Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area
Address:
445 Poplar Hill Road, Lebanon, TN 37090
Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area
Sellars Farm is one of the few Native American mounds in Tennessee protected under government ownership. The area contains the remains of a fortified pre-historic Native American Village of the Mississippian Cultural Period occupied from 1000AD to 1300 AD. The Mississippian Period is characterized by evidence of earthen flat- top mounds with structures built on top, permanently fortified villages, and a structured society that held religious ceremonies. There is also evidence of a maize- based agricultural society during this Period. The Sellars Farm land was part of a Revolutionary land grant to Nathaniel Lawrence. Later descendants, the Lindsley family, invited Dr. Frederick W. Putnam of the Peabody Museum Harvard University to excavate the site in 1877. James Sellers purchased the land in 1909 and cultivated what had been the Mississippian Cultural Period village area. Between 1923 and 1939, four stone, human form statues were found on the farm. One nicknamed, Sandy, is of a kneeling male figure and is now part of the permanent collection at UT’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. On March 21, 2014, Governor Haslam signed into law the bill making “Sandy” the official state artifact. The site is open from 8:00 am to sunset every day for self-guided walking tours and managed by Long Hunter State Park. For more information call 615-885-2422.
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