Tennessee seems so unsuspecting as a state that would hold ancient deep mysteries, but the more I study this state, the more I realize that, like Utah, it has some bizarre stuff in its past.
From the book The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee by John Haywood (starting page 200 on reprint edition from Amazon):
Referred to as "pygmies," these skeletons were found buried in crypts just outside of Sparta, Tennessee (halfway between Nashville and Knoxville) in the County of White and reported in the Nashville Whig in June 1820.
These graves had many bodies, all of them quite small. Some of the crypts were as small as 18 inches by 12 inches. The first grave was 2 feet long and inside the small skeleton and its teeth had the researcher wondering if it was canine or monkey. He had them sent off to be examined.
They were buried with care in a stone crypt and had shells and urns with them. The bones were so old they crumbled quite easily. One skull the examiner held up was 5" across from side to side. Most individuals were from 18 inches to 2 feet 10 inches long. One find was a 5 foot 5 inch individual found with the smaller ones. The taller skeleton had a head that was longer, eyes much wider asunder, the forehead much higher above the eyebrows, and the under jaw measured one inch longer on each side than the smaller fellows. Atop the head of one skull had bright silver grey fine hairs.
There was great dissimilarity in skull shapes, the size and shape of the bones, and looked to belong to different tribes of people. Just 8 miles away, a 7-foot giant was found.
These finds were packaged and sent for examination in Nashville. The prevailing opinion was that they were not children. No 1 skull belonged to some carnivorous animal of the canine genus; but that the skull belonged on an adult person of small size, not much exceeding 3 feet in length. Cylindrical bones and teeth appeared canine. Others gave the same odd opinion.
V.R. Pilapil, for example, asserts that the disputed Tennessee graves really did contain pygmy remains. Not only that, but he hypothesizes that the pygmies arrived in ancient times from southeast Asia, probably the Philippines, where today's diminutive Aetas live. To support his case, Pilapil recalls B. Fell's examination of the Tennessee skeletal material. Fell noted that: (1) The skull brain capacity was equivalent to only about 950 cubic centimeters, about the volume of a non-pygmy 7-year-old; (2) The teeth were completely developed and showed severe wear characteristic of mature individuals; and (3) The skulls were brachycephalic (flat-headed like dogs) with projecting jaws (like dog). Fell had, in fact, described skulls very much like those of today's adult Philippine Aetas. Another line of evidence adduced by Pilapil involved the traditions of British Columbia tribes, which recognized a tribe of very small people called the Et-nane. More significant is the oral history of the Cherokees, which mentions the existence of "little people" in eastern North America.
Anthropological Institute, Journal, 6:100, 1876: An ancient graveyard of vast proportions has been found in Coffee county. It is similiar to those found in White County and other places in middle Tennessee, but is vastly more extensive, and shows that the race of pygmies who once inhabited this country were very numerous. The same peculiarities of position Observed in the White County graves are found in these. The writer of the letter says: "Some considerable excitement and curiousity took place a few days since, near Hillsboro, Coffee county, on James Brown's farm. A man was ploughing in a field which had been cultivated many years, and ploughed up a man's skull and other bones. After making further examination they found that there were about six acres in the graveyard. They were buried in a sitting or standing position. The bones show that they were a dwarf tribe of people, about three feet high. It is estimated that there were about 75,000 to 100,000 buried there. This shows that this country was inhabited hundreds of years ago."
Interestingly, this area of White County/Sparta was mined for saltpeter during the Civil War. I've come across a salt mining area in Georgia where the Etowah Mounds and supposed ancient giants were found. Mining and ancient unusual cultures....
These little people mentioned above sound a good deal like the "Moon-eyed people" of Cherokee legend.
MOUND CULTURE
Pinson Mounds in Western Tennessee is yet another mound culture in this rich earth area of America. There are at least 17 mounds from an ancient culture we have yet to definitively name. Once again, it is difficult to understand who these mound culture people were, much like the pueblo people of the west. They were prior to common tribes there now and those common tribes utilized the mound areas, much like we move into a house 100 years old and are just the latest of the ones who lived before, using it in our own way.
The Mound Complex at Shiloh (east of Memphis) is an intriguing one of yet another unknown ancient culture that vanished.
Bat Creek Stone
LOCAL LEGENDS
The Bell Witch Cave has become infamous in literature and films, but it is apparent this cave in Adams, TN (northwest of Nashville) has had a history. The local legend involved an 19th Century farmer and a witch who cursed him and hid within the cave.
STONE STRUCTURES
Old Stone Fort, Manchester, TN. An unknown ancient people built this and walls remain -
More legends and mysteries of Tennessee - sharetngov