Morning Program

Fort Negley rises prominently on the Nashville skyline.  Built in 1862 to anchor the Union defenses of Nashville during the Civil War, the fort did not see any direct engagement and was abandoned after the war.  In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration rebuilt the fort, but it fell into disrepair again.   Currently, the fort is set to undergo significant sitewide improvements.  Ahead of this work, the Metropolitan Historical Commission has been leading public excavations in areas to be renovated. These volunteer excavations have provided the public with an opportunity to learn and participate in archaeology and have helped document the long history of the fort and its role in Nashville.

The Gray farmstead in Williamson County (40WM263 and 40WM264) was occupied from ca. 1813 through the mid-twentieth century.  In the winter of 2023-2024, expansion of the Westhaven development prompted data recovery at 40WM263.  The evolution of this farm over successive generations led to several reorientations of the landscape and shifts in the farm’s material culture.  This paper outlines the history and archaeology of both sites making up the farm, with a view to expanding the comparative potential for farmstead archaeology in Tennessee. 

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) is compiling a list of historically documented shipwrecks across the state. Of the wrecks on the list, the Chattanooga Packet, sunk in 1921, is one of five shipwrecks recently located offshore of its namesake. UTC initiated a survey of the Tennessee River near downtown Chattanooga, based on local lore that some of the wreckage might be that of a Civil War vessel also named Chattanooga. This presentation reports on the results of UTC’s first Maritime Archaeological Field Methods Course and the identification of the Chattanooga Packet. 

In 2024, New South Associates, Inc. conducted a minimally invasive, systematic archaeological survey of 20 state-owned acres on the southern portion of Moccasin Bend, Tennessee. This represented the first survey of its kind in this area. The project employed a holistic methodology, integrating remote sensing (ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry), geomorphological investigations, and targeted shovel testing. The survey area lies on the T2 terrace northwest of the Woodland Burial Mounds within the National Register–listed Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District. The results generated significant new data previously unavailable for this portion of the Bend. 

TVA cultural resource staff are employing LiDAR imagery alongside other archival and technological tools to assess the likelihood of cultural resources on TVA property. In October 2025, TVA resumed its annual site monitoring visits across its reservoirs; providing an opportunity to ground-truth previously undocumented features identified through LiDAR analysis. During this effort, particular attention was given to two distinct features located on Patten Island within Harrison Bay State Park in Hamilton County, Tennessee. A review of the Tennessee Division of Archaeology’s Site File HUB confirmed that these features had not been previously recorded. On October 20, 2025, TVA staff formally documented two well-preserved Civil War-era artillery earthworks. This presentation illustrates how LiDAR technology can be used to assist agencies’ land management responsibilities. 

This presentation details the Tennessee Division of Archaeology’s efforts to repatriate ancestral remains and cultural items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). We discuss the inventory, consultation, and repatriation process, highlighting the critical role of collaboration with Tribal Nations in shaping and refining our approach. Through a process of ongoing dialogue and mutual respect, our team developed a process that is efficient, cohesive, and responsive for both Tribal partners and our internal operations. 

In early January 2026, fieldwork took place at the Link Farm site in west-central Tennessee. The site, famous for the 1894 discovery of the non-mortuary Duck River cache, is a fourteenth century Mississippian mound and plaza center. Charles Nash excavated and mapped the site in 1936 with WPA funding, allowing useful comparisons. We focus on the results of our gradiometer and LiDAR surveys conducted to evaluate subsurface features and to better understand the site’s extent. Drone and landscape photography provided additional documentation. In addition, ground penetrating radar helped identify graves at the historic Link and Rogers cemeteries. 

Recent investigations at an abandoned, overgrown cemetery in Memphis documented and mapped four inscribed headstones and more than 80 likely grave depressions within a wooded, 1.35-acre area. Archival research found multiple lines of evidence to confirm the identities of 79 people in unmarked graves at this cemetery and established a period of use from 1914 to 1982. 

In late 2024, we visited an important open-air Precontact rock art locality in Middle Tennessee after being connected with the owner of the property by Kevin Smith, who was anxious for us to undertake modern documentation. The site is on a massive sandstone cliff abutting a major stream. The rock art, comprising red pictographs, is positioned more than 40 m up the bluff in an area without direct access today.  We made initial drone photographs in 2024 and returned for full photogrammetric recording in 2025.  Preliminary results of this work indicate the presence of pictographs so weathered as to be nearly imperceivable today. Possible petroglyphs or graffiti may also be near the pictographs. 

This paper covers the results of digitally tracing the petroglyphs found at the rockshelter site known as Indian Rock House in Middle TN. This site offers a unique opportunity to catalog a dense assemblage of carvings with a wide range of motifs and production methods. Due to the compact nature of this rock shelter, the images are centralized into a dense panel often overlapping or nearly obscuring what was made before. Digital tracing allows graffiti to be identified, stratigraphic processes to be assessed, and certain motifs to be isolated showing the different interactions they have with other carvings.