The 2010 Cumberland River Survey Emergency Survey and Archaic Shell Site Composition in the Western Middle Cumberland River Valley

Over three days beginning in the early morning of May 1, 2010, heavy storms caused severe flooding and riverbank erosion along portions of the Cumberland River throughout Middle Tennessee. That event caused significant damage to numerous prehistoric archaeological sites, and resulted in substantial looting of newlyuncovered site deposits and subsequent shoreline assessments of 128 previously recorded prehistoric sites along 67.5 river miles of the Cumberland River between Cheatham and Old Hickory Dams, as well as sampling of selected, highly endangered deposits. As a result of the emergency river survey, investigators were able to collect significant new data regarding the composition of nine shell-bearing Archaic sites along the Cumberland River in the western Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee. Those include new information regarding site composition and the collection of radiocarbon samples. This chapter describes the history of archaeological site disturbance in the region and summarizes the findings of the post-flood survey as they relate to molluscan species composition of Archaic shell-bearing sites in the region.