Shiloh Indian Mounds National Historic Landmark 40 HR 7 | |
 Aerial illustration of theShiloh Mounds Site | |
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| Location | Hardin County, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Savannah, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 35°08′29″N88°19′15″W / 35.14139°N 88.32083°W /35.14139; -88.32083 |
| Area | 81 acres (33 ha) |
| Architect | Mississippian culture |
| Architectural style | Mounds |
| NRHP reference No. | 79000279[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 27, 1979[1] |
| Designated NHL | May 5, 1989[2] |
Shiloh Indian Mounds Site (40HR7) is anarchaeological site of theSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of theMississippian culture).[3] It is located beside theTennessee River on the grounds of theShiloh National Military Park, inHardin County of southwesternTennessee. ANational Historic Landmark, it is one of the largest Woodland era sites in the southeastern United States.
The site was inhabited starting around 1000 CE by aLate Woodland culture indigenous peoples, and then later by those of an Early Mississippian culture, until it was abandoned in approximately 1350 CE.[4]
The Shiloh Indian National Historic Landmark is situated on a high bluff, between two ravines, overlooking the Tennessee River at the edge of the Shiloh Plateau. The village was encircled by a woodenpalisade, while the village itself consisted of more than 100wattle and daub houses, over three dozen individual house mounds,[5] and eightmounds.[4] Seven of the mounds were substructureplatform mounds and the seventh was a Woodland period conicalburial mound.[2] It was the largest site in the region and probably functioned as the center of aparamount chiefdom that occupied 20 miles (32 km) stretch of the Tennessee River Valley. The chiefdom held sway over six smaller villages, each with a mound or two, and many scattered farmsteads up and down the valley.[6] The southernmost mound served as a burial place for leaders and other important people. This mound was oval shaped with a round top.[7] A map of the site can be found on theShiloh Indian Mounds website.[8]
The people of Shiloh Mounds were intensely involved inmaizeagriculture, as well as other foodcrops originating in the Americas, such assquash,sunflowers,goosefoot,marshelder, andmaygrass. They also gathered wild foodstuffs such asacorns andhickory nuts. The hunting ofwhitetail deer,squirrel,rabbit,turkey, andraccoon as well as fishing were also important.[6]
In addition to the Shiloh site, the chiefdom included six smaller towns (each with one or two mounds such as theSwallow Bluff Island Mounds site), and isolated farmsteads scattered on higher ground in the river valley. Downstream on the river's eastern bank, at the present location ofSavannah, Tennessee, was another palisaded multiple mound settlement, although it is still unclear if the sites were occupied at the same time. Other neighbors had communities all along the Tennessee andTombigbee Rivers, with sites inAlabama,Mississippi, and western Tennessee. Archaeologists think the presence of prestige goods from theCahokia site inIllinois means the people of Shiloh Mounds were more closely tied politically to that area than to chiefdoms in theMiddle Tennessee area.[6]
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| Mound Builders |
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| Culture |
| Polities |
| Archaeology |
| Religion |
Because the site has been included within the Shiloh National Military Park boundaries for so long it has never been disturbed by modern farming techniques. The remains of the original structures of wattle and daub are still visible as low rings or mounds. It is one of the few places in the eastern U.S. where such remains are still visible.[5][6] It was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1979,[1] and declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1986.[2]
Cornelius Cadle, chairman of the Shiloh Park Commission, undertook the first archaeological excavations at Shiloh in 1899. He had a trench dug into the conicalburial mound, Mound C. Amongst the discoveries was a largestone effigy pipe in the shape of a kneeling man. It has since become the site's most famous artifact and is on display in theTennessee River Museum inSavannah, Tennessee. The pipe is carved from a distinctive material, Missouriflint clay, and in the same style as other statuettes from the Cahokia site inCollinsville, Illinois.[6]
In the winter of 1933-34 survey work was undertaken at the site and many 10 feet (3.0 m) to 20 feet (6.1 m) diameter house mounds were discovered. Many contained the remains ofwattle and daub houses, which had been built with walls of vertical posts interlaced with branches and coated with a thick layer of clay. It was at this time that the encircling palisade was also discovered.[6]
| Middle Mississippian |
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| South Appalachian Mississippian |
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| Fort Walton culture | |||||||||||
| Pensacola culture | |||||||||||
| Plaquemine Mississippian | |||||||||||
| Caddoan Mississippian | |||||||||||
| Upper Mississippian cultures |
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