The Pisgah phase (1000 to 1450/1500 CE) is an archaeological phase of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of the Mississippian culture) in Southeast North America.[1] It is associated with the Appalachian Summit area of southeastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and northwestern South Carolina in what is now the United States.
The historic Cherokee and Catawba peoples of this region were generally the ones to encounter European explorers and colonists, beginning in the mid-16th century. Some peoples of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture chiefdoms also encountered the Spanish expeditions. The Mississippian cultures are believed to have been ancestral to the Creek and Catawba in this area.