Luminescence Dates, Archaeological Survey, and Ancestral Overhill Cherokee Towns in Upper East Tennessee

Summary

We have conducted shoreline surveys of archaeological sites on major streams in upper East Tennessee for several years. In 2011, we added luminescence dating to this work. We discuss how luminescence dating has added robust chronological resolution to our work and how it has informed our hypothesis-building efforts. We address the protohistory of the region and the identification of early Cherokee towns here. Before adding luminescence dating as an integral facet of our work, we believed these towns dated no earlier than the 17th century. We now know they were in existence by the 15th century at the latest.

Cite this Record

Luminescence Dates, Archaeological Survey, and Ancestral Overhill Cherokee Towns in Upper East Tennessee. Christina Bolte, Jay D. Franklin, Nathan K. Shreve, S.D. Dean. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 403544)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.274; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -72.642; max lat: 36.386 ;