Marvin T. Smith

Coosa: a Chiefdom in the Sixteenth-Century Southeastern United States

Sixteenth-century Spanish explorers regarded Coosa as one of the most important chiefdoms in the southeastern United States. Using both documentary and archaeological evidence, we have located the main town of Coosa and several tributary towns, as well as some of the frontiers of the chiefdom. The locations of these towns and frontiers are supported by the archaeological recovery of sixteenth-century European artifacts in the postulated area of the chiefdom.

Reply to Boyd and Schroedl

C. Clifford Boyd, Jr. and Gerald F. Schroedlfindfault with our use of both historical and archaeological evidence in our reconstruction of the paramount chiefdom of Coosa. Herein we answer their criticisms by discussing our overall research strategy and by clarifying our use of historical documents, the Spanish league, and archaeological information. We also point out some of the more obvious errors and misinterpretations in the work of the U.S. De Soto Expedition Commission.