Handbook of Mississippi's Prehistoric Indians and Artifacts (excerpts) (original) (raw)

Ceramic Variability and Ritual in Late Mississippian Southern Illinois

This research entails the comparison of two ceramic assemblages to understand whether and how ritual manifests in ceramics of Late Mississippian (ca. late 1200s A.D. to A.D. 1500) southern Illinois. The sites at the center of this study are Millstone Bluff in Pope County (11Pp3) and Dillow’s Ridge in Union County (11U635). Millstone Bluff has been interpreted as a site of public ritual and unusual symbolic importance evidenced by its general location and topography, spatial organization, and distinctive rock art. Though Dillow’s Ridge was the locale for an inordinate level of chert tool production, in other ways the site is understood to be typical of Mississippian villages for this region and time. Statistical testing of data collected from the ceramic analysis reveals minimal variation between ceramics from the public and domestic ritual contexts, thus challenging the applicability of existing models of Mississippian ritualistic ceramics to this region and time.

Native American Monuments and Landscape in the Lower Mississippi Valley

Tulane University

This project considers the development of the cultural landscape of Native American chiefdoms in the Yazoo Basin of northwestern Mississippi. Chronicles written by certain members of the Hernando de Soto expedition offer exciting glimpses into the landscape and lifeways of Native American societies in 1541, but they do not shed light on how the landscape of chiefdoms in the Lower Mississippi Valley developed during the period before Spanish contact. This dissertation research focuses on the time period just before Spanish contact, the Mississippi Period (AD 1200-1540), and on Mississippian culture, and it investigates how monuments were built and used in a rapidly changing and dynamic landscape, one in which the meandering and flooding Mississippi river affected the long-term formation of social and political networks. This research relies on environmental, ethnohistoric, and archaeological data to provide a historically contingent description of the processes leading to the development of one of the largest and most important archaeological sites in the region. Sediment cores excavated in mound and offmound contexts suggest the site was constructed over a crevasse splay, a high-elevation landform. Both coring data and trench excavation demonstrate that Mound D, the largest mound at Carson, was built in four stages and that stages II and III were the largest stages. Excavations on Mound D demonstrate that a moderately large-sized structure was once constructed on the southwest corner of the mound summit and that the structure was used to produce craft goods such as shell beads, shell gorgets, and statuary. Data from mound construction and craft production, as well as ethnohistoric and geomorphic research, are used to describe social organization, hierarchy, and leadership at Carson.

Interpreting Ritual in Ceramics of Late Mississippian Southern Illinois (MA Thesis)

2018

This research aims to understand whether and how ritual manifests in ceramic objects dating to the Late Mississippian Period (ca. late 1200s A.D. to A.D. 1500) in southern Illinois. The study focuses on ritual phenomena that occurred at two village sites: Millstone Bluff (11Pp3) and Dillow’s Ridge (11U635). Millstone Bluff has been interpreted as a site of public ritual and unusual symbolic importance evidenced by its general location and topography, spatial organization, and distinctive rock art. Though Dillow’s Ridge was the locale for an inordinate level of lithic tool production, in other ways the site is understood to be typical of Mississippian villages for this region and time and unlikely to have accommodated large-scale public ritual activity. Through the analysis and comparison of ceramics from each site, this research seeks to identify the ceramic correlates of public ritual activity for this region and time. Statistical results suggest very little differentiation between the ceramic assemblages, suggesting the ritual activities that took place at either site may not have been substantially different from one another. Alternatively, the lack of differentiation may indicate ceramics do not play an active role in large-scale public ritual activity in this context.

Pottery Production and Social Organization at Angel Mounds, a Mississippian Archaeological Site

In this dissertation, fragments of over 1,400 Mississippi Plain pottery (MPP) rimsherds from the late pre-Columbian Mississippian archaeological site of Angel Mounds (12VG1) were examined to address questions about individual and group pottery production and consumption practices. Samples of coarse shell-tempered, undecorated rimsherds were drawn from four spatially-distinct and coeval areas within the site: two village “neighborhoods,” and two mound contexts. Most samples were originally recovered in early 20th century excavations; thus, this research included reanalysis of legacy collections. Samples were also taken from recent excavations at Unit A, a supposed “Potter’s House.” A new pottery analysis methodology was developed and tested, which was inspired by prior pre-Columbian ceramic research, and designed to measure the extensive variability of technological styles in MPP production. Specifically, a detailed ceramic analysis was completed, resulting in the sorting of rimsherd samples into vessel shape and size categories, and the documentation of MPP morphological variability (e.g. varied rim angles, thicknesses, and lip shapes). Quantitative and qualitative analyses of MPP variability revealed culturally-meaningful patterns of variation linked to vessel type, size, and function, differential consumption practices at mound versus village locations, and small-group and individual production techniques and consumption preferences that support the hypothesis of spatially-distinct neighborhood communities of practice within Angel. Idiosyncratic variations in MPP also revealed aspects of personal identity for Angel pottery producers and consumers (e.g. skill level). The results of this dissertation complement prior studies of decorated pottery at Angel and other Mississippian sites that documented type/variety classifications, suggested chronological markers via pottery styles, and debated the presence of elite material and ideological control over material culture. This research is innovative as it addresses variation within a single pottery type (MPP), which is the most common material culture form on many Mississippian sites. Utilizing a theoretical frame in materiality, practice theory, and consumption, this research highlights the role of “ordinary” people and their objects in culture-making in Mississippian societies. Everyday actions that included the use and contextualization of material culture are shown to be significant practices in creating and transforming social processes, including social organizations, subsistence, and identity formation.