Research Activities
Archaeology Research Collection
In 1934, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, entered into contracts with the newly created Tennessee Valley Authority to conduct archaeological surveys and excavations in reservoir areas in Tennessee prior to their inundation. From 1934 to 1942, ten reservoirs were constructed on the Tennessee River and its tributaries, and archaeological work was conducted in nine of them. Hundreds of sites were recorded and excavations exposed over 1.5 million square feet of prehistoric and historic Native American occupations.
The results of these massive investigations, along with subsequent work in other reservoirs such as Nickajack, Tims Ford, Barkley, Melton Hill, and Tellico, are housed at the Frank H. McClung Museum. Millions of artifacts -- along with the associated fieldnotes, forms, analysis sheets, drawings, photographs, and correspondence -- comprise a research base for southeastern Indian studies of international significance.
The results of 65 years of research are presented in the Museum's permanent exhibition, ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF TENNESSEE. An excellent sample of the archaeological collections can be seen and studied in this exhibit.
Access to the collections is restricted to researchers; appointments and approval by the Curator of Archaeology are required.
More information about the archaeological collections curated by the Museum, including a link to a pdf copy of the guide to the archaeological collections at the Frank H. McClung Museum, can be found HERE. The guide contains a listing of the specific archaeological collections curated by the Museum, including site names, numbers, and references, as well as information about other resources and services for researchers.
Ethnobotanical Research Collections
Ethnobotany is the study of the direct interrelations between people and plants. The ethnobotanical collection at the McClung Museum focuses upon people-plant interrelations in eastern North America during the past 10,000 years. Because of the time depth represented, the collection constitutes one of the most detailed regional records of pre-Columbian human-plant interrelations north of Mexico.
Desiccated sunflower seed - 1880 years old.
9.4 x 4.9 mm
Special emphasis is placed upon the evolution of native domesticated plants, food production systems, and reconstruction of paleoenvironments. The collection contains some of the oldest examples of native domesticated plants from eastern North America.
The Ethnobotany facility also houses one of the most detailed inventories of archaeologically recovered maize (corn) in North America. The maize collection contains context-specific samples ranging in age from the 2nd through the mid-19th centuries A.D. The 2nd century maize samples are among the oldest known from eastern North America.
[Additional information regarding the origin, organization, and importance of the Museum's maize/corn collection is available in the article, "Seeds of Significance," by Erin Dyer, published in the Spring 1999 issue of UT Agriculture Magazine.]
Access to data or materials is available to qualified researchers by contacting the Curator of Ethnobotany.
 Annual Teosinte Probable direct ancester of corn |
 Chapalote Oone of the oldest races of corn |
 Cherokee Corn (ca. AD1730) From southeast Tennessee |
 Desiccated bottle gourd 2060 years old |
Mollusk Research Collection
The McClung Museum houses a significant mollusk collection comprised of approximately 4,000 lots of freshwater mussels and freshwater and terrestrial gastropods. The freshwater mussels alone -- not counting the marine mollusks and North American gastropods -- total about 30,000 specimens.
The collection functions as a resource for teaching and research. Although the majority of specimens are from eastern North America, the collection contains materials from the western United States, Canada, Europe, China, South America, and Mexico as well. With the continual decline in species diversity and abundance -- and even extinction (the Museum has specimens of several taxa of freshwater mussels that are now extinct) -- such reference collections as this one take on an even greater scientific value.