Evidence Of Ancient Village Found At Allens Bridge

[Courtney Caine]

August 22, 2009

Evidence Of Ancient Village Found At Allens Bridge



_{Sun Photo by Phil Gentry
A team of archaeologists from the University of Tennessee is conducting an extensive dig on both sides of the Nolichucky River at the bridge on West Allens Bridge Road. What they have discovered so far are artifacts from 2,000 to 3,000 years ago that include food storage pits, fire hearths and broken pots. It is likely the site was not only a camp, but a good-sized village, according to archaeologists at the site.}

[Courtney Caine]

Published: 12:21 AM, 08/15/2009    Last updated: 12:23 AM, 08/15/2009
 


Source: The Greeneville Sun

Archaeologists Discover Several Items

From Period 2,000 To 3,000 Years Ago

BY TOM YANCEY

STAFF WRITER

Archaeologists excavating the site for the new Allens Bridge over the Nolichucky River have found indications that the site was very likely a "good-sized" Native American village, rather than a camp.

Matt Gage, senior archaeologist with the University of Tennessee Archaeological Research Laboratory, said excavations being performed under contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) have found evidence of food storage facilities, in addition to pottery fragments and evidence of tool-making.

Gage said the majority of the finds in the "multi-component" site are from the "middle woodland" period, 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, and include food storage pits, fire hearths, broken pots and "chert," low-quality flint used to make tools, and to process food.

Evidence has been found, Gage said, "of a lot of storage to maintain this site probably for a long duration during the year," instead of just as a temporary stopover.

He said it seems likely that the site is "not only a camp but a good-sized village occupying a lot of the bottom land" along the river.

Alan Longmire, the TDOT archaeologist for 24 counties in East Tennessee, said the Birdwell site, named for Jay and Ann Birdwell, who sold the state the land where the bridge will actually be located, was first studied in 1999, the year that former Greene County Road Superintendent J.C. Jones applied for federal funding to replace the bridge.

Funding issues have repeatedly delayed the bridge, and also hampered further archaeological studies, he said. (See related article on Page A-14).

Another study in 2004 found enough evidence to trigger the current study, under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, he said. That law was modified in 2004 to require agreements with federally-recognized Native American tribes.

The federally recognized tribes TDOT is consulting with and who have a legal right to be involved are the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. (Please see related article.)

Longmire said UT is under contract to spend up to four and a half months in the field for the current study. He said TDOT wanted to do the study in 2005, 2007 and 2008, "but we're just now getting the money."

[Courtney Caine]

BURIAL SITE CONCERNS

One of the chief concerns of the Native American tribes is how ancient burial sites are treated.

One agreement to permit construction pending the outcome of the study has already been signed by the five tribes, he said.

"In the event that human remains are uncovered, we have to work out another agreement with the Native Americans," Longmire said.

At other sites, agreements have been worked out to move the burial sites in some instances, and to protect them from construction and leave them where they are, Longmire said.

"Archaeology, by its nature, is destructive activity," he said. Even the most careful archaeology changes any site, "and once you've dug it, you've destroyed it."

But without digging, it's very difficult to learn very much about people who did not leave behind a written history, he said.

Earlier phase 2 surveys "did a lot of deep coring," he said. Core samples that went down 20 feet were analyzed to find how deep it was safe to dig with heavy equipment.

In this case, UT used a backhoe and a highly-experienced operator familiar with the demands of archaeological work, provided by Foothills Excavating, of Knoxville.

Core samples produced at least an indication of the geological history of the Nolichucky River valley going back 20,000 years.

Every flood leaves a layer of clean sand, he said. But at the Birdwell site, core samples found a layer of "flood deposits of sand up to four feet thick" about 12 feet down, Longmire said, indicating a very big flood about 8,000 years ago.

Jay and Ann Birdwell operate Still Hollow Farm and live within rock-throwing distance of the site. The Birdwells are the currrent operators of a farm that has been in the same family for more than 100 years, and say they were not at all surprised that UT found Native American artifacts.

Jay Birdwell said their niece, who lives nearby, has probably found more artifacts there over the years than the archaeologists, and long ago was convinced that Native American graves were there.

[Courtney Caine]

NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC

Both Longmire and Cage stressed that although the site can be seen by motorists passing along Allens Bridge, it is not open to the public, because of the contractual agreement with the Native American tribes.

In the past, UT allowed volunteers to help with such "digs," but that practice has not been allowed since 2004, the two archaeologists said.

However, a good overview of the dig site is available from the covered deck of "The Farmer's Wife," an agritourism venture operated by the Birdwells.

http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/305210