Description: Red leather-bound book with gold embossed design of an effigy pot on front cover. Pages are black and white, with engraved images based on drawings of artifacts.
Historical Note: This groundbreaking book was the result of early field work on Native American excavations in Middle Tennessee. Author Gates P. Thruston, a former general in the Union Army, who had served under General George Thomas during the Civil War, married into a Nashville family after the war. Thruston, who was active in both the Tennessee Historical Society and the Nashville Art Association in the 1880s and 1890s, had been passionate about archaeology since his youth. He exhibited relics and specimens from his collection at the Tennessee Centennial in 1897, which coincided with publication of the second edition of the book. Thruston donated his extensive collection of artifacts excavated in the Middle Tennessee area to Vanderbilt University in 1907. They are now in the care of the Tennessee State Museum.
Institution: Gates P. Thruston Collection, Vanderbilt University, Courtesy Tennessee State Museum
Publisher: Robert Clarke, Cincinnati
Rights: Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Tennessee State Museum.
Digital Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
