How can preservation help/hinder an archaeological investigation?
Preservation of artifacts is affected by the climate and soils in the region. In dry climates, such as Egypt and the Southwest United States, artifacts such as wood, baskets, cloth, hides, feathers, etc. are well preserved, even after thousands of years. However, the climate in the Tennessee Valley is wet and the soils are acidic – which causes organic objects such as the ones listed above to rot quickly. It is estimated that half of the material remains of the native peoples who lived in the Southeastern United States are now gone. Back to Top Background on the Native Peoples of the Tennessee Valley Native Americans have lived in the Tennessee Valley for at least 12,000 years. Here, especially in river valleys, they found resources on which to build lives and societies. In 1933, the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) was created and began plans to construct dams along many of those rivers to produce electrical power and reduce flooding. They and others realized that impounded waters wou
