Charles R. Cobb

Bayesian Modeling of the Occupation Span of the Averbuch Site in the Middle Cumberland Drainage, Tennessee

Abstract The application of Bayesian models to suites of radiocarbon dates can provide important refinements over standard approaches toward calibration and seriation of dated feature contexts. We have modeled a number of older radiocarbon dates submitted in the 1980s along with a recent set of accelerator mass spectrometry dates from the Averbuch site (40DV60), a Mississippian village in the Middle Cumberland Region of Tennessee occupied in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D. The results of these analyses demonstrate that even within its short lifespan of ca. 200 years, the village underwent fundamental organizational changes. These shifts appear to be responses to climatic deterioration and an upsurge in regional violence.

WHAT I BELIEVE: A MEMOIR OF PROCESSUALISM TO NEOHISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Abstract In North America, historical anthropology is closely linked with political-economic studies. The materialist and comparative emphases of the political economy approach have had a strong impact on archaeological research in the Southeast and elsewhere. The increasing popularity of idealist positions in some quarters of archaeological theory has led to a waning of traditional political-economic research. However, recent trends in postcolonial theory suggest that a neohistorical anthropology can accommodate both materialist and idealist viewpoints. Current research on warfare in the Southeast exemplifies the advantages of multivariate vantage points for investigating the past.

The Mississippian Fin de Siècle in the Middle Cumberland Region of Tennessee

Bayesian chronological modeling is used to investigate the chronology for a large-scale human depopulation event during the Mississippian period (AD 1000–1600) known as the Vacant Quarter phenomenon. The Middle Cumberland region (MCR) of Tennessee is within the Vacant Quarter area, and six villages from the final phase of Mississippian activity in the MCR have been subjected to radiocarbon dating. Complete radiocarbon datasets from these sites are presented within an interpretative Bayesian statistical framework. The results provide a unique history of each settlement and demonstrate that Mississippian occupations at each site likely terminated in the mid- to late fifteenth and possibly early sixteenth centuries AD, which is 50 to 100 years later than the most recent estimate for the timing of the Vacant Quarter. Mississippian abandonment in the MCR was relatively quick, likely occurring over less than a century. The exact reasons for abandonment are not entirely clear but appear to be linked to climate change. A radiocarbon simulation experiment indicates that future robust radiocarbon dating with well-selected samples could greatly improve the chronological precision for this late Mississippian activity. More broadly, this example demonstrates that model building with radiocarbon simulations can be used to address regional-scale chronological issues within the American Southeast and beyond. Se emplea el modelado bayesiano para explorar la cronología del proceso de despoblación humana a gran escala que tuvo lugar durante el periodo Misisipiano (1000-1600 dC) y que se conoce como el fenómeno del “Sector Vacante”. Seis poblados del final de la fase de actividad misisipiana en la Región del Medio Cumberland (RMC) de Tennessee, ubicada a su vez dentro del área del “Sector Vacante”, fueron objeto de un programa de dataciones radiocarbónicas. Se presentan series completas de dataciones radiocarbónicas de estos yacimientos, interpretadas mediante el análisis cronológico bayesiano. Los resultados permiten trazar la historia de cada yacimiento y demuestran que las ocupaciones misisipianas en estos sitios probablemente finalizaron entre mediados y finales del siglo quince y posiblemente comienzos del siglo dieciséis dC. Este lapso es entre cincuenta y cien años más tardío que la estimación cronológica más reciente del “Sector Vacante”. El abandono de la ocupación misisipiana en el RMC fue relativamente rápido, probablemente abarcando menos de un siglo. Las causas del abandono no están completamente dilucidadas, pero parecen estar relacionadas con el cambio climático. Un experimento de simulación radiocarbónica indica que futuros programas de datación sobre muestras bien seleccionadas podrían mejorar de manera considerable la precisión cronológica para el final de la actividad misisipiana. En términos generales, esto demuestra el potencial de los modelos construidos mediante dataciones radiocarbónicas simuladas a la hora de abordar cuestiones cronológicas de escala regional, tanto para el sudeste de EE.UU. como para otras zonas.

Ackia and Ogoula Tchetoka: Defining Two Battlefields of the 1736 French and Chickasaw War in Southeastern North America

ABSTRACT Investigations into the location of two battles related to the Chickasaw and French Wars of the 1700s in Mississippi, USA, show the value of a multi-pronged strategy for identifying and delineating military sites. We used metal detecting, shovel test pits, surface collections, local informant interviews, historical maps, LiDAR-based topography, and air photographs to locate Ogoula Tchetoka and Ackia, two Chickasaw towns where French forces were defeated in 1736. Despite the ambiguity introduced by overlapping domestic occupations and other complicating factors, the weight of our complementary approaches demonstrates that Ogoula Tchetoka and surrounding battle features have been modestly impacted by modern developments, whereas Ackia has been largely obliterated by the construction of a residential neighborhood. Our ability to identify major landscape features related to the military history of these sites contributes to our understanding of the tactics and consequences of warfare between European powers and Native Americans in the Colonial era.