Ye Pleasant Mount: 1989 1990 Excavations - Open site which ...

An identical bead is present in the University ofGeorgia collections from the
Lower Cherokee town ofTugalo (Smith and Williams 1978) and is reported from
the site ofFort Moore (Story n.d.: Type 179), both located upstream from Mt.
Pleasant. It has also been reported from the Lower Cherokee town ofTomassee
(Smith et al. 1988). This bead seems to be more common in the English sphere of
trade.
Type 14. Opaque white olive shaped wound necklace bead with eroded, floral
inlay. None ofthe inlay remains, but beads ofthis type were commonly decorated
with pink, red, blue, or green glass. Number ofSpecimens: 1. Diameter: 7mm.
Length: 12mm. Provenience: Test Unit 2, Level 4.
This is Kidd type WIlI--. No beads like this were found at Guebert, but similar
beads were found at Fort Michilimackinac (CII, SC, Tl, Vc) and at Trudeau
(WIIIB3). This bead has been observed in collections from Great Tellico, an
important Overhill Cherokee town(author's notes), and are reported the Cherokee
sites ofHiwassee Old Town (Fenstermaker 1978:Plate IV), Fort Moore (Story
n.d.:Type 58,59), and Tomassee (Smith et al. 1988), all well within the English
sphere ofinfluence and trade.
Discussion
The beads from Mount Pleasant form a small, but interesting collection. Many of
the types are common in widespread areas ofthe Southeast, but a few ofthe beads
have restricted distributions suggesting that perhaps they were traded only by the
English. Thus beads such as Types I, 12, and 13 may prove to be good markers for
eighteenth century English trade.
REFERENCES CITED
Brain, Jeffrey P.
1979 Tunica Treasure. Papers ofthe Peabody Museum ofArchaeology and
Ethnology Volume 71. Peabody Museum, Cambridge.
Fenstermaker, Gerald B.
1978 Tennessee Colored Bead Charts. Archaeological Research Booklet Volume
XIII. Lancaster, Pa.
Good, Mary Elizabeth
1972 Guebert Site: an 18th century historic Kaskaskia Indian Village in
Randolph County, Illinois. Central States Archaeological Societies,
Memoir II.
Karklins, Karlis
1985 Glass Beads: The 19th Century Levin Catalogue and Venetian Bead Book
and Guide to Description ofGlass Beads. Parks Canada, Ottawa,
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