Archaeology at Bosley Spring

This information to The Dutchmans Curve Project by provided by Prehistoric Archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf

Today, the stream terraces overlooking Richland Creek are part of the modern city of Nashville. However, hundreds of years in the past, long before the first European settlers ever set foot in Tennessee, this area was home to a large town of prehistoric Native Americans.

In 1877, archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University excavated five prehistoric mounds at Bosley Spring on a farm belonging to Ms. Gertrude Bowling. These mounds were located east of Richland Creek, between what is today Harding Rd. and the Nashville, Chattanooga, & St. Louis Railroad. The largest of the mounds at Bowling Farm measured 50 feet in diameter and stood 6 feet high. Each of the five mounds contained large numbers of prehistoric burials and artifacts including pottery, shell, and stone tools.

From these artifacts, archaeologists know that the mounds were built sometime between A.D. 1000 and 1300. This is part of the era known as the Mississippian Period. The mounds at Bowling Farm were the center of a prehistoric town and surrounding villages that stretched for several miles along both sides of Richland Creek. Artifacts from this settlement have been found beneath what is today McCabe Park, the Whitland neighborhood, and along White Bridge Pike.

This information to The Dutchmans Curve Project by provided by Prehistoric Archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf