Shiloh in Hardin County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

A Temporary Wall

Photographed by David Austin, April 13, 2025

1. A Temporary Wall Marker

Inscription. The low ridge you are about to cross is all that remains of an extensive wall that protected a small town located here from about 550 to 950 years ago. Life here was generally peaceful, but the townspeople must have felt threatened at some point and built this palisade.

To build the wall, they placed wooden posts in the ground six to eight inches apart, lashed there together with slender branches, and covered the branches with clay. The palisade deteriorated over a 10-to-20-year period. The residents apparently never felt the need to replace it.

Captions
(Diagram #1) Townspeople attach slender branches (wattle) between the posts.
(Diagram #2) Residents apply layers of clay (daub) to the outer wall.
(Diagram #3) The town extended from the semicircular palisade to the banks of the Tennessee River.
(Diagram #4) From the eight bastions, warriors could shoot arrows along the wall at attackers.

Erected by Shiloh Indian Mounds National Landmark.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1075 CE.

Location. 35° 8.491′ N,

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88° 19.576′ W. Marker is near Shiloh, Tennessee, in Hardin County. It can be reached from Riverside Drive east of Hamburg Savannah Rd. Down a 1.3 Mile Nature Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Shiloh TN 38376, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Kentucky Regiments at Battle of Shiloh (within shouting distance of this marker); Camp of 17th Kentucky Infantry (within shouting distance of this marker); Chickasaw Homeland (within shouting distance of this marker); Sifting the Evidence (within shouting distance of this marker); Mississippian Indians (within shouting distance of this marker); Shiloh Indian Mounds (about

Photographed by David Austin, April 13, 2025

2. A Temporary Wall Marker

300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Signs of Dwellings (about 400 feet away); Borrow Pits (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Shiloh.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 15, 2025, by David Austin of Scotts Hill, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 158 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 15, 2025, by David Austin of Scotts Hill, Tennessee. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.