Savannah Archaeological Site

Savannah Archaeological Site
Savannah Archaeological Site is located in Tennessee
Savannah Archaeological Site
Location within Tennessee today
Savannah Archaeological Site is located in the United States
Savannah Archaeological Site
Savannah Archaeological Site (the United States)
LocationHardin County, Tennessee USA
RegionHardin County, Tennessee
Coordinates35°13′30.42″N 88°15′21.04″W / 35.2251167°N 88.2558444°W / 35.2251167; -88.2558444
History
CulturesSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture
Site notes
Architecture
Architectural stylesplatform mounds, plaza
Responsible body: private

The Savannah Archaeological Site in Hardin County, Tennessee, is a prehistoric complex of platform mounds and village of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture, a regional variation of Mississippian culture.

Site description

The Mississippian culture village and mound complex is located on the eastern bank of the Tennessee River and is covered by the modern city of Savannah, Tennessee.[1] The 16 mounds[2] form a zig-zag line of nearly a mile along the Tennessee River. The largest of the platform mounds is located at the center of the site, and was 30 feet (9.1 m) in height. A trench circling along the east side of this line connects with the river, at the north end and at the south end, thus the river to the west and the trench to the east, entirely encircled this ancient village. These have never been extensively excavated.

In 1830, David Robinson, a wealthy landowner and local planter, built a Federal-style home overlooking the Tennessee River on one of the mounds. The house is now known as the Cherry Mansion.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Thruston, Gates Phillips (1890). The antiquities of Tennessee and the adjacent states, and the state of aboriginal society in the scale of civilization represented by them: A series of historical and ethnological studies. The R. Clarke Company. pp. 42–45.
  2. ^ Mississippian capitals : an archaeological investigation of Precolumbian political structure (PDF) (doctor thesis). University of Florida. 1994. p. 86.
  3. ^ "The History of Cherry Mansion". Retrieved 2011-05-07.