The McMahan Mound Site ( 40SV1), also known as McMahan Indian Mound, is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

located in

Sevierville, Tennessee Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...

just above the confluence of the West Fork and the Little Pigeon rivers in Sevier County.

Site description

The site consists of a high and wide

platform mound Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

, with a large associated village surrounded by a palisade. It was occupied by Dallas phase peoples of the

South Appalachian Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building large, earth ...

between 1200 and 1500 CE. At the time when the ancient mound was first investigated scientifically in 1881 by a party associated with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the earthwork was located on a farm owned by the McMahan family. The mound is now named for that family.

Excavations

Hightower style Double Birdman gorget Hixon site HRoe 2012

Excavations by William H. Holmes in 1881 unearthed burials, arrow-points, a marble pipe,

Mississippian culture pottery Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE) found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast. It is often characterized by the adoption and use of riverine ( ...

, and numerous engraved shell gorgets and columnella pendants. Several items of European manufacture were also found in the excavations, including brass pins and cylindrical glass beads. These suggested that the mound site had been inhabited during the time of European contact in the American Southeast. One fragmentary engraved shell gorget found during the excavations was particularly noteworthy. It depicts two S.E.C.C. "Birdmen" with wings and talons for feet, grasping each other by the neck with one hand and wielding ceremonial flint blades with the other. This type of gorget is carved in what is now known as the ''Hightower style''. Holmes also uncovered several "rattlesnake" and mask-style gorgets, as well as a curious gorget with looping lines that Holmes described as "very interesting object.....The figure is so obscure that considerable study is necessary in making it out." These pieces are in the styles now known as the ''Lick Creek style'' and ''Citico style'' for the rattlesnake gorgets, ''Chickamauga style'' for the mask-like gorgets, and ''Williams Island'' or ''Spaghetti style'' for the last.

References

{{Pre-Columbian North America South Appalachian Mississippian culture Geography of Sevier County, Tennessee Archaeological sites in Tennessee Mounds in Tennessee Sevierville, Tennessee