Tomotley

Tomotley, Tamatli or Tamahli is a prehistoric and historic Native American site along the lower Little Tennessee River in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Occupied as early as the Archaic period (8000 to 1000 BCE), the Tomotley (Cherokee: ᏔᎹᏟ, romanized: Tamatli) site was occupied particularly during the Mississippian culture period, which was likely when its earthwork platform mounds were built. It was also occupied during the eighteenth century as a Cherokee town. It revealed an unexpected style: an octagonal townhouse and square or rectangular residences. In the Overhill period, Cherokee townhouses found in the Carolinas in the same period were circular in design.

In the late 20th century, the Tomotley site was submerged by Tellico Lake, an impoundment of the lower Little Tennessee River and lower Tellico River, after construction of a dam managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The site is visible from Toqua Beach and the Toqua Boat Ramp, both of which are managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Geographical setting

The Little Tennessee River traverses northern Monroe County for roughly 40 miles (64 km) between its Calderwood Lake impoundment near the Tennessee-North Carolina border and its mouth along the Tennessee River near Lenoir City. The impoundment of the river in 1979 by Tellico Dam created Tellico Lake, which covers the river's lower 33 miles (53 km) as well as the lower 22 miles (35 km) of its tributary, the Tellico River.

The Tomotley site was located along the south bank of the Little Tennessee just north of the confluence of Toqua Creek with the river, nearly 22 miles (35 km) above the river's mouth at the Tennessee River.