webb] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORRIS BASIN 37^ 



distinction between the validity which should attach to "conclusions" 

 and the uncertainty inherent in "speculations," it is believed never- 

 theless that it may be worth while to "speculate" upon the possible 

 historic connection of these people, and endeavor to present the 

 evidence upon which tentative conclusions may be reached. Such 

 conclusions, predicated upon unproven hypotheses, however reason- 

 able, are to be regarded as tentative only, and to be subject to con- 

 firmation or rejection in the light of later and better information. 

 The Norris Basin is about 40 miles north of Little Tennessee River, 

 which was the site, in historic times, of the Over Hill Cherokee. 

 This branch of the Cherokee Nation was found in possession of this 

 region by the early travelers — the first white men to come into east 

 Tennessee. Since there are no historic records of any early Indian 

 occupancy of the region about Norris Basin, or of any portion of 

 east Tennessee nearer to it than the settlements of the Over Hill 

 Cherokee, it is natural to inquire what cultural connection, if any, 

 may have existed in prehistoric times between these areas. Obvi- 

 ously it would be highly desirable to compare the cultural complex 

 found on sites in the Norris Basin with a complex of traits defi- 

 nitely diagnostic of Cherokee material culture. In seeking to do 

 this it becomes at once apparent that it is not easy to determine 

 what traits are definitely diagnostic of Cherokee material culture. 

 In order to set up such a criterion it was determined in this study to 

 list the traits as reported by a number of writers who have exca- 

 vated sites having some measure of known connections with historic 

 Cherokee occupation. The four groups of traits selected to consti- 

 tute the Cherokee cultural complex are listed below with brief ex- 

 planations concerning each. 



(1) M. R. Harrington 5 reported on Cherokee traits from upper 

 Tennessee River where he excavated a number of separate sites. The 

 chiefest of these were Bussells Island at the mouth of the Little 

 Tennessee River and Hiwassee Island at the mouth of the Hiwassee 

 River. Traits from these two sites and others on the adjacent main- 

 land excavated by him were combined into one list under the desig- 

 nation "Harrington." Only such traits were selected as were stated 

 to be, in his opinion, assignable to the Cherokee. This seemed justi- 

 fied since the purpose of this compilation was to obtain a composite 

 picture of Cherokee material culture. 



(2) Cyrus Thomas 6 in his series of mound explorations, beginning 

 about 1882 and continuing for many years, excavated many of the 

 large mounds which mark the center of various important towns 

 of the Over Hill Cherokee on Little Tennessee River. In his report 



8 Harrington, 1922. 

 •Thomas, 1890. 



