Native American Town

Native American Town. . Those Before Us , Sometime between AD 1250-1450, a highly organized Native American culture built a town on this site. Based upon the numerous houses uncovered during a 1997 archaeological excavation of the area, it is estimated that from 500 to 1000 people may have lived here. At death, adults and older children were buried either in small family clusters within the habitation area, or in more formal cemeteries near the town. Infants were buried inside the houses. , Farmers, Hunters and Traders , The natives in this town were farmers, hunters and traders. Their diet consisted primarily of corn, supplemented with deer and small game. Their drinking water same from the Little Harpeth River and a nearby spring., The town residents made a variety of pottery vessels, stone and bone tools, statuary and jewelry. Special items were traded with other Native Americans both locally and from as far away as the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes area. , . Mississippian period (AD 900-1450) Towns have been unearthed in several other locations here in Brentwood. , . The Fawkes site, one of the most significant Mississippian towns in this area, is located on Moores Lane. This site once contained five mounds, but only one mound remains today. , . The Brentwood Library site was the location of an earlier archaeological excavation in 1882 sponsored by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. , The Town Wall , A palisade built of wood poles and clay encircled the town to protect the residents. Bastions, or guard towers, represent an important part of the wall., A Typical House , Houses were square, with walls made of wood posts interwoven with cane and plastered with clay. These structures had thatch roofs. and central fireplaces., Effigy Bottle , Pottery vessels, such as this human effigy bottle, were tempered with crushed mussel shell. The opening is at the back of the head.