Tennessee has a rich heritage predating modern history, and it’s all around us, literally anywhere you look, right down to the dirt under your feet.
Walk any plowed field after a spring rain, wander the shores of our lakes reservoirs, creeks and rivers, and you could discover echoes of that past in the many stone tools, pottery and other items those people left behind.
I’ve been hooked ever since I stumbled across my first arrowhead in a walk across a field. Now, whenever I spy a patch of bare earth, I always scour the ground for a telltale shard of flint. Rarely , when out on a “hunt” have I failed to find some evidence of those who walked here before.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing, Tennessee’s outstanding State Museum in Nashville has an excellent collection and section chronicling the local prehistory and prior cultures.p. If you’re up to something less formal, check out the relic or “arrowhead shows” held in various sites across the state throughout the year. This past weekend I stopped by the fall show at Baxter Elementary School in Baxter, TN in Putnam County.
It’s sponsored by the Volunteer State Archaeological Society, one of 19 state groups affiliated with the Central State Archaeological Societies
These shows, usually free, give you a dirt under the fingernails intro to archaeology, as amateurs show off their collections, and share stories of their finds with anyone who will listen. The relics they’ve massed are often museum quality, and many are offered for sale. Displays this weekend included arrow and speak points, all types of tools, grinding stones and bowls, bone awls, beads, axe heads