Old Stone Fort

Submitted by Partlow on Friday, 18 March 2005 Page Views: 3768

Iron Age and Later PrehistoryCountry: United States State: Tennessee Type: Hillfort

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The aboriginal site of Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park is on a plateau just a couple of miles to the southeast of Manchester, which is to the northwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The area is at the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau in the southeastern United States. As one approaches the entrance to the complex from the east, the earth & rock mounds terminating the perimeter walls on either side of the entrance are clearly prominent. Beyond these mounds which flank the entrance, is a 4 foot deep trench which was originally 8 feet deep when the complex was used. Beyond this are the walls of the rectangular structure which run parallel approximately 90 feet and are about 5 feet high now. The entrance ends of these walls turn inward to form a passage narrower than the corridor. At the end of this construction the wall to the north (or right) turns at a right angle to the south, herding you out facing the south. The corridor is aligned so that the summer solstice sunrise shines through the entrance and down the corridor against the wall at the western end of the structure

If you were to continue on this course around the immense oval shaped ceremonial area of 50 acres which is elongated on an East/West orientation, you would be traveling diocel along the stone wall that runs the perimeter from the southern mound of the entrance structure to the cliff that completes it to at the opposite end of the ceremonial field. A large grove of trees blocks any view of this. The field was dowsed and found to be encompassing the intersection of East/West & North/South ley lines and several other variously oriented ley lines. At the base of the southern stone wall, descends a very steep incline down to the Little Duck River. A cave can be seen on the other side of this river. On the other end of the cliff, the wall begins again, running northwest and then northeast to the bluff of Big Falls on the Big Duck River. This wall is surrounded on the outside by a mote dug into the old riverbed. The wall begins again from the other end of the bluff and ends at the north mound of the entrance structure.

The construction itself is found to be 2,000 years old by the archaeological record; but by the same studies, was found to be under development since 7,000 years BP. The Woodland culture, to which the stone construction is connected, is said to have used the site for 500 years. There has been no evidence found of any occupation, which leads to the conclusion that this site was strictly for ceremonial purposes. The walls are of stone inner and outer cores that run parallel throughout. The trench in between the two walls is floored with shale slabs, then filled and capped with earth and rubble. Due to wear and weathering, the walls have diminished and the earth has spilled over to hide any appearance of the stone.

This site is said to be near a capital of the native “province of Chlaca “ recorded by DeSoto’s chronicler during the late Mississippian period in 1540. It is said by some to have not been unique at one time, but is now the only one known due to development over the course of the historic period. There are also stories of the site being haunted, built by Atlanteans, Lemurians, Nightgoers, Mayans, Prince Madoc’s men, and the DeSoto expedition. Though it does resemble a British hill fort in some respects, there is no doubt from the archaeological record that it was used by Native Americans from the Archaic on through the Middle Woodland periods.

For more on this site see our Old Stone Fort site page, and see also pictures of the site at http://www.ghostweb.com

Guide to pictures on linked website: Left top to right bottom: (1) White-tailed deer on Big Duck River at the western base of the complex. (2) Museum/shop. (3) Sign near entrance to structure. (4) Eastward view down the corridor from the entrance. (5) Eastward view of the open ceremonial field from the west end of the rectangular structure. (6) Diagram of site showing the entrance at bottom.

Note: The Portal urgently requires photographs of North American mounds - can you help?