30 Days of Tennessee Archaeology, Day 14
Kevin E. Smith
Middle Tennessee State University
On August 21, 2017, about 85 members of the Bledsoe’s Lick Historical Association and Middle Cumberland Archaeological Society gathered at the Castalian Springs Mounds in Sumner County, Tennessee to share the experience of a total solar eclipse (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The August 2017 Eclipse Event. Upper: Time lapse sequence of the eclipse at the mounds. (Kassandra Hassler). Lower left and right: Assembled group during totality observing from Mound 2 and adjacent areas.
While the event itself was stunning, the setting provided an opportunity to reflect on eclipses experienced by the ancient inhabitants of this Mississippian era town and earthwork complex. Heavily dependent on maize as the staple crop, the people of Castalian Springs (and elsewhere in the Mississippian world) were highly cognizant of the movements of the sun and the changing of the seasons. Our observations of the site during the solstices and equinoxes over the past decade are suggestive that all of the major mounds and earthworks of the site are laid out according to a solar grid corresponding to annual movements of the sun – in fact, every single structure on the site except one is aligned with this “town plan” (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Summer Solstice Sunrise at Castalian Springs Mounds, 2012 and inset showing the track of the sun as documented on solstice and equinox events.
Occupied continually for over three centuries (AD 1050-1400), the ancient town is situated in a propitious location insofar as major solar eclipses go – during the period of occupation, the shadow of the moon passed over first a village and later a town a total of eight times during major solar eclipses (Table 1).
While untestable from an archaeological perspective, the recurrent events of the 1200s may have had a profound impact on the history of the town. The June 13, 1257 total solar eclipse was the third of the century – closely enough spaced that it is possible that some older residents of the town experienced all three (depending on the clouds of course). Coincident with or shortly after that total eclipse, the entire globe would darken in 1258-1259 with the eruption of Mount Samalas in Indonesia – estimated to be the largest volcanic eruption of the last several thousand years. Early historic documents from Japan and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere document the devastating impacts of the event on agriculture there. During the historic era, the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in April 1815 – although perhaps not quite as large as Samalas – provides some comparative information on potential effects of the earlier event. On 8 Sep 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Albert Gallatin, his former Secretary of State, “We have had the most extraordinary year of drought & cold ever known in the history of America. In June, instead of 3 3/4 I. our average of rain for that month, we had only ½ of an inch, in Aug. instead of 9 1/6 I. our average, we had only 8/10 of an inch. And it still continues. The summer too has been as cold as a moderate winter…” The climatic impacts eventually led 1816 to be called The Year Without Summer.
Could the total eclipse have been viewed in hindsight as an omen of the volcanic winter? Unfortunately, such an assertion perhaps begs too much specificity of the archaeological record – we may never be able to truly address such a question through archaeological research.
Figure 3. Our Lady of Castalian Springs – the most iconic creation of the people of Castalian Springs (Photograph presumably by W.E. Myer ca. 1915, Courtesy Samuel D. Smith).
However, another coincidental event – the major eclipse of April 12, 1279 – followed less than two decades later. If we pile yet another set of assumptions on our already unsteady stack (i.e. that it wasn’t cloudy that day and that they did indeed associate the prior eclipse as an omen), yet another intriguing but untestable coincidence emerges. At approximately the same time as this fourth major eclipse of the 13th century, members of the Castalian Springs community embarked on a transformation of their community from a village to a town. Our multi-year project at the site suggests that all of the major mounds and earthworks were constructed relatively rapidly between about AD 1275 and 1325 – including the construction of many new large temples/religious structures atop them.
A florescence of new ritual objects appear at Castalian Springs during this flurry of construction as well – including some of the most spectacular artistic creations of the Middle Cumberland region. We argue that the first of the negative-painted female effigy bottles were created at Castalian Springs during this period, along with the iconic Scalloped Triskele and Cox Style marine shell pendants and negative painted sun-circle bottles (Figure 3). We arguably “know” that this amazing set of ritual objects appeared at about the same time – whether they are related in part to solar events and later droughts of the 1300s remains in the realm of future scholarship (and frankly in part to speculation).
Figure 4. Early in the eclipse – a gift from a cloud.
What we do know for certain, is that our gathered group of friends and associates had a great visit with the 2017 eclipse at a place on the landscape that let us ponder on all of these possibilities and speculations. Our single cloud of the day came through early and actually let me capture a great photo of the start (Figure 4).
- Figure 5. The eclipse projected through a common kitchen colander on the cloth.
And thanks to our friends Tim who brought a common kitchen colander and Georgia who brought a bolt of cloth, the kids and the rest of us were able to enjoy these multiple images all day long (Figure 5).Those of us – professional or otherwise – who love the interaction of the past and present had an amazing opportunity to share this momentous event with each other while contemplating the amazing ancient town where we gathered. A fitting opportunity for members of the two private organizations that have worked long and hard over the past three decades to preserve this site for all Tennesseans.
Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology 