Tennessee Archaeology The Historic Period in Tennessee Contact through Early Federal Period (1540-1810 AD)

study of the material remains of past societies that also left behind historical documentary evidence (Society for Historical Archaeology 2007). It is a subfield that studies the emergence, transformation, and nature of the modern world. This study of the recent past looks at the coming together of cultures due to European expansion across the globe, and how these people transformed in the changes that culminated into today’s world. This encompasses all of Tennessee’s documented history beginning with contact and has been a useful tool in our understanding of the past allowing us to learn about people and place through the examination of documents and material culture. The foundation for historical archaeology in Tennessee began with an interest by antiquarians and early archaeologists in trying to understand the origins of the moundbuilders as well as their relationship with historic tribes. This consisted of digging conducted on prehistoric and historic native sites in the region including those of the Overhill Cherokee by Cyrus Thomas (Schroedl 2001:278-279). Excavation of non-native historic sites were however of minimal interest, but there was some small scale digging that occurred. Early consideration was mainly given to Native American sites and thi