Massacre at Cavett's Station: Frontier Tennessee during the Cherokee Wars

Chapter 5. Digging into the Past

Chapter 5 Digging into the Past Archaeology, when practiced correctly, is a science with a precise and testable research design to collect data from the earth in a systematic manner so that our cultural past can be accurately reconstructed. The research design for the study of the possible Cavett cabin location began with carefully examining the areas around the former Broome-Mynatt house that appeared relatively undisturbed by nineteenthth and twentieth-century activities . Once such areas were delimited, tests would be systematically excavated below surface to determine if late eighteenth-century artifacts and/or foundation and chimney features from the cabin were present. Commonly recovered artifacts such as ceramics and nails changed rapidly through time, and distinctive examples of these types have been archaeologically recovered on several late eighteenth-century domestic sites in the Knoxville area such as the James White Second House site (Faulkner 1984), Blount Mansion (Young 2000), and John Sevier’s cabin at Marble Springs (Faberson and Faulkner, eds. 2005).34 The other evidence that was expected was the remains of a large, hot fire producing abundant charcoal and ash deposits that are indestructible through time in the ground, in addition to numerous burned and melted artifacts such as glass. If a log cabin such as that at Cavett’s Station burned in an area, which had remained relatively undisturbed since 1793, it should have left a clear and distinct archaeological “footprint.” 34. One of the most common refined tablewares in late eighteenth-century Knoxville home sites is called creamware, the first English ceramic to be widely manufactured and distributed and identified by its creamy-colored lead glaze. It remained common until ca. 1800. In the last decade of the eighteenth century, most nails were wrought nails with handhammered shanks and heads. These were replaced about 1800 by machine-made cut (square) nails. Both of these artifact types would be common at the site of Cavett’s Station. 96 Digging into the Past The possible site of Cavett’s Station was surveyed on April 29, 1981, to determine if any artifacts or features such as a cabin foundation were visible on the surface. Most of the area was covered with bramble and trees, except for an open area where the Broome-Mynatt house had stood. This area, however, was disturbed by bulldozing when the house was razed. Based on soil contours and a few artifacts recovered in disturbed areas, it appeared the heaviest domestic occupation here extended 500 feet east of Gallaher Road and 300 feet north of the terrace above the spring and small tributary of Ten Mile Creek. The site was recorded with the Tennessee Division of Archaeology site survey files as 40KN67.35 To understand the age and function of artifacts (ceramics, building materials , etc.) and features (foundations, trash pits, etc.) on an archaeological site resulting from human behavior, it is necessary to carefully uncover and accurately record the horizontal (spatial) and vertical (chronological) relationship of these remains. Spatial relationships are established by grid points (stakes or other markers) on the ground surface accurately tied with an engineer’s transit by distance and direction to a permanent datum point (iron rebar was used at 40KN67). Vertical relationships are determined from a permanent benchmark or established elevation point that are used to tell the archaeologist the chronological or relative age of artifacts recovered in the ground. North-South and East-West grid points are measured from the datum allowing the accurate spatial or horizontal position of all artifacts and features across the site. The next phase of archaeological research is testing, that is, the systematic removal of soil to find buried artifacts, ideally in undisturbed context. Testing of site 40KN67 was accomplished by what is called “shovel testing,” digging small shovel-width holes (in this case a 1-by-1-foot square centered on the grid points) to subsoil to determine the stratigraphy or natural/cultural soil formation , locate buried features such as foundations, and collect an assemblage of artifacts from the site. Specifically, we were looking for a concentration of late eighteenth-century artifacts and the remains of the foundation of the Cavett cabin as well as identifying charred wood and ash concentrations from the burned cabin dating to 1793. From October 29, 1982 to February 24, 1984, 214 1-by-1-foot shovel tests were dug by seven volunteers in 21 days when weather permitted and family, friends, and students could find time to help. The shovel tests were excavated 35. This is...