Geological survey: Perry site

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Geological survey: Perry site 

They were a number of geological surveys in Alabama as part of Alabama Museum of Natural History and prepared with the assistance of the WPA and the cooperation of the TVA. 

One of the geological survey’s conducted was at the Perry site on the northern end of Seven Mile Island and the Tennessee River near Sheffield, Alabama. 

Excavation of important selected sites began May 4, 1936. 
In their excavations they found charred shell, flint, pottery, fire pits and burials of both humans and dogs. At the Perry site alone 358 burials were reported. From the general excavation exclusive of burial associations, there were 12,361 Flint artifacts. 

The Pickwick Landing Dam on the Tennessee River was authorized by Congress November 19, 1934; the Dam was completed and the gates were closed February 8, 1938.  At that time the reservoir began to fill and the rising water began to submerge scores of archaeological sites in the Pickwick basin. 
The Alabama Museum of Natural History, located on the campus at University of Alabama, is one of the state’s main repositories of human artifacts. Founded in 1831, it is the oldest museum in Alabama. 
Archeologist David L. DeJarnette was hired in 1929 and conducted many of the major excavations, including the Perry site. He went on to train a whole generation of Alabama archeologists as a professor at the university’s anthropology department.

 

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