Lebanon in Wilson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Sellars Farm
Archaeology & History
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, May 2, 2021
1. Sellars Farm Marker
Inscription.
Sellars Farm. Archaeology and History.
Mississippian Period Dwelling. The people living in the Sellars Farm village built square or rectangular houses, usually around five or six meters on each side. After placing larger upright timbers in the ground, they then wove smaller branches and native cane between the larger timbers, similar, on a much larger scale, to weaving a basket. The woven walls were then covered with a clay plaster. This process is called wattle (woven material) and duab (clay). The house builders then covered the roof rafters with thatching of native grasses to protect the interior from the sun and bad weather. Fires burning inside these structures kept the inhabitants warm in winter and on cool evenings. , One building excavated by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology in 1977 was a house structure. The structure is revealed by the square arrangement post hole molds left after the house either burned or deteriorated. Internal features such as the hearth reveal something of how the people lived inside their homes. The artist rendering below shows a cutaway view of how this house might have looked. ,
Conservation of Archaeological Sites. Amateurs who dig into known archaeological sites looking for artifacts are not only taking objects, they are destroying information. , Federal and state laws protect these sites. When archaeological sites excavated today are professionally and careful recorded, inormation is acquired that some day in the future may be analyzed by new techniques revealing even more about the past than is currently possible with existing methods. , Like all state-owned archaeological sites in Tennessee, Sellars Farm is monitored regularly by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. ,
An Archaeology Primer.
Archaeology. Archaeology is the scientific study of the physical evidence of past societies recovered through the excavation of sites associated with habitation or other human activities. Archaeologists not only attempt to discover and describe past cultures, but also to formulate explanations for the development and adaptation of cultures. ,
Context. As Archaeologists excavate a site, they take careful note of context. To an archaeologist, context means the place where an artifact is found. Context involves not only the place where an object is found, but also the type of soil, the layer in the soil, the type of site, and what else was found in the same layers as an object as well as in those above and below it. If carefully analyzed, the context tells these scientists about the people who lived on the site, including perhaps what they ate, what they believed, and how their society was organized. ,
Stratigraphy. Normally the layers of an archaeological site nearer the surface are more recent than those that are deeper. This is called stratigraphy. By comparing the layer or strata of one site with those of others, Archaeologists can make associations between sites, either linking sites as having similarities, or differentiating them from sites that are not similar. In this manner scientists can form a picture of the relative ages and cultures in an area. This was a common way of dating archaeological sites until newer technology was developed. ,
Absolute Dating. In the 1950's scientists developed a way to determine the absolute age of a site. All living things incorporate the element carbon into their structure. The carbon is mostly in one form (12C), but a small amount of carborn is in a radioactive form (14C). In time, this radioactive form breaks down. Since the period of the breakdown of the radioactive form is very constant, scientist can measure the amount of that form left in the sample and they can determine the how old the material containing the carbon is. ,
Associative Dating. Once a prehistoric culture has been dated by any one or more of the above methods, similar groups of artifacts from other sites may be dated by association. ,
Technology. One of the things that sets humans apart from other animals is their ability to make tools or object from materials provided by the environment. These objects leave clues for Archaeologists to analyze. These artifacts can show scientists what raw materials people used, the manner in which people modified the materials, and how they might have used the resulting artifacts. They can sometimes find where the people making the artifacts might have moved within a given area. By observing artifacts that are found together scientists can sometimes tell what kind of food people were eating, how and what they were hunting, and how they were making their clothing. ,
Environment. By studying things like seeds and pollen from plants, archaeologist can not only tell what prehistoric people were eating, they can determine what the environment was like when the people were living. By understanding these ancient climates, archaeologist can determine if the weather was mild, promoting gardening and farming, or harsh and dry causing smaller populations or eliminating certain ways of life altogether. ,
Lifestyles. As archaeologist analyze sites and compare them to other sites, they slowly develop an overall picture of how ancient people lived. By gaining new knowledge about technology, resources, climate, and surroundings, scientists called anthropologists come to understand more about human culture. It is a part of our modern culture to want to understand how our ancestors lived and understand the ways we are different from them as well as the many ways in which we are similar. ,
