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Bussell Island, formerly Lenoir Island, is an island located at the mouth of the Little Tennessee River, in Loudon County, near the U.S. city of Lenoir City, Tennessee. The island was inhabited by various Native American cultures for thousands of years before the arrival of early European explorers, and is currently home to Tellico Dam and a recreational area. Part of the island was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its archaeological potential in 1978.〔 Native American habitation of Bussell Island dates to the Late Archaic period (c. 3000–1000 BC).〔Bobby Braly and Shannon Koerner, (A History of Archaeology in Tennessee ). ''Tennessee Archaeology: A Synthesis'' (Chapter 2). p. 12-14.〕 The island is believed to have been the location of the capital of Coste—a Mississippian-period chiefdom visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540—and was later part of the domain of the Overhill Cherokee. In 1887 and 1919, archaeologists conducted extensive excavations at Bussell Island and identified its archaeological importance.〔 The island was drastically modified in the 1970s when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built Tellico Dam. ==Location== Bussell Island is situated where the Little Tennessee River joins the Tennessee River, just over upstream from the mouth of the latter. The island originally stretched for about a mile up the Little Tennessee, but the construction of Tellico Dam across the island's west river channel in the 1970s created a reservoir that flooded the southern two-thirds of the island. To contain the reservoir, an earthen levee was built along the island's new south shore and across the island's east river channel, connecting the island to the mainland. TVA's construction of a canal connecting the Tellico and Fort Loudoun reservoirs severed this section of the mainland, thus creating a new island that stretches for about a mile east-to-west, and touches three TVA lakes—Fort Loudoun, Watts Bar, and Tellico. Lenoir City is located along the Tennessee River opposite Bussell Island. U.S. Route 321 (Lamar Alexander Parkway) crosses the island's new eastern half, and State Route 444 (Tellico Parkway) traverses the center of the island, with the two roads intersecting on the island's eastern tip. US-321 crosses via the J. Carmichael Bridge, which spans both Fort Loudoun Dam and the canal. John W. Emmert, who conducted excavations on the island in 1887, stated that the original island covered , and rose to a maximum of above the river. Emmert described the island's banks as "steep" with "heavy timber and much cane growing along them." Emmert also noted that the island was occasionally submerged when the Little Tennessee flooded, and noted that his excavation work was interrupted by one such flood which submerged the island to upwards of .〔U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, ''Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1890–'91'' (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894), pp. 397–403.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bussell Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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