sites in Alabama, Mississippi, and western Tennessee. Archaeologists think the presence of prestige goods from the Cahokia site in Illinois means the people of Shiloh Mounds were more closely tied politically to that area than to chiefdoms in the Middle Tennessee area. Archaeology Because the site has been included within the Shiloh National Military Park boundaries for so long it has never been disturbed by modern farming techniques. The remains of the original structures of wattle and daub are still visible as low rings or mounds. It is one of the few places in the eastern U.S. where such remains are still visible. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Excavations Cornelius Cadle, chairman of the Shiloh Park Commission, undertook the first archaeological excavations at Shiloh in 1899. He had a trench dug into the conical burial mound, Mound C. Amongst the discoveries was a large stone effigy pipe in the shape of a kneeling man. It has since become the site's most famous artifact and is on display in the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah, Tennessee. The pipe is carved from a distinctive material, Missouri flint clay, and in the same style as other statuettes from the Cahokia site in Collinsville, Illinois. In the winter of 1933-34 survey work was undertaken at the site and many to diameter house mounds were discovered. Many contained the remains of wattle and daub houses, which had been built with walls of vertical posts interlaced with branches and coated with a thick layer of clay. It was at this time that the encircling palisade was also discovered. See also Savannah Archaeological Site Swallow Bluff Island Mounds List of Mississippian sites List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places listings in Hardin County, Tennessee References External links NPS website: Shiloh National Military Park Current Research in Tennessee Archaeology Annual Meeting Abstracts -- 1994-2011 South Appalachian Mississippian culture Mounds in Tennessee Native American history of Tennessee Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee Protected areas of Hardin County, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Hardin County, Tennessee Protected areas established in 1979 1979 establishments in Tennessee