Early Excavations at Sellars Farm. In late summer 1877 Dr. Frederic W. Putnam (1839-1915) Curator of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University explored and excavated the Lindsley Estate site, returning the artifacts as well as the remains of several Native Americans to the Peabody Museum. Also during the excavation Dr. Putnam observed that there were over 100 "house rings" ranging in diameter from ten to fifty feet and from a few inches to three feet high. The houses were actually square not round and were constructed of wood, cane, daub, wattle walls and thatched roofs. , This site, now called the Sellars Farm site was purchased by James Sellars in 1909. Sellars prohibited any further excavation at the village site. His agricultural use and cultivation of his land led to the unearthing of numerous artifacts including four human stone statues. Two of these statues are now at the Frank H. McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. ,
Later History of the Sellars Farm Site. After the abandonment of the Mississippian village the next claim to the site came at the end of the 18th century when Lt. Nathaniel Lawrence was given 2,560 acres including the site by North Carolina for his service in the American Revolution. He never lived on it, but his daughter Elizabeth, who married Dr. Phillips Lindsley, the president of the University of Nashville, inherited it in 1797. The site was later divided among their descendants. In 1877 Mrs. Nathaniel Lindsley of nearby Greenwood Seminary for Ladies invited Dr. Frederic Putnam of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to excavate the site. With a local crew of 25, using the archaeological techniques of the time, he worked for five days. Professor A.H Buchanan of the Cumberland University Engineering department drew a detailed map of the village indicating the features. , In 1909 James Sellars purchased the site, cut down the beech grove that covered it and began cultivating the area. He and his descendants would only allow friends to surface hunt for artifacts when he plowed. , Between 1922 and 1939, four sandstone human statues were unearthed at the Sellars site. The first, a 23.5 inches high male (1), was plowed up by the Sellars. The second, a 15 inches high female (2), was plowed up by Jeff Rogers, a tenant farmer. Rogers then dug at the same site and found the 18.5 inches high male (3) mate to the female, considered the best example of Native American stone sculpturing found in North America, and an 18.7 inches high primitive female (4). The later two are at the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. , In 1974 the State of Tennessee acquired the 69.02 acres on which the village is situated to preserve it and with plans to open an archaeological park to the public. A non profit citizens group, The Friend of Sellars Farm was formed in 1999 to assist the State in this development.
Mississippian Period Dwelling
The people living in the Sellars Farm village built square or rectangular houses, usually around five or six meters on each side.
After placing larger upright timbers in the ground, they then wove smaller branches and native cane between the larger timbers, similar, on a much larger scale, to weaving a basket. The woven walls were then covered with a clay plaster. This process is called wattle (woven material) and duab (clay). The house builders then covered the roof rafters with thatching of native grasses to protect the interior from the sun and bad weather. Fires burning inside these structures kept the inhabitants warm in winter and on cool evenings.
One building excavated by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology in 1977 was a house structure. The structure is revealed by the square arrangement post hole molds left after the house either burned or deteriorated. Internal features such as the hearth reveal something of how the people lived inside their homes. The artist rendering below shows a cutaway view of how this house might have looked.
Conservation of Archaeological Sites
Amateurs who dig into known archaeological sites looking for artifacts are not only taking objects, they are destroying information.
Federal
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and state laws protect these sites. When archaeological sites excavated today are professionally and careful recorded, inormation is acquired that some day in the future may be analyzed by new techniques revealing even more about the past than is currently possible with existing methods.
Like all state-owned archaeological sites in Tennessee, Sellars Farm is monitored regularly by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology.
An Archaeology Primer
Archaeology
Archaeology is the scientific study of the physical evidence of past societies recovered through the excavation of sites associated with habitation or other human activities. Archaeologists not only attempt to discover and describe past cultures, but also to formulate explanations for the development and adaptation of cultures.
Context
As Archaeologists excavate a site, they take careful note of context. To an archaeologist, context means the place where an artifact is found. Context involves not only the place where an object is found, but also the type of soil, the layer in the soil, the type of site, and what else was found in the same layers as an object as well as in those above and below it. If carefully analyzed, the context tells these scientists about the people who lived on the site, including perhaps what they ate,
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, May 2, 2021
2. Sellars Farm Marker
what they believed, and how their society was organized.
Stratigraphy
Normally the layers of an archaeological site nearer the surface are more recent than those that are deeper. This is called stratigraphy. By comparing the layer or strata of one site with those of others, Archaeologists can make associations between sites, either linking sites as having similarities, or differentiating them from sites that are not similar. In this manner scientists can form a picture of
the relative ages and cultures in an area. This was a common way of dating archaeological sites until newer technology was developed.
