Severed trophy heads play a prominent role in Mississippian art. Perhaps the most distinctive ico... more Severed trophy heads play a prominent role in Mississippian art. Perhaps the most distinctive iconographic trophy motif is the severed agnathous humanlike head of the Braden style. Agnathous heads occur during the Middle Mississippian period as elements ...
Harrington, A Pinto site at Little Lake, SOUTHWEST MUS. PAPS. 17, 1957). This problem stems from ... more Harrington, A Pinto site at Little Lake, SOUTHWEST MUS. PAPS. 17, 1957). This problem stems from the failure of these professionals to remain informed on current research in the remainder of the Western Great Basin. The situation is unfortunate since Lanning (Lanning, Archaeology of the Rose Spring site, INY-372, UNIV. CALIF. PUB. AMER. ARCH. & ETHNOL. 49[3], 1963) and others have indicated that the Rose Valley area is best understood within the context of prehistoric developments observed in this larger region as a whole. Mr. Borden's own typological predilections further confuse the issue since his types are neither internally consistent nor explicitly defined. This pertains especially to Lake Mohave and Silver Lake points and their modified forms. He further errs by incorrect use of the Humbolt Concave-Base type, and by omission of recent radiocarbon dates on the projectile points from Rose Spring (Clewlow, Heizer, and Berger, CONTRIBUT. ARCH. RES. FACILITY, Number 7:19-27, 1970). More serious is his failure to compare the Rose Valley collection with those made at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, by C. W. Clewlow (Clewlow, REPORTS OF UNIV. CALIF. ARCH SURVEY, Number 73:1-93, 1968). This group of sites is similar to Rose Valley in that both share several projectile point types including Little Lake (Pinto), Clovis, Humbolt Concave-Base "A," Great Basin Transverse (cresents), Lind Coulee, and Black Rock Concave-Base.
gion did not occur until some time after 200 B.C. (uncorrected). The earlier Lolomai phase radioc... more gion did not occur until some time after 200 B.C. (uncorrected). The earlier Lolomai phase radiocarbon dates come only from sites with a few widely scattered determinations. Further, these sites all yield first and second century B.C. dates along with the much older determinations, sometimes from the same structures. In contrast, sites yielding five or more dates in close statistical agreement invariably date to younger than 200 B.C. (based on weighted means). This suggests that the early dates resulted from the aboriginal use of dead wood or that the radiocarbon samples in question came from mature logs that had suffered extensive ring loss through burning or weathering. This latter possibility cannot be assessed properly given the published data because, in every case, the sample material is listed simply as "charcoal." There is no way of knowing whether a particular dated sample consisted of twigs, the outermost rings of a construction timber, or the innermost rings of a 300-year-old tree used for firewood. Detailed sample descriptions should be made available in a subsequent volume or in an errata sheet. In sum, if one site had produced a tight clustering of dates in the 500 to 700 B.C. range, we might be able to accept the claims of the BMAP investigators. But with the information now at hand, 200 B.C. is the most reasonable inception date for the Lolomai phase occupation and, by implication, the introduction of maize to Black Mesa.
On April 24, 1987, Thomas Emerson at the State Historic Preservation Office received a telephone ... more On April 24, 1987, Thomas Emerson at the State Historic Preservation Office received a telephone call from a Chicago lawyer who wanted an answer to a simple question:" Are there any laws that protect old Indian villages and graves that are on the ...
Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, 1971
Formal analysis is employed to express symbolically the behavior associated with disposal of the ... more Formal analysis is employed to express symbolically the behavior associated with disposal of the dead in archaeological contexts. Key diagrams are shown to economically express the partitioning of attribute space by a series of variables coded on independently measured dimensions. The attention of this paper is to explicate the analysis of formal-structural relations among archaeological materials from Spiro, a specialized Mississippian period site in eastern Oklahoma, without resort to analogies between cultural-historical configurations. The power of the analysis is extended by direct comparison of the Spiro key with keys made on the same dimensions that are drawn from the ethnohistorical literature of two southeastern societies.
... that the Hopewell period coincided with a cool and wet episode between AD 1 and 400 (9). The ... more ... that the Hopewell period coincided with a cool and wet episode between AD 1 and 400 (9). The difficulty with this model of climatic control over culture histories (via its effects ... MIDWESTERNARCHAEOLOGY 173 between regions and districts through trade relationships (122). ...
Leadership and Polity in Mississippian Society, 2006
Cahokia's Monks Mound and associated plazas have long inspired visions of either direct o... more Cahokia's Monks Mound and associated plazas have long inspired visions of either direct or indirect domination. Eric Wolf's concept of "structural power" is important in this discussion by calling attention to the agenda-setting advantages of individuals having key entitlements. Wolf's perspective is applied to the beaded burial of Cahokia's Mound 72 and its immediate contexts to show how this burial context is more satisfactorily explained as a collective effort. Contrary to the domination model this interpretation has nothing to do with the elevation of anyone's elite status.
Recently archaeologists have focused their attention on the role of re ligious belief and practi... more Recently archaeologists have focused their attention on the role of re ligious belief and practice in human social history. For the Mississippian cul tural world of the American Southeast, the latest perspective was presented in The Art Institute of Chicago's 2004 exhibition volume Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. Taking our lead from that publication, in this essay we elaborate on how Cahokia's beliefs and practices may be drawn from the Dhegiha Siouans' cultural world. While Muskogean oral traditions have been used to interpret Mississippian religion, recent scholarship has focused on the Dhegiha Siouan speakers' rich ethnographic record for midwestern Mississippian groups. Starting from highly specific Dhegiha Siouan beliefs about the human fertility powers of the falcon, this essay builds a case for interpretations based on a mixture of general analogy; archaeological context, and continuity of highly specific imagery. Mississippian platform mound construction is cus...
Religious observance historically incorporated journeys to sacred places for American Indian grou... more Religious observance historically incorporated journeys to sacred places for American Indian groups on the Plains and around the Great Lakes as an integral part of individual experience and communion with the spirit world. The history of such journeys is exemplified by the environmental contexts of several large ritual centers in the Mississippi river basin. They include the Archaic Period center of Poverty Point, the Middle Woodland centers such as the Pinson mounds, and finally the large Mississippian center of Cahokia. Material evidence reveals that the nearby mountains of the Ozarks, composed of caves, springs, and materials imbued with sacred power, were thus important as a destination for Cahokian spiritual journeys. An ancient volcanic remnant known as the St. Francois Mountains contains intrusive basalt dykes engulfed by the cedar glades of the Ozarks resulting in a ritual landscape of particular importance. Both basalt and red cedar were an important part of the material record at Cahokia and its surrounding communities. Given their power we argue that these materials were transported back to Cahokia as a token either of pilgrimages or journeys for vision quests. We explore such spiritual journeys so widespread among Native American Indians in both the recent and distant past.
Severed trophy heads play a prominent role in Mississippian art. Perhaps the most distinctