Several groups of Cherokee towns were present in the southern Appalachians during the period of early European contact in southeastern North America (Fig. 1). Different dialects of the Cherokee language were spoken in these discrete areas, although Cherokee town groups were connected by kinship and shared language and tradition. The Lower Cherokee towns were located in northeastern Georgia and northwestern South Carolina, along the headwaters of the Savannah and Chattahoochee rivers. The Middle Cherokee towns were situated along the headwaters of the Little Tennessee River in southwestern North Carolina. The Out Towns were located along the Tuckasegee River, and the Valley Towns along the upper reaches of the Hiwassee River, both in southwestern North Carolina. The Overhill Cherokee towns were located along the lower Little Tennessee and Tellico rivers in eastern Tennessee. Spanish conquistadores probably did not enter the heart of Cherokee country during explorations of the...
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Rodning, C.B. (2015). Architecture of the Cherokee. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10218-1
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