and compared to modern eastern cottontail and domestic rabbits. Based on size, the cistern rabbits appear to be eastern cottontails. Instances of rabbit hunting were then explored in Knoxville newspapers between 1850 and 1910 to better understand the cultural significance of hunting wild rabbits. This paper first discusses the faunal assemblage from the two cisterns as a whole followed by a discussion of rabbit hunting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in East Tennessee. 

In 2021, the State of Tennessee purchased Cardwell Mountain, a 530-acre parcel on Tennessee’s Eastern Highland Rim containing a Late Woodland or Early Mississippian earthen monument, rock art, open sites, rock shelters and caves, and a series of 19th and 20th century sites related to the Cardwell family’s occupation, along with many natural and geological features. This presentation will share the story of the State’s protection of Cardwell Mountain, the current understanding of its archaeological record, and the approach to open it as a new Tennessee State Park. 

The agency, causes, and patterns of Mississippian population dynamics in Tennessee are becoming increasingly clear as greater emphasis is now being placed on town and polity abandonments. In addition to a paradigm shift, which gave rise to broader discussions of archaeological interpretations of migration, the accuracy of climate assessments and radiocarbon dating have resulted in revised appraisals of Mississippian migrations. Central and western Tennessee witnessed arrivals from Cahokia and southeast Missouri in the thirteenth century. After approximately 1300 in western Tennessee and 1400 in central Tennessee, much of the state was essentially abandoned, resulting in a region characterized as the Vacant Quarter. Exceptions to this vacancy include the swampy Mississippi alluvial valley to the west and the relatively drought-free Appalachian Plateau to the east. 

The transition between the Late Archaic and Early Woodland periods is particularly interesting in the Southern Appalachians.  Soapstone vessels provide evidence of trade between communities on either side of the mountains during the Late Archaic period, but these trade networks were disrupted around 3200 years ago – or at least the movement of soapstone along them.  Here we present the results of Vallrugo’s recent pXRF analysis of soapstone vessels from three sites in the Southern Appalachians. We consider these results within the context of increasing use of cultigens such as little barley, maygrass, and chenopod, and changes in the placement of Late Archaic and Early Woodland sites on the landscape in East Tennessee and western North Carolina.   

This presentation will discuss a few reflections of my 30+ years of archaeological partnership with Dr. Kevin E. Smith. Our work together began in 1992 and has continued to present day. In addition to our fieldwork at sites such as Brandywine Pointe and Rutherford-Kizer, a significant highlight was the multiple research trips to Harvard between 1998 and 2002 to evaluate the Peabody Museum's 1877-1884 work in middle Tennessee.