In 1920, the Bureau of American Ethnology conducted an exploratory dig at this site, where archaeologist William Myer carried out one of the earliest examples of a scientific excavation by combining archaeological testing and historical research to tell a story spanning several centuries. Myer named the mound group the Fewkes Group in honor of Dr. J.W. Fewkes, chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology during the early twentieth century, and the findings and artifacts were sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where they remain. Research revealed an enclosed, well-developed, sedentary village with a large population of prehistoric people known as the Mound Builders or Mississippians, who over the centuries lived, hunted, fished, farmed, and buried their dead in this immediate area. The site preserves one of the finest relics of an ancient Native American Indian culture in the South. The expedition recorded many deer bones and estimated that deer made up 85% of all animal food, indicating that deer were plentiful enough to reduce the need to hunt smaller prey. Spiritual life at the mound complex was highly developed, as shown by ceremonial structures, altars, and fire pits, and sacred maize or corn was closely tied to religious rites. Archaeologists also recovered numerous prehistoric pottery vessels and fragments, including in the Smithsonian collection an effigy jar in a female form from this prehistoric Brentwood community. Evidence showed that at least two different Native American Indian groups lived here and can be distinguished by their burial methods: the earliest people built the mounds and buried their dead in a flexed position, while a later group used rectangular stone-slab graves with the body fully extended. Research also showed an evolution from nomadic hunters and gatherers to a sedentary, agriculturally based economy.