Vincas P. Steponaitis

Location Theory and Complex Chiefdoms: A Mississippian Example

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the location theory and complex chiefdoms with a Mississippian example. The chapter presents a locational model that is applicable to the settlement hierarchies in complex prestate societies or complex chiefdoms. It also presents the organization of complex chiefdoms and the relations that structure settlement hierarchies within them. The chapter further presents a locational model for chiefly centers, at the same time showing in more detail the Christallers central place theory is inappropriate. The use of a typological approach in categorizing societies poses the problem of having to define discrete units in what is essentially an evolutionary continuum. The Natchez political hierarchy was composed of two administrative levels. The nation as a whole was governed by a supreme chief called the Great Sun, and also had a supreme war chief called the Tattooed Serpent. The chapter also describes a number of factors that are likely to influence the location of political centers in a complex society.

A Portable Differential Proton Magnetometer

Abstract The principle, construction, and operation of a portable proton magnetometer is described. The low cost of this instrument is within the means of the most modest archaeological budget. Its wide applicability to a variety of situations renders it a useful tool in many archaeological endeavors.

A Precious Bequest: Contemporary Research with the WPA‐CCC Collections from Moundville, Alabama

OUNDVILLE, which archaeologist James Brown called the New M York City of 15th-century North America, was the geographic, political, and symbolic center of Native American life in the Black Warrior River Valley between A.D. 1250 and 1500. Today, this site has become a major focus of research on the development, maintenance, and decline of complex societies in the southeastern United States. Part of Moundville’s contemporary importance stems from its size and the diversity of its archaeological remains. It is the second largest Mississippian ceremonial center in the eastern United States and comprises 20 major platform mounds and a 30 ha plaza. Additional value comes from its

MISSISSIPPIAN EFFIGY PIPES AND THE GLENDON LIMESTONE

Large effigy pipes made of limestone are found at Mississippian sites across much of the American South. Here we examine a sample of these pipes with the goal of identifying their geological sources, which are inferred from the fossils visible in the rock. All but one of the pipes in our sample are made of Glendon limestone, a distinctive material that outcrops most abundantly near Vicksburg, Mississippi. Based on the geological and distributional evidence, we argue that these Glendon limestone pipes were crafted in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Our study also demonstrates the efficacy of using fossils as a nondestructive way of determining the provenance of limestone artifacts.

The Holly Bluff style

ABSTRACT We recognize a new style of Mississippian-period art in the North American Southeast, calling it Holly Bluff. It is a two-dimensional style of representational art that appears solely on containers: marine shell cups and ceramic vessels. Iconographically, the style focuses on the depiction of zoomorphic supernatural powers of the Beneath World. Seriating the known corpus of images allows us to characterize three successive style phases, Holly Bluff I, II, and III. Using limited data, we source the style to the northern portion of the lower Mississippi Valley.