[McClung Museum] [Archaeology and the Native Peoples of Tennessee]

        [Red-Black Rule]

        ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF TENNESSEE



        WOODLAND PERIOD - 1000 BC to AD 1000

        [Village Gardeners] VILLAGE GARDENERS,
        circa AD 300.
        (85K)

        Life-size mural by Greg Harlin.                 		       
        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, corn, 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.
        [Blue Rule]

        WOODLAND PERIOD HOUSES

        [Excavation Site]
        WOODLAND PERIOD HOUSES.
        (17K)

        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.
        (9K)

        Animal effigy pipe from a Woodland Period site in Decatur County, Tennessee.
        [Bird Effigy Pipe] BIRD EFFIGY PIPE.
        (31K)

        Carved of soapstone, this pipe is associated with the Woodland Period. Length is 7.5 inches.


        POTTERY

        [Clay Pot]
        CLAY POT.
        (8K)

        2100-year-old clay pot.


        WEAVING AND TEXTILES

        [Clay Hearth]
        TEXTILE-IMPRESSED CLAY HEARTH.
        (27K)

        This 9000-year-old (Early Archaic Period) textile-impressed
        clay hearth preserves evidence of weaving technology
        and indicates that weaving has great time depth.         		[Weaving Diagram]
        SCHEMATIC OF OPEN SIMPLE TWINING
        (47K)

        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]
        WOVEN BAG.
        (21K)

        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

        [Burial Mound]
        BURIAL MOUND.
        (23K)

        Late Woodland burial mound on the University of Tennessee Agriculture Campus,
        in Knoxville, Tennessee, off Neyland Drive.

        [Red-Black Rule]

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