Brentwood Library Site

The Brentwood Library Site (40WM210), also known as the Jarman Farm Site, is a Mississippian culture archaeological site located in the city of Brentwood, in Williamson County, Tennessee. It was occupied during Regional Period IV of the local Mississippian chronology,[1] and artifacts from the site have been radiocarbon dated to between 1298 to 1465 CE.[2]

Brentwood Library Site
(40 WM 210)
Location within Tennessee today
LocationWilliamson County, Tennessee,  USA
RegionWilliamson County, Tennessee
Coordinates35°59′45.06″N 86°47′23.60″W
History
CulturesMississippian culture
Site notes
Excavation dates1997
Responsible body: City of Brentwood

Excavations

The Brentwood Library Site is located on a low ridge next to the Harpeth River and a small spring-fed creek. The site was first mentioned by Frederic Ward Putnam as part of a Harvard Peabody Museum Expedition in the 1882, but the exact location was not mentioned.[1] Putnam excavated forty-eight stone box graves at the site. At least one example of a Nashville style shell gorget was found by Putnam during his excavations of an infant's grave, along with a notched-rim bowl, a human effigy hooded bottle and eight marine shell beads. The site was then forgotten until construction for the new Brentwood library in 1997 uncovered a substantial village and associated burial area.[3][1]

Ceramics

Mississippian culture pottery vessels and sherds found at the site were made with techniques and forms found across the Mississippian world. Common shapes include bowls with notched rim straps and jars with a direct rim. Strap handles were the only closed handle style found, although bifurcate and tabular lugs were sometimes attached. Some sherds were found to be fabric impressed and other examples used a technique known as negative painting,[3] a technique which involved painting the background and allowing the natural buff or grey of the clay to create the positive image.[4] Notable pottery classifications found were examples of Mound Place Incised, Matthews Incised var. Matthews, Manly Incised and Beckwith Incised, with Beckwith Incised being found in the largest numbers.[3] A few pieces of effigy pottery were also found, mostly of zoomorphic figures such as fish, frogs, and ducks although some examples with anthropomorphic shapes were found. These humans effigies often depicted a standing woman with top-knots in her hair, a pronounced hunchback and ear spools[3] Similar ceramic and stone statues are found throughout the Middle Tennessee area.

See also

References
  1. Moore, Michael C.; Cmith, Kevin E. Moore (2009), Archaeological Expeditions of the Peabody Museum in Middle Tennessee, 1877-1884 (PDF), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, research Series No. 16.
  2. Lankford, George E.; Reilly, F. Kent; Garber, James F. (2011-01-15). Visualizing the Sacred: Cosmic Visions, Regionalism, and the Art of the Mississippian World. University of Texas Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-292-72308-5.
  3. Moore, Michael C. (2005), The Brentwood Library Site: A Mississippian Town on the Little Harpeth River, Williamson County, Tennessee (PDF), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, research Series No. 15.
  4. Fundaburk, Emma Lila (2001) [1957]. Mary Douglass Fundaburk Foreman (ed.). Sun Circles and Human Hands: the Southeastern Indians - Art and Industry. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-0-8173-1077-6.
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