The sourcing and interpretation of Cahokia-style figurines in the trans-Mississippi south and southeast (original) (raw)
Related papers
1998
Cahokia is a spectacular eleventh- to twelfth-century village and earth mound complex near the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers east of present day St. Louis. This prehistoric community may have supported 10,000 inhabitants and was part of an even larger array of settlements, platform and burial mounds, and cemeteries that stretched across 86,000 acres of fertile flood plains (the American Bottoms). Extensive archaeological work associated with highway construction in the 1970s and 1980s provided rich, diverse evidence for day-to-day domestic activities, as well as regional trade, immense corvee labor projects (e.g., platform mounds, woodhenges, and palisades), military activities, complex burial rites, and politico-religious observances. The Mississippian people, as they are referred to by archaeologists, constructed 120 earth mounds at Cahokia, including Monks Mound (300 meters square and 30 meters high). Mound building at Cahokia involved the transport of 50 ...
Perspectives on Cahokia and Northern Mississippian Expansion
Cahokia and the Hinterlands, 1991
The purpose of this book is to bring together researchers gence, florescence, and decline of Mississippian societies concerned with Cahokia and the development of Mississippian culture in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. This goal has been achieved and a wealth of information, ideas, and models presented. These papers have illuminated major advances in our understanding of the emer-in the American Bottom and Upper Mississippi River Valley. In this chapter, I build on previous research, note the data gaps, and propose a new model for Cahokia and the northern Mississippian expansion.
Southeastern Archaeology, 2023
ABSTRACT The development of Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC) iconography has been posited to have had its origins in pre–AD 1200 Greater Cahokia. The recovery of fragments of an engraved shell cup, a few engraved pottery sherds, and copper residue from Mound 34 at Cahokia as well as two regional rock-art sites are said to confirm that the early Braden art style had a Cahokian heritage. Furthermore, on this basis, the origin, production, and distribution of engraved shell cups and copper repoussé plates have been attributed to Cahokian artisans. Here the archaeological context and chronology of this evidence is reexamined and found to be problematic—it does not support Cahokia origins for engraved shell cups and copper repoussé plates. The small amount of early Braden materials attributed to Cahokia are better explained as byproducts of the demonstrable presence of early Caddo immigrants and influences in the American Bottom. The skewed distribution and early chronology of Mississippian engraved shell cups and copper repoussé plates confirm they are likely products of Spiro-influenced ritual practitioners. The production and accumulation of such ritual paraphernalia at Spiro can most reasonably be attributed to the site’s rise as a sacred place and central locus for regional pilgrimages.
Medieval Mississippians: The Cahokian World
Medieval Mississippians, the eighth volume in the award-winning Popular Archaeology Series, introduces a key historical period in pre-Columbian eastern North America—the “Mississippian” era—via a series of colorful chapters on places, practices, and peoples written from Native American and non-Native perspectives on the past. The volume lays out the basic contours of the early centuries of this era (AD 1000–1300) in the Mississippian heartland, making connections to later centuries and contemporary peoples. Cahokia the place and Cahokian social history undergird the book, but Mississippian material culture, landscapes, and descendants are highlighted, presenting a balanced view of the Mississippian world.
Handbook of Mississippi's Prehistoric Indians and Artifacts (excerpts)
Handbook of Mississippi's Prehistoric Indians and Artifacts, 2024
This book is an introduction and guidebook to stone and pottery artifacts found in Mississippi that were made by pre-colonial American Indians. There is a focus on temporally diagnostic projectile points and pottery. T he intended audience is the archaeological novice, though information presented is data-based, and fully cited. In addition to text by Johnson, sections are written by archaeologists and geologists (Ashley Dumas, Steven Meredith, Sam Brookes, and James Starnes) with expertise on pertinent topics. ISBN 979-8985228670 https://www.handbookseries.org/mpia