Town Creek Indian Mound is an unusual phenomenon in the history of North American archaeology. Most archaeological sites are investigated for a few years and then . . . archaeologists move on to new locations. Where long-range research has been conducted, it has often been under several directors and different plans of research. Town Creek, situated on Little River (a tributary of the Great Pee Dee in central North Carolina), has been the focus of a consistent program of archaeological research under one director for more than half a century.

Major Temple Interior Town Creek Indian Mound

This research has contributed to scientific understanding of the original inhabitants of our continent and has provided educational opportunities for many graduate and undergraduate students in anthropology. Moreover, these contributions to science and higher education were made as the site contributed directly to public education.

Town Creek is one of the most popular State Historic Sites in North Carolina.

Leland G. Ferguson
Chair, Department of Anthropology
University of South Carolina

—from his foreword to archaeologist Joffre Lanning Coe's study, Town Creek Indian Mound: A Native American Legacy (UNC Press, 1995)

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