Archaeology & the Native Peoples of Tennessee
WOODLAND PERIOD - 1,000 BC to AD 1,000
circa AD 300. Life-size mural by Greg Harlin
VILLAGE GARDENERS
The Woodland Period (1000 BC - AD 1000) is characterized by the addition of pottery to the material culture, more permanent settlements, and increased reliance on gardening and domesticated plants. All of these elements are reflected in this scene.
In the foreground, potters pulverize clay, mix it with temper, and, with moist coils, construct pottery containers. These vessels are then air-dried before firing. A garden is visible, containing sunflowers, squashes, lambsquarter, and sumpweed. Beyond the houses, on a low ridge, is a burial mound.
This picture is based on research by University of Tennessee, Knoxville, archaeologists in the Duck River and Little Tennessee River valleys
WOODLAND PERIOD HOUSES
Paper plates mark the post holes of three circular Woodland Period houses at a site in Coffee County, Tennessee. The houses may have resembled those in the Greg Harlin mural above.
EFFIGY PIPES
ANIMAL EFFIGY PIPE
Animal effigy pipe from a Woodland Period site in Decatur County, Tennessee.
BIRD EFFIGY PIPE
Carved of soapstone, this pipe is associated with the Woodland Period. Length is 7.5 inches.
POTTERY
2100-year-old clay pot.
WEAVING AND TEXTILES
SCHEMATIC OF OPEN SIMPLE TWINING
Diagram showing the weave, with 2-twist wefts, of the simple twined netting impression on the clay hearth at left. From Icehouse Bottom.
WOVEN BAG
This 2000-year-old woven bag is an actual example of Woodland weaving. Because of its perishable nature, textiles are seldom preserved in Tennessee; this bag, from a dry cave in Middle Tennessee, is a major exception.
BURIAL MOUND
Late Woodland burial mound on the University of Tennessee Agriculture Campus, in Knoxville, Tennessee, off Neyland Drive.