Posted on 05/09/2008 3:38:36 PM PDT by blam
Modern subdivision is home to ancient villageDavid Davis
Managing Editor
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Upon entering Princeton Hills subdivision off Freewill Road, visitor's see a wide expanse of green space bordered by a circular drive. Large, expensive homes surround the green, grassy mound in an arrangement akin to a prehistoric village.
In a sense, that is exactly what the mound represents. It is the five-acre site of the Candies Creek Village Archaeological Preserve owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. It contains the remains of houses, human burials and pit features.
Developer Jim Sharp sold the site to the Conservancy in 2001 to ensure its protection. The land was valued at $300,000. Sharp sold it for $174,000. It is the only one of its kind preserved in eastern Tennessee.
According to Alan Gruber, Southeastern Regional director, The Archaeological Conservancy, "People throughout the South are surprised to learn that important archaeological sites are found not only in placs like Egypt and Centeral America, but are also right in their own backyards."
Beyond the homes is Candies Creek. The rich soil was ideal for farming by Woodland and Mississippian Native Americans and much later by the Cherokee. After the removal of the native people in 1838, the land was farmed by white settlers until it was sold for development.
It is difficult to know what vegetation there must have been prior to European colonization and westward expansion of the United States of America. The only clues can be found along Candies Creek and slopes of Candies Creek Ridge.
The site was known to have intact deposits, but how much and what kind was unknown until the site was excavated in 1991 by Lee (University) College.
The most plentiful material found was stone debris left from manufacturing tools used as scrapers, drills and projectile points ranging in age from the Woodland III Period, 350 to 900 A.D., and the Mississippian Period dates from 1300 to 1800 A.D.
The second most prevalent material was pottery shards.
Corn cultivation occurred in the Woodland III era though deer hunting and hickory nuts remained as the main food staples. In the Mississippian stage, there was an intensive use of maize, squash, pumpkins, gourds and sunflowers. Deer, squirrel, raccoon, pigeon and turkey were primary staples.
The mound marks a transition between limestone tempering of the Woodland III phase and shell tempering of the Mississippians. The Mississippian II Period was from 1,000 to 1,300 A.D. It is characterized by permanent stockaded villages of large civil structures erected on mounds at opposite ends of an open plaza.
Available dietary data shows corn as the primary food staple along with squash and beans. Hunting, fishing and gathering continued as important foods.
According to Gruber, the Mississippian period began about 900-1550.
"The period represents what is arguably the height of American Indian cultures in the United States. The culture began at the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Vicksburg (Miss.) and spread along river systems until it covered most of the Southeast."
There was no unified political or cultural body, but a regional distribution of villages and towns within feudal-like provinces sharing similar social, cultural and economic practices.
"The Mississippian represented a marked advance from past Southeastern cultures. Increased agricultural productivity during this time resulted in increased population, which led to greater social, political and religious complexity than had existed previously north of Mexico."
Their towns were large with 20 - 200 structures and populations between 50 and 50,000 people. They built massive religious monuments and as their population increased, newer and more sophisticated political and economic structures were formed. While the unpredictable method of hunting and gathering was still employed, intensive agriculture and use of hardy seed varieties provided a much more dependable food supply.
Because the Mississippians were dependent on cultivation of the land, they were less mobile than earlier civilizations. All of the people in a village worked to provide for their community's basic needs. Women did most of the farming, cook and childcare while the men hunted, built and repaired structures and went to war with disagreeable neighbors.
Because of agriculture, the Mississippians had plenty of time to develop cultural practices to enrich their lives such as playing games, crafts and religious rituals.
"The Mississippian culture died out after the mid-1500s, when Hernando de Soto's expeditions passed through North America, bringing European diseases to the New World. People in the Americas had no natural immunity to Old world pathogens like smallpox, influenza and measles. Massive pandemics killed off between 85 percent and close to 100 percent of the Mississippian population," according to Gruber. "There is still much to learn about the Mississippian culture. The Candies Creek site will help archaeologists, anthropologists and historians add to our knowledge of this fascinating period in our nation's prehistory."
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Sources:
The Excavation of Minor Site 40BY28 by A. Dudley Gardner, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Lee College.
Final Report on Phase I Survey for Archaeological Resources and limited Phase II Testing of a Proposed Residential Development in Bradley County by the University of Tennessee Transportation Center, July 1996.
Alan Gruber, Southeastern Regional director, The Archaeological Conservancy
“Tastes great!” “Less filling!” ;’)
Yardbirds, “Stroll Along”, featuring Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, from the movie “Blow Up”.
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