More than a century ago, when George Vanderbilt created Biltmore Estate, his Landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted did rough surveys of the land with determination to protect any areas with possible archaeological significance. Today that intuition has been confirmed by the Biltmore Mound, an almost perfect 1,000 square foot site with clearly stratified layers of dirt, which offer clues to what occurred at different points of the Connestee's cultural timeline. The Connestee are believed to be the ancestors of the Cherokee tribes. The "Biltmore Mound" is one of thirty currently documented archaeological sites on the estate.With help from a National Geographic grant, an archaeological team from Appalachian State University is on the forefront of answering questions about the little-known Connestee people. They are also filling out the picture of what we know about native people in North Carolina.
