The University of Memphis conducted field school excavations at the Woodlyn archaeological site (22DS517) during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Seventeen units were excavated yielding a multitude of artifacts, data, and features. AMS dates wee obtained from radiocarbon samples collected during the excavations. To better understand the extent of the temporal occupation at Woodlyn and to further refine the age range and cultural markers of the Walls Phase, I examined the artifacts and features associated with the dated radiocarbon samples. During the mid-sixteenth century, Woodlyn was a town included in the polity known as Quizquiz based on the Hernando De Soto narratives. Archaeologists have suggested that the Woodlyn site was abandoned prior to De Soto\u27s arrival in the southeast, while others speculate that the De Soto expedition may have encountered Woodlyn before crossing the Mississippi River. The radiometric age range distributions suggest that Woodlyn was still active shortly before the arrival of the De Soto expedition. The new AMS dates provide an important data set for the interpretation of the Walls phase and its association with the De Soto expedition
