the fort's eastern ("Rivergate") entrance. During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Tennessee Valley Authority funded a series of excavations at the Fort Loudoun site (designated 40MR1) and other sites in the vicinity as part of mitigation efforts in areas to be flooded by the Tellico Reservoir. The most extensive excavations were conducted from May 1975 through August 1976, and were led by Carl Kuttruff of the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. Approximately 93% of the fort's interior was investigated by hand excavation during this period. Researchers also investigated the area south of the fort, uncovering artifacts from the Archaic (7500 BC), Woodland, and Southern Appalachia Mississippian culture (1000-1500CE) periods. In addition they recovered items related to the historic Cherokee village of Tuskegee. It developed south of the fort in the late 1750s, but there was also an earlier site nearby known as Old Taskagi. TVA provided 250,000 cubic yards of landfill to raise the site of the fort , bringing it above the reservoir's operating levels. Care was taken to preserve the original terrain and hillslope. Shortly after this was completed, the palisade, powder magazine, blacksmith shop, two troops quarters, a temporary barracks, a storehouse, one of the gun platforms, and a Cherokee house (representing Tuskegee) were reconstructed there. A number of artifacts from the excavations were placed on display inside the visitor's center. The location and purpose of several structures were determined through a combination of archaeological and historical work. A map of the fort drawn by De Brahm suggested the powder magazine was located in the northwest corner of the fort. It was in this area that excavators discovered evidence of the only structure in the fort built with stone walls, consistent with the design of contemporary powder magazines. Excavators uncovered what was likely an ash pit from a forge in the southeast corner of the fort, where De Brahm indicated the fort's blacksmith shop was located. A 1757 letter from Demeré indicated the fort's guardhouse had a double chimney. Excavators noted the only structure in the fort with a double chimney was an elongate building adjacent to the east gate, a position consistent with guardhouse placement at the time. A string of hearths in the western section of the fort indicated the location of the fort's barracks. State park and vicinity Fort Loudoun is now situated on an island created by Tellico Lake at the junction of