A phase I archaeological survey of the proposed Tennessee Riverpark, Battery Place extension

Interpretive historical research suggests that along the proposed right of way of the Battery Place extension of the Tennessee Riverpark Spanish explorer Tristan de Luna y Arellano, in company with Coosa Indians, raided two towns of the Napochie chiefdom in 1560. Cherokee Indian internment camps may have been present in the project area during the Removal, 1835-1838, and burials of Cherokees may be present. Confederate soldiers also may have been interred in the project area in 1862-63, although these remains were nominally reinterred in Citizens Cemetery in 1867. The project area was utilized for industrial purposes in the late 19th century, principally sawmilling and brickmaking enterprises sited on the surrounding higher elevations. In the early 19th century, residential use of the higher portions of the project area took place. Modern road building and creation of the Manker Patten Tennis Center and Scrappy Moore Field have substantially modified the terrain to be impacted by the proposed construction. Pedestrian survey of the corridor revealed obvious soil profile alteration and/or truncation over much of the surveyed route. Results from screened, hand-excavated, 50cm-square test pit evidence disturbed soil profiles dominated by modem historic demolition debris. In lieu of more extensive, machine-assisted sub-surface testing, archaeological monitoring of initial site clearing and grading operations may be advisable.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1053/thumbnail.jp