{"product_id":"mastodons-to-mississippians-adventures-in-nashvilles-deep-past-9780826502155","title":"Mastodons to Mississippians: Adventures in Nashville's Deep Past","description":"Was Nashville once home to a giant race of humans? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e No, but in 1845, you could have paid a quarter to see the remains of one who allegedly lived here before The Flood. That summer, Middle Tennessee well diggers had unearthed the skeleton of an American mastodon. Before it went on display, it was modified and augmented with wooden \"bones\" to make it look more like a human being and passed off as an antediluvian giant. Then, like so many Nashvillians, after a little success here, it went on tour and disappeared from history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But this fake history of a race of Pre-Nashville Giants isn't the only bad history of what, and who, was here before Nashville. Sources written for schoolchildren and the public lead us to believe that the first Euro-Americans arrived in Nashville to find a pristine landscape inhabited only by the buffalo and boundless nature, entirely untouched by human hands. Instead, the roots of our city extend some 14,000 years before Illinois lieutenant-governor-turned-fur-trader Timothy Demonbreun set foot at Sulphur Dell. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e During the period between about AD 1000 and 1425, a thriving Native American culture known to archaeologists as the Middle Cumberland Mississippian lived along the Cumberland River and its tributaries in today's Davidson County. Earthen mounds built to hold the houses or burials of the upper class overlooked both banks of the Cumberland near what is now downtown Nashville. Surrounding densely packed village areas including family homes, cemeteries, and public spaces stretched for several miles through Shelby Bottoms, and the McFerrin Park, Bicentennial Mall, and Germantown neighborhoods. Other villages were scattered across the Nashville landscape, including in the modern neighborhoods of Richland, Sylvan Park, Lipscomb, Duncan Wood, Centennial Park, Belle Meade, White Bridge, and Cherokee Park. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This book is the first public-facing effort by legitimate archaeologists to articulate the history of what happened here before Nashville happened.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-11912614\"\u003eAaron Deter-Wolf\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-4706364\"\u003eTanya M. Peres\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vanderbilt University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/16\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 144\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.42lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.51w x 0.34d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780826502155\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0826502156\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SOC\"\u003eSocial Science\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SOC003000\"\u003eArchaeology\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036120\"\u003eUnited States | State \u0026amp; Local | South (AL,AR,FL,GA,KY,LA,MS,\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS029000\"\u003eNorth American\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAaron Deter-Wolf\u003c\/b\u003e is a prehistoric archaeologist for the Tennessee Division of Archaeology, and \u003cb\u003eTanya M. Peres\u003c\/b\u003e is an associate professor of anthropology at Florida State University. They are the editors of \u003ci\u003eThe Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBaking, Bourbon, and Black Drink: Foodways Archaeology in the Southeastern United States\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vanderbilt University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42685789798637,"sku":"9780826502155","price":20.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_6bc76d85-3f32-418a-9417-925af8222723.jpg?v=1649770856","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/mastodons-to-mississippians-adventures-in-nashvilles-deep-past-9780826502155","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}