Mialoquo (Cherokee town)
Mialoquo | |
Location | Monroe County, Tennessee |
---|---|
Nearest city | Vonore |
Coordinates | 35°36′55″N 84°14′26″W / 35.61534°N 84.24048°W |
Built | c. 1760 A.D. |
NRHP reference No. | 78002616 |
Added to NRHP | 1978 |
Mialoquo (also "Malaquo", "Big Island", or "Great Island") is a prehistoric and historic
Both the Mialoquo site and Rose Island are now submerged by the
Geography
The Little Tennessee River enters Tennessee from a gap between the
Wildcat Point, a cliff overlooking the now submerged Rose Island and Mialoquo sites, is connected to Tellico Parkway via a seasonal hiking trail. The hills and knobs that flank the river on both sides are part of the Appalachian Ridge-and-Valley Physiographic Province.
History
According to ethnologist
Historical evidence suggests Mialoquo may have been formed by refugees fleeing the destruction of the Lower and Middle towns by Colonial forces in 1761. John Norton wrote in his journal that after
By the time the
Archaeological findings
Cyrus Thomas, working for the Smithsonian Institution, conducted a mound survey in the Little Tennessee Valley in the 1880s, and claimed to have located Mialoquo.[5] After the construction of Tellico Dam was announced in 1967, the University of Tennessee conducted salvage excavations at both Rose Island (40MR44) and Mialoquo (40MR3).
Rose Island
Rose Island was being used by hunter-gatherers on a seasonal basis by 6000 BC, and possibly as early as 7500 BC (the Icehouse Bottom site, which yielded material dating to 7500 BC, was located just over 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Rose Island). These early inhabitants probably made use of the chert outcroppings found in the surrounding hills. Rose Island also saw a period of significant occupation from approximately 350 BC through 100 AD, during the Woodland period.[6]
Archaic period artifacts found on Rose Island include notched and stemmed projectile points, splintered wedges, various ground stone artifacts, and a drill.[7] Woodland period artifacts include projectile points, drills, scrapers, axes, gorgets, and a bird effigy. Several Woodland-period burials were also uncovered at Rose Island.[8]
Mialoquo
The Mialoquo site was probably occupied as early as the Archaic period, but to what extent is unknown. Of the 60 features uncovered at the site, 8 (mostly refuse pits) were classified as Mississippian, the rest were Cherokee. The distribution of the features suggests a short-term occupation. The Qualla pottery type— which is associated with the Middle towns in North Carolina— comprised 13.5% of the site's 6,000+ sherds, lending support to the theory that refugees from the Middle towns lived at Mialoquo in the 1760s. The pottery assemblage was similar to that found at nearby Tomotley, also believed to have been a "refugee town."[9]
The features uncovered at Mialoquo included the postmold layouts of a townhouse, 6 dwellings, and one smaller rectangular structure with an unknown purpose. The dwellings included one circular winter structure/rectangular summer structure pairing typical of Overhill houses. The townhouse was octagonal in shape and had a diameter ranging between 52 feet (16 m) to 60 feet (18 m). The rectangular dwellings had lengths ranging from 22 feet (6.7 m) to 32 feet (9.8 m) and widths ranging from 12 feet (3.7 m) to 14 feet (4.3 m). The circular "winter house" had a diameter of 23.5 feet (7.2 m) and the unknown rectangular structure had dimensions of 15 feet (4.6 m) x 9.6 feet (2.9 m).[10]
Nearly 5,000 stone artifacts were recovered at Mialoquo, including projectile points, scrapers, drills, and a stone pipe. Euro-American artifacts uncovered at Mialoquo included tobacco pipes, gun parts and ammunition, glass beads, and two Jew's harps.[11]
Notes
References
- Chapman, Jefferson, The Rose Island Site and Bifurcate Point Tradition (University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 14, 1975)
- Mooney, James Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee (Nashville, Tenn.: C and R Elder, 1972)
- Russ, Kurt and Jefferson Chapman, Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) (University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983)