Studied 2 centuries, yet little got published. Located in western Smyth county, Virginia. Within Saltville valley about 1.3km south of north branch, Holston river (major drainage system of SW Virginia).

In 1782, Colonel Arther Campbell mentioned bones of an uncommon size in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

5 identifiable artifacts included: Sandstone knives, a triangular stone, and putative chert tool.

One of the oldest layers contained a “concretion” (putatively bound together by congealed animal fat). Which was probably a mastodon butcher zone.

Outside of this, because of paucity, very little said about human life-way. Other than probably processing the extinct critters, (mastodon, mammoth, and musk ox), Saltville was probably like a puzzle piece to much larger picture.

Bibliography: Landers, J. (2021, October 29). Mastodon emerges from a Virginia creek, three decades after first remains found. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/01/mastodon-extinction-fossil-climate-ecosystems

Adovasio, J. M., & Pedler, D. (2016a). Strangers in a New Land: What Archaeology Reveals about the First Americans. Firefly Books.