Freels Farm Mounds, Archaeological burial site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States.
Freels Farm Mounds is an ancient burial mound in Tennessee made from compacted clay with small pieces of charcoal mixed throughout. The structure measures roughly 40 feet across and rises about 8 feet, and it once held multiple graves from pre-contact times.
The mound was built as a burial place over centuries before European settlement, when groups lived throughout the Tennessee region. Archaeologists discovered and documented the graves in the 1930s before the location was covered by water.
The burial practices at this location show how people lived and honored their dead between 500 and 1000 CE. Different items placed in the graves suggest a society where some individuals held higher status than others.
The mound now lies underwater beneath a reservoir and cannot be visited directly. Those interested in the history and artifacts should visit the McClung Museum in Knoxville, where all the excavated items are displayed and preserved.
The site was excavated in the 1930s, revealing 17 separate burials and numerous objects from daily life that provided unusual insight into how people lived. This large concentration of graves in one location made it exceptionally valuable for understanding the regional population of that era.
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