Chucalissa

Chucalissa Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa (2009)
35°3′45″N 90°7′44″W / 35.06250°N 90.12889°W / 35.06250; -90.12889
Area	160 acres (65 ha)[1]
NRHP reference No.	73001830
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	May 7, 1973[2]
Designated NHL	April 19, 1994[3]

The C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa is located on and exhibits excavated materials of the Mississippian culture archaeological site known as Chucalissa (40 SY 1) which means "abandoned house" in Chickasaw. The site is located adjacent to the T. O. Fuller State Park within the city of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Chucalissa was designated National Historic Landmark in 1994 due to its importance as one of the best-preserved and major prehistoric settlement sites in the region.^[1]

Description

Chucalissa is a Walls phase mound and plaza complex that was occupied, abandoned and reoccupied several times throughout its history, spanning from 1000 to 1550 CE. It is located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Other contemporaneous groups in the area include the Parkin phase, Menard phase, and the Nodena phase. It is known for the well preserved architectural, floral, faunal, and human osteological remains excavated there. During the early 1540s the Hernando de Soto Expedition passed through the area, stopping at many villages along the way. It is thought that the Walls phase may be the Province of Quizquiz encountered by de Soto on the banks of the Mississippi River. There is no evidence that Chucalissa itself was visited by the expedition, as it is thought to have been abandoned at the time.^[4]

C. H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa

Civilian Conservation Corps workers discovered Native American artifacts on the site in 1938 and archaeological excavations of this Mississippian mound complex were initiated. The C. H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa and the rest of the village grounds have been operated by the University of Memphis since 1962.^[5]

In 1973 Chucalissa Indian Village was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[2] Later, in 1994, it was declared a National Historic Landmark.^[1][3] The archaeological site and grounds are managed by the C. H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa staff and students. The museum, named after its founding director, curates an extensive collection of artifacts recovered during a 40-year period of systematic excavations. The site features a Mississippian mound complex, nature trail and arboretum, hands-on archaeology lab, and exhibits that explore the history and life-ways of Native Americans of the historic and prehistoric southeastern United States.

See also

• Mississippian culture
• Parkin Archeological State Park
• Nodena site
• List of museums in Tennessee
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Shelby County, Tennessee

References

Middle
Mississippian

American Bottom and Upper Mississippi	Aztalan Big Eddy Cahokia Monks Mound Mound 34 Mound 72 Ramey state Woodhenge Cloverdale Dickson Mounds Emerald Acropolis Emmons Cemetery Horseshoe Lake John Chapman Kuhn Station Larson Lunsford-Pulcher McCune Mitchell Orendorf Sleeth Starr Steed-Kisker culture Sugarloaf Mound
Lower Ohio River and Confluence area	Adams site Dogtooth Bend Mounds Kincaid Mounds Marshall Site Millstone Bluff Orr-Herl Rowlandton Mound Towosahgy Turk Site Twin Mounds Ware Mounds Wickliffe Mounds
Middle Ohio River	Angel Mounds Angel phase Annis Mound Bone Bank Caborn-Welborn culture Ellerbusch Hovey Lake-Klein Hovey Lake District Murphy Prather Slack Farm Tolu Welborn Village Yankeetown
Tennessee and Cumberland	Backusburg Beasley Mounds Brentwood Library Brick Church Castalian Springs Dunbar Cave Fewkes Group Hiwassee Island Link Farm Mound Bottom Riverview Sellars Obion Old Town Swallow Bluff
Central and Lower Mississippi	Belle Meade Boone's Boyd Campbell Carson Chucalissa Denmark Eaker Janet's Menard-Hodges Murphy Nodena Nodena phase Owl Creek Parkin Quigualtam Tipton phase Tunica Koroa Yazoo Walls phase

South Appalachian
MississippianFort Walton culturePensacola culturePlaquemine
MississippianCaddoan
MississippianUpper Mississippian
cultures

Oneota	Anker Beattie Park Blood Run Carcajou Point Fifield Fisher Mound Group Gentleman Farm Grand Village of the Illinois Griesmer Hartley Fort Hotel Plaza Hoxie Farm Huber Juntunen Knoll Spring Mero site Moccasin Bluff Oak Forest Palos Plum Island Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs Schwerdt Summer Island
Fort Ancient culture	Alligator Effigy Mound Clover Dodge Leo Petroglyph Serpent Mound SunWatch Indian Village

Culture

Agriculture	Beans Chenopodium Little barley Maize Marshelder Pumpkin Squash Sunflower Three Sisters Tobacco
Artwork	Emmons mask Copper plates Rogan plates Spiro plates Wulfing cache Duck River cache Long-nosed god maskette Mill Creek chert Pottery Shell gorget Stone statuary
Languages	Caddoan Central Algonquian Cherokee Mobilian Jargon Muskogean Natchez Taensa Siouan Timucuan Tunican Yuchi
Religion	Ballgame (Southeastern) Northern Black drink Burial mound Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Earth/fertility cult Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Platform mound Red Horn Sacred bundle Village bundle Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stone box grave Thunderbird Underwater panther