SITE (always) UNDER CONSTRUCTION       

I am Dr. Jay Franklin, Assistant Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at East Tennessee State University. My primary research areas are prehistoric archaeology of the Southeastern U. S., karst archaeology of the Southern Appalachians (caves and rock shelters), stone tool technologies, & material culture.

                                                                                               

I teach courses in archaeology and physical anthropology at ETSU. In the summer, I offer an archaeological field school on the Upper Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee.

Typical Fall course offerings:

Typical Spring course offerings:

Annual Summer offering (1st Session):

SOAA 4400: Archaeological Field School

RESEARCH:

The Upper Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee

I have been conducting archaeological survey & testing on the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP) for eleven years. There are hundreds of caves and thousands of rock shelters on the plateau. Prehistoric Native Americans used these locations for shelter, hunting camps, habitation, flint & mineral mining, and the production of artwork for several thousand years. My initial interest involved investigations of a deep cave site, 3rd Unnamed Cave. Since then I have largely been surveying and excavating rock shelters in the region. I have also been documenting bedrock mortar hole sites on the UCP, places where aboriginal peoples ground and processed nut mast. Finally, I am also conducting survey to determine the distribution of cave and rock art sites in the region.

Chucalissa Indian Village, Memphis, Tennessee (in progress)

Mound A excavations, 2003-2004

Upper East Tennessee (in progress)

The Early Woodland Period of upper East Tennessee

    current research on the Early Woodland

Appalachian Caverns (aka Linville Cave, 40SL24)

Appalachian Caverns official site

Protohistoric Archaeology in upper East Tennessee

    The Holliston Mills Site: a protohistoric (AD 1400-1600) Native American town on the Holston River

Tipton Haynes State Historical Site