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1.1.4 I Gerald P. Smith County, Tennessee. Hunting camps occur up the various creeks and rivers as much as 20 miles (32 kilometers) into the loess hills. Mid-nineteenth century maps of the area near the old Memphis-Arkansas bridge indicate a major site with numerous mounds. The site was incorporated into the massive Fort Pickering earthworks in 1862, and most traces of it were obliterated. Two of the mounds on this site still survive in De Soto Park, and test excavations conducted by Weaver (1982) in 1981 indicate the presence of a Walls phase component. This site may well have been the primary center for the Walls phase, but more research will be required on the site remnant to substantiate this possibility. The Walls ceramic complex includes large globular jars, short-necked water bottles with globular to ovate bodies, and a variety of bowl forms. Vessel decoration consists primarily of incised, engraved, or punctated motifs and the addition of applique features or appendages to the basic vessel forms. Jars are usually made of Neeley's Ferry paste and water bottles of Bell paste. Bowls occ~r in both, but Bell is predominant. The basic ceramic type frequency configuration for the phase consists of 55 to 75 percent Bell Plain, 15 to 35 percent Mis.;. sissippi Plain, 5 to 10 percent Parkin Punctated, 1 to 3 percent each of Barton Incised and Old Town Red Filmed, and a consistent presence of Kent Incised, Rhodes Incised, Ranch Incised, Walls Engraved, and Hull Engraved in the 0.2 to 2 percent frequency range for each. The 1847 map of Fort Pickering suggests that this site had its main mound facing eastward across a plaza defined by at least three other mounds (Weaver 1982). An additional three mounds along the bluff may also have been part of the same complex. Chucalissa, Cheatham, and Woodlyn, all secondary centers, have their mounds facing south across their town plazas. At Chucalissa there is an earlier mound at the southwestern corner of the plaza and a series of Walls phase house mounds around the plaza. These sites all have additional occupation midden beyond the plaza and cover areas on the order of 6 to 10 acres (2.5 to 4 hectares). Recent aerial photographs suggest that at least Cheatham had a surrounding moat and thus may have been fortified. Only six smaller village sites without mounds have been recorded. These are on the order of 1 to 3 acres (0.4 to 1.2 hectares). Numerous Late Mississippian hunting camps, identifiable only by the presence of Nodena and small triangular arrow points, are scattered up the tributary stream drainages as far as 20 miles (33 kilometers) from the bluffs. Overall the verifiable settlement pattern suggests use of fine sandy loam natural levee soils in the Mississippi River floodplain for agriculture and the uplands for hunting. Hamlets in the southern portion of the territory appear as outliers to secondary centers where fine sandy loam soils cover extensive or discontinuous areas. Data from the secondary center at Chucalissa provide the most extensive excavated information from the phase (Beaudoin 1953; Blake n.d., 1965; Dye Western Tennessee I 1.1-5 1976; Lahren and Berryman 1984; Lumb and McNutt 1988; Nash 1972; Robinson 1977; B. Smith 1975; G. Smith 1969, .1990). Radiocarbon and archaeomagnetic dates from the site suggest a Walls occupation span from about A.D. 1425 to A.D. 1500. Further site plan detail from this site includes the use of paired structures on the main platform mound and the existence of a belt of overlapping singlestage house mounds around the plaza. Burial areas appear to have been scattered throughout the site in association with house sequences. The largest structure attributed to this component was on the west half of the main mound and was approximately 50 feet (15 meters) square. Its roof was largely carried on interior cypress posts 1.0 to 1.5 feet (30 to 45 centimeters) in diameter set in a rectangular pattern, with paired posts at the midpoint of each long side. The floor was lowered into the mound summit about 0.8 feet (20 centimeters ), with peripheral wall posts set inside the sunken area at its edge. A shallow "wall stub" trench provided seating for the base of the wattle and daub to seal out rainfall. Extensive wear and repair of the floor area occurred around the hearth. The hearth itself was roughly centered in the front half of the...

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