NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Archeologists digging at the construction site for Nashville's new minor league baseball stadium have unearthed artifacts believed to be nearly a 1000 years old.
Middle Tennessee State University Archaeologist Kevin Smith says fire pits and broken pieces of ceramic pans were uncovered at Sulphur Dell. They suggest the area once held a large workshop where mineral water was boiled to collect salt, a valuable trading commodity.
Smith says this is the first discovery of its kind in the region and applauds the City of Nashville for anticipating artifacts might be found on the construction site. He says enough material was excavated to fuel one or two years of research.
“Even though we’ve built skyscrapers and buildings and parking lots of much of the surrounding downtown area there’s still places where there’s a chance we can learn about what Nashville was like almost a thousand years ago. It’s great when people like city government take precautions when they do construction that might hit something that we at least have a chance to document it and add a little bit to that story.”
The new Nashville Sounds ballpark will be built over the archeological site, but in a way the city hopes will preserve any undiscovered artifacts.