An Archaeological Study of Pit Cellars in Tennessee

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation discusses the regional and ethnic identity of pit cellars in Tennessee. Pit cellars are pits dug into the ground within or around historic buildings that were typically used for the storage of food or personal items. They come in multiple forms and were used by many different groups in North America. Archaeologists prize them for the valuable information they provide about the past and the people who used them. Previous archaeological excavations in Tennessee have revealed hundreds of these features at a variety of sites inhabited by African Americans, Euro-Americans, and Indigenous Americans. Using previously reported data, a survey of pit cellars was conducted in Tennessee’s three grand divisions to study the various types of pits, people, and places they occurred over time. The synthesis of this information is used to understand if pit cellars were a regional phenomenon or a manifestation of ethnic identity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40350.0