Field trip highlights medieval Native Americans

On Wednesday, March 15, the ninth and tenth-graders in the Middle Ages Beyond Europe history elective traveled well beyond Europe to Kingston Springs, Tenn., to see the Mound Bottom State Archaeological Site and gain a firsthand appreciation for Native American achievements in middle Tennessee before the arrival of European explorers and colonists.

Constructed in stages between 1000 and 1350 CE, corresponding with Europe's High Middle Ages, Mound Bottom was a major urban center for the Mississippian civilization in Middle Tennessee. Archaeologists currently suggest immigrants from the major Mississippian city in modern Cahokia, Ill. founded the center at Mound Bottom. Those immigrants brought with them the practice of building platform mounds for social elites, among other cultural elements, and triggered an increase in population and town development in the region that still marks Nashville and its suburbs.

Students in the Middle Ages Beyond Europe class prepared for the field trip by reviewing the defining characteristics of Mississippian culture, then reading a proposed chronology for the Mississippian period in Middle Tennessee authored by Michael Moore, state archaeologist for Tennessee, and Kevin Smith, professor of anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University. The chronology sketched out what might be described as the rise and fall of the Mississippians in Middle Tennessee.

Students took that information with them to the Mound Bottom site, where they were guided by Aaron Deter-Wolf, prehistoric archaeologist with the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. Students learned more about the monumental construction at Mound Bottom (the primary structure, Mound A, is the largest prehistoric structure in the state) in addition to the questions that remain about the site and about daily life for the residents of Mound Bottom and other Mississippian towns. 

Judging by their questions and responses, students learned a great deal from the field trip.

Victoria Christiansen-Galina '20 said, "I was expecting ... a small, baby hill and I was surprised to see a carefully planned-out mound. The sheer size of the mound and the complexity of their society surprised me."

Gordon Yancey '20 agreed, "I was surprised at how much land there was at the site. I didn't think it was as big as it was."

Surprise at the scale of the site was a constant theme for the students.

"The big mound was huge, and I was not expecting that. There were also little mounds surrounding the plaza; that was really cool," noted Campbell Luschen '20.

Phoebe Stern '20 was also expecting smaller mounds and fewer of them. "The size of the flat area [the central plaza] and the large mound were all surprising and not what I was expecting," Stern said. "I learned a lot from the trip. It put the mounds into a more realistic idea."

Santiago Olivares-Mejia '20 was also surprised by the number of mounds, but for him the highlight of the trip was "being able to go on the mounds and feel like you were above everyone ... I was thinking about how much time and effort it must have taken for them to build the mounds."

Ellie Hollahan '19 observed, "On the field trip I learned how these people actually went about their day in this area. What I learned in class became a reality in a way; I really liked this field trip."

Hopefully, students and their families can take what they have learned about the Native American legacy in Middle Tennessee and help shape Nashville's community response to Native American issues in Tennessee and beyond.