Sellars Farm Mound and Village
Sellars Site (40Wi1) · Long Hunter Phase Sellars Farm
Mississippian Middle Cumberland (1000–1300 CE)·Mississippian (Sellars phase)·🇺🇸 Tennessee, Wilson County, United States
About
About Sellars Farm Mound and Village
Middle Cumberland Mississippian (1000–1300 CE) platform mound town on Spring Creek 3 km south of Cumberland River: single 5-m-high substructure mound (60×40 m) with refurbished summit structure and burned daub, surrounded by 1.6 ha palisaded village (ca. 30 houses), cemetery and plaza. Stone-box graves 800+ documented; shell gorgets of Nashville Negative Painted style distinctive. Interpreted as satellite hamlet of Castalian Springs chiefdom; excavations by Myer (1920s) and Moore (1990s) established chronological sequence linking Long Hunter to Sellars Farm phase.
Why it mattersType-site for Sellars Farm phase; exemplifies stone-box grave tradition unique to Central Tennessee Mississippian.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Origin of limestone slab box grave custom
- 02Health stress markers high infant mortality
Theories
- 01Dispersed hamlet of Castalian hierarchy
- 02Autonomous villages networked via Cumberland exchange
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1100–1250 CE
- Period
- Mississippian Middle Cumberland (1000–1300 CE)
- Culture
- Mississippian (Sellars phase)
- Purpose
- Village ceremonial mound and burial center
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1100–1250 CE
Initial construction
c. 1402 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
36.1789° N · 86.3703° W · 148 m · 2 mapped features
Platform mound (40Wi1)
pyramid60×40 m mound 5 m high with summit rebuilt 3 times
36.1791° N · 86.3702° WStone-box grave cemetery
cemeteryCluster of 80+ limestone slab box graves south of mound
36.1786° N · 86.3704° W
Gallery