Absolute Dating
In the 1950's scientists developed a way to determine the absolute age of a site. All living things incorporate the element carbon into their structure. The carbon is mostly in one form (12C), but a small amount of carborn is in a radioactive form (14C). In time, this radioactive form breaks down. Since the period of the breakdown of the radioactive form is very constant, scientist can measure the amount of that form left in the sample and they can determine the how old the material containing the carbon is.
Associative Dating
Once a prehistoric culture has been dated by any one or more of the above methods, similar groups of artifacts from other sites may be dated by association.
Technology
One
of the things that sets humans apart from other animals is their ability to make tools or object from materials provided by the environment. These objects leave clues for Archaeologists to analyze. These artifacts can show scientists what raw materials people used, the manner in which people modified the materials, and how they might have used the resulting artifacts. They can sometimes find where the people making the artifacts might have moved within a given area. By observing artifacts that are found together scientists can sometimes tell what kind of food people were eating, how and what they were hunting, and how they were making their clothing.
Environment
By studying things like seeds and pollen from plants, archaeologist can not only tell what prehistoric people were eating, they can determine what the environment was like when the people were living. By understanding these ancient climates, archaeologist can determine if the weather was mild, promoting gardening and farming, or harsh and dry causing smaller populations or eliminating certain ways of life altogether.
Lifestyles
As archaeologist analyze sites and compare them to other sites, they slowly develop an overall picture of how ancient people lived. By gaining new knowledge about technology, resources, climate, and surroundings, scientists called anthropologists come to understand more about human culture. It is a part of our modern culture to want to understand how our ancestors lived and understand the ways we are different from them as well as the many ways in which we are similar.
Early Excavations at Sellars Farm
In late summer 1877 Dr. Frederic W. Putnam (1839-1915) Curator of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University explored and excavated the Lindsley Estate site, returning the artifacts as well as the remains of several Native Americans to the Peabody Museum. Also during the excavation Dr. Putnam observed that there were over 100 "house rings" ranging in diameter from ten to fifty feet and from a few inches to three feet high. The houses were actually square not round and were constructed of wood, cane, daub, wattle walls and thatched roofs.
This site, now called the Sellars Farm site was purchased by James Sellars in 1909. Sellars prohibited any further excavation at the village site. His agricultural use and cultivation of his land led to the unearthing of numerous artifacts including four human stone statues. Two of these statues are now at the Frank H. McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Later History of the Sellars Farm Site
After the abandonment of the Mississippian village the next claim to the site came at the end of the 18th century when Lt. Nathaniel Lawrence was given 2,560 acres including the site by North Carolina for his service in the American Revolution. He never lived on it, but his daughter Elizabeth, who married Dr. Phillips Lindsley, the president of the University of Nashville, inherited it in 1797. The site was later divided among their descendants. In 1877 Mrs. Nathaniel Lindsley of nearby Greenwood Seminary for Ladies invited Dr. Frederic Putnam of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to excavate the site. With a local crew of 25, using the archaeological techniques of the time, he worked for five days. Professor A.H Buchanan of the Cumberland University Engineering department drew a detailed map of the village indicating the features.
In 1909 James Sellars purchased the site, cut down the beech grove that covered it and began cultivating the area. He and his descendants would only allow friends to surface hunt for artifacts when he plowed.
Between 1922 and 1939, four sandstone human statues were unearthed at the Sellars site. The first, a 23.5 inches high male (1), was plowed up by the Sellars. The second, a 15 inches high female (2), was plowed up by Jeff Rogers, a tenant farmer. Rogers then dug at the same site and found the 18.5 inches high male (3) mate to the female, considered
the best example of Native American stone sculpturing found in North America, and an 18.7 inches high primitive female (4). The later two are at the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
In 1974 the State of Tennessee acquired the 69.02 acres on which the village is situated to preserve it and with plans to open an archaeological park to the public. A non profit citizens group, The Friend of Sellars Farm was formed in 1999 to assist the State in this development.
Location. 36° 9.928′ N, 86° 14.57′ W. Marker is in Lebanon, Tennessee, in Wilson County. Marker can be reached from Poplar Hill Road, 0.4 miles east of Sparta Pike (U.S. 70), on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 445 Poplar Hill Rd, Lebanon TN 37090, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 17, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 18, 2023, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. This page has been viewed 63 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on May 11, 2023, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
