The History of Archaeology in Tennessee

Early travelers to the land that became Tennessee came upon large, strange, man-made earthen mounds. Mysterious, even to the Cherokees of the time. The rich past of a region and its people would lie hidden until others, much later, discovered keys to understanding what was left behind. In the late 1880s, the Smithsonian Institution explored the mounds throughout the East. That work solidly set Tennessee archaeology on a scientific course and finally credited mound building where it was due, to prehistoric Native Americans. Ironically, the economic losses of the Great Depression in the 1930s fueled great gains in Tennessee archaeology. The newly created Tennessee Valley Authority recognized that a rich cultural heritage would be lost with the building of Norris Dam on the Clinch River. An innovation for a federal agency at the time, TVA created archaeology projects for all planned reservoirs. Funded by federal relief money, hundreds of out-of-work laborers salvaged thousands of artifacts. Between 1934 and 1942, University of Tennessee archaeologists recorded hundreds of sites in nine reservoirs. It was not just the amount of material that was being collected, it was the way it was conducted by field archaeologist T.M.N. Lewis. And for the first time, categorized and interpreted by Lewis and Madeline Nieberg. World War II brought Tennessee archaeology to an abrupt end, although seeds had been planted for a course of study in archaeology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. But Lewis and Nieberg had made a great contribution. They learned to understand what these ancient people were saying about themselves and what they left behind. They put a face on these people, showed us how they lived. Lewis and Nieberg would have been amazed at what the next generation of archaeologists added to knowledge of the past. New laws requiring that sites be looked at before destruction and an increase in reservoir work brought a revival to the science in the 1960s. It was a time of innovation. Water screening and flotation to find the smallest of objects. The use of heavy equipment to move massive amounts of soil. Other disciplines brought new ways to analyze plants and animal bones and to look at environmental changes. Archaeologists finally could look beyond the age of cultures to why cultures arose, thrived, and changed. Projects like the Tellico Reservoir Archaeology, at one time the largest archaeology project in the U.S., led to discoveries about plant domestication and agriculture practiced by prehistoric cultures, provided greater insight into 18th century Cherokees, and gave finer distinction to earlier cultures. American people have come to understand the importance of an archaeological record to our heritage. Conservation laws have moved archaeology beyond the riverbeds and into Main Street, with many sites now in urban areas working ahead of destruction for road building and other projects. Historical sites can give glimpses into the way ordinary people lived several hundred years ago. And caves in the southeast have become exciting places for archaeology. Recent discoveries of rock art promise to add to our understanding of prehistoric culture. Because archaeology exists and evolves, pieces of experience are not lost. Instead, we can have a sense of a wonderfully rich culture that flourished before we were even aware of it. And though we stand at a different point in time, we are all part of the experience.