| Native American prehistory is divided into
several periods of time. Of these the Mississippian Period began around
A.D. 800 or 900 and peaked at approximately A.D. 1200 to 1500. After 900
A.D. the last prehistoric cultural period of the southeastern United States
spread into the Middle Cumberland River Valley including middle Tennessee.
This period is now known as the Mississippian Period and is characterized
by permanent fortified villages, the cultivation of corn, shell tempered
pottery and a structured social system.
One of the best preserved Native American mound/villages
is at the southeastern edge of modern Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee
and is known today as the Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area. This
settlement was occupied from about 1000 A.D. until 1300 A.D. The
village was in a bend of Spring Creek a tributary of the Cumberland River.
The creek provided natural defense against enemies and also produced food
such as fish and fresh water mussel, whose shells were crushed and used
in shell tempered pottery as well as decorative arts. The earthwork encloses
an area of ten to eleven acres. Dominating the plaza to the west is the
large flat topped pyramidal platform mound on which was once built a structure
of importance, perhaps the ruler's dwelling or the council house.
On the southern bluff overlooking the creek were six mounds which
were only a few feet in height. And at the eastern and southern portion
af the enclosure were the causeways or openings through the embankment.
And also at this position at the creek was a low mound. Many trees
were in the village such as large elm, popular and hackberry. Characteristic
of Mississippian villages was a central plaza on which games were held,
public events and ceremonies.
Approximately five hundred years later the site was
deeded by North Carolina to Lieutenant Nathaniel Lawrence [1761-1797] who
served as Lieutenant-Second Battalion North Carolina Continental Line for
payment for his service in the American Revolution. Later the land
was inherited by his only daughter Margaret Elizabeth Lawrence [1793-1847]
who married Dr. Philip Lindsley [1786-1855] and was subsequently owned
by the Lindsley descendants.
In late summer 1877 Dr. Frederic W. Putnam [1839-1915]
Curator of Peabody Museum, Harvard University explored and excavated the
Lindsley Estate site, returning artifacts such as pottery, corn cobs, discoidals,
arrowheads, earthen pot, pipes carved from sandstone, green steatite and
dark slate, pearls, shell beads, small amount of graphite, pieces of mica,
ornaments, shell spoons, to name a few, as well as the remains of
numerous children and adult Native Americans to Peabody Museum. Also during
the excavation Dr. Putnam observed that there were over 100 "house rings"
ranging in diameter from ten to fifty feet and from a few inches to three
feet high. The houses were actually square not round and were constructed
of wood, cane, daub, wattle walls and thatched roofs.
A few select portions from F.W. Putnam's 1877
report, "Archeological Explorations in Tennessee"
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" The
most important of my explorations were those within the Earthworks near
Lebanon in Wilson Co., and about sixty miles east from Nashville. At this
place on the farm of Dr. Samuel Crockett, included in the estate of the
Lindsley family, who were earlier settlers in the county, are the remains
of an extensive settlement of the Moundbuilders of Tennessee."
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" This
interesting jar, with others that are here figured, is evidence of the
high attainments of these ancient people in the ceramic art, and shows
the development reached in native art by people who worked in copper, carved
in stone and shell, moulded in clay, wove fabrics of several kinds, cultivated
maize, lived in walled, or fortified towns, buried their dead in an extended
posture, generally in stone graves, and erected the large mounds of the
Cumberland valley, from which they are now known as the Mound-builders."
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Later in 1909 James Sellars purchased the property
but prohibited any excavation at the village and mound site.
1938 / 1939 the renowned prehistoric stone statue,
known as "Sandy" along with a statue of a female was unearthed by tenant
farmer Jeff Rogers on the property now known as the Sellars Farm State
Archaeological Area, Wilson County, Tennessee. The statues date from the
late prehistoric Mississippian period, A.D. 1200-1400.
1940 the male and female prehistoric
stone
statues were purchased by the Frank
H. McClung Museum,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
1972 Sellars Indian Mound was added to the National
Register of Historic Places. Period of Significance: 499-0
AD, 1000-500 AD, 1499-1000 AD.
In 1974 the State of Tennessee acquired 69.02 acres
with plans to protect the Sellars Farm Site (40WI1) and one day eventually
establish an Archaeological Park and Interpretive Center.
A group of interested citizens formed the Friends
of the Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area in 1999 with the mission
of assisting in the establishment of the best preserved prehistoric Native
American Mound and Village sites in Middle Tennessee.
In 2001 the Friends of the Sellars Farm actively began
educational activities, tours and promotion at Sellars Farm. Friends,
neighbors and volunteers have cleared plant growth and trees from strategic
areas of the Village site. Volunteers play a critical role in preserving
this Village and Mound Site which continues to the present date.
In 2003 Friends of the Sellars
Farm State Archaeological Area web site was designed, developed and freely
hosted by one of the members as an avenue for education and communication.
On March 16, 2004 Sellars Farm State Archaeological
Area became a satellite of Long
Hunter State Park. Plans are made for Phase One Development of the
Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area.
On March 25, 2004, 30 years after the State
of Tennessee acquired the property Phase One Development begins.
This development plan included a gravel parking lot at the entrance, a
new gate, an interpretive sign and work on the road through the woods leading
to the archaeological area. Private tours are available by the Long
Hunter State Park Staff and members of the Friends
of Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area.
On April 6, 2004 The
Sellars Farm access road and new parking area were
graveled.
September 11, 2004 During
the "Native American Day: Honoring the Ancient Ones" celebration,
the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a stamp depicting “Sandy” the outstanding
male Stone Statue which was unearthed at Sellars Farm State Archaeological
Area in 1939. Tennessee State Parks dedicated the new Interpretive
Kiosk to the Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area which marks the completion
of Phase 1 development of the Sellars Farm.
November 1-3, 2005 The
renowned prehistoric stone statue known as “Sandy” returned to its
native Wilson County for a visit. "Sandy" as well as the female stone
statue" Mrs. Sandy" were unearthed in 1939 on the property
now known as the Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area. The two stone
statues were displayed at the Wilson County
Courthouse in Lebanon, Tennessee where over 1,200 people came to celebrate
the visit after 65 years away from Wilson County, Tennessee.
Sponsors of the exhibit: State
Representative Stratton Bone, Long
Hunter State Park, Friends
of the Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area, Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation State Park Representatives.
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