EIGHTH GRADE Part One: What we know from things we find in the ground The Gray Fossil Site PHOTO: East Tennessee State University This may seem like a strange title for a history lesson. But if you go back far enough, everything we know about history comes from things that we find below our feet. After all, there are no oral accounts of prehistoric times, and there were no newspapers then, and there certainly weren't any pictures taken back then. Every tidbit that we know has been painstakingly pieced together by geologists (who study rocks), by paleontologists (who study fossils), and by archeologists (who study things people left behind in the dirt). Imagine trying to kill this thing with nothing more than spears and rocks! Scientists believe that much of what we now call Middle Tennessee used to be covered by water. Meanwhile many of the animal species found in other parts of the state -- alligators and rhinoceroses, for instance -- don't live here any more. The best way to learn about this type of thing is at the Gray Fossil Site in Washington County. Then, many years after the water subsided, archaeologists tell us that human beings first came to Tennessee between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago. People from that time period are called Paleoindians. We often visualize the Paleoindians using spears to kill huge mastodons (big elephant-like creatures). But obviously the Paleoindians would have killed and eaten just about anything they could find. People continue to dig up relics of animals that lived in Tennessee during Paleoindian times. In 1973 worker were digging a hole in downtown Nashville to build a big building (now known as the AmSouth Tower). In the process, construction crews found the a bone and a tooth of a saber-toothed cat believed to have lived during Paleoindian times, about 10,000 years ago. The skull is now on display at the Tennessee State Museum, and the discovery is the reason that the Nashville hockey team is called the Predators. Remains of a mastodon found in Williamson County PHOTO: McClung Museum Then, in 1994, workers were digging in Williamson County, just south of Nashville, when they found some bones. When archeologists examined the site they realized that they had stumbled across the remains of a prehistoric mastodon -- one that had apparently been killed by sharp rocks! This dig was known as the Coats-Hines Mastodon site, and was followed closely by scientists all over the world. So, the next time you are digging a hole, keep your eyes peeled, because you never know what you'll find. After the Paleoindians, we refer to Tennessee's next group of tenants as the Archaic Indians, who lived in Tennessee from around 8,000 BC to 1,000 BC. Archaic Indians hunted, but they also fished and grew plants such as squash. This was obviously a huge change in lifestyle, because cultivating plants required that they settle in one area for at least a few months. The Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park After the Archaic period came what we refer to as the Woodland Era (from 1000 BC to 1000 AD). This is when people began making and using pottery and forming farming communities. The Woodland Era is when we believe people began building mounds. These are basically big piles of earth on which people would build structures or, in some cases, where people would bury bodies. Tennessee happens to contain the largest Woodland Era mounds group in North America at a place called Pinson Mounds, in Madison County. Meanwhile the state also contains the site of a Woodland-era Native American gathering area, known as Old Stone Fort. (If you click on each link shown, you will be taken to a virtual tour of these places, Tennessee History for Kids style.)  Saul's Mound at Pinson Mounds Some of these Woodland sites are quite interesting. Pinson Mounds consists at least 17 man-made mounds, the largest of which is as high as a seven-story building. The arrangement of these mounds had led many archaeogists to believe that the people who built them knew a lot about astronomy. Meanwhile, some objects at Pinson Mounds contain things (sea shells and copper, for instance) that had to have come from very far away, proving that someone was there were trade routes even way back then. Mound Bottom in Cheatham County Then came the Mississippian Era, which started around 1000 AD and continued until Europeans began to arrive on the scene. During this era, tribal customs became more defined. Personal artifacts such as jewelry and pipes became complex. And there were advances in agriculture, such as the discovery and introduction of new crops and the domestication of corn. There used to be Mississippian-era mounds all over Tennessee. Unfortunately, most of these mounds have been destroyed by farmers or developers. However, on the Tennessee History for Kids web site you will find tours of two Mississippian-era mounds that are preserved: Sellars Farm in Wilson County and Harpeth River/Mound Bottom in Cheatham County. QUIZ 1) What were the elephant-like creatures that once roamed Tennessee called? 2) (TRUE OR FALSE) The Pinson Mounds were created during the Paleoindian era. 3) (TRUE OR FALSE) Old Stone Fort was a fortress built by early European explorers 4) It was during the ________ period that Native Americans developed pottery. 5) The ______________ period came to a close with the arrival of Europeans into America. 6) What has happened to most of the Mississippian-era mounds in Tennessee? For quiz answers, click here. By 1600, there were four "tribes" living within the boundaries of what we now call Tennessee. Click here to go to Part Two and learn more about them.