Excavation for the new Sounds stadium at Sulphur Dell has turned up evidence of a Native American metropolis that once stood roughly where Nashville’s downtown is now.
According to Middle Tennessee State University professor Kevin Smith, archaeologists have identified fire pits and large ceramic salt pans that were likely used to extract that mineral from the salty water produced by a natural spring.
No human remains have been found, and so far, there’s no sign the spot was used as a place to live. But around a thousand years ago, the salt production on the site was on a relatively large scale, and there are indications that the tools used in it were made there, too.
Archaeologists already know that Nashville was a key location to a group of Native Americans that likely numbered in the tens of thousands.
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