AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE NORRIS 

 BASIN IN EASTERN TENNESSEE 



Bv William S. Webb 



INTKODUCTTON 



As early as August 1933 the suggestion was made by interested 

 citizens that the Tennessee Valley Authority should undertake 

 archaeological investigations in the areas to be flooded by the build- 

 ing of dams on the streams in the Tennessee Valley. It was recog- 

 nized that the construction of dams and the consequent flooding of 

 large areas adjacent to such construction would destroy all records of 

 prehistoric occupation and forever prevent future archaeological 

 investigation of such inundated regions. 



The importance of such areas for archaeological investigation is 

 at once apparent. For prehistoric man the rivers were his highways. 

 The rivers were attractive to aboriginal man also because there he 

 found a never-ending source of food in great quantity which was 

 comparatively easy to obtain. The fertile bottom lands furnished 

 ideal sites for the location of villages, especially for those peoples 

 practicing rudimentary agriculture. Since this region was the 

 known home of diverse Indian tribes in early historic times, it was 

 to be expected that the areas along the streams of the Tennessee 

 Valley would show much evidence of prehistoric occupation. 



While the desirability of an archaeological survey of this region 

 was obvious, the means for its accomplishment were not at once 

 available. Many obstacles stood in the way of such a project. With 

 the initiation of the Civil Works Administration, however, at least 

 one of these obstacles was removed. It was immediately suggested 

 that an archaeological survey of the areas to be inundated was one 

 of the important projects which could be sponsored by the Tennessee 

 Valley Authority and in which Civil Works Administration labor 

 could well be employed. 



In December 1933 a conference was called in Knoxville, which was 

 attended by representatives of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the 

 University of Tennessee, and the University of Alabama. Mr. Neil 

 M. Judd, curator of archaeology of the United States National 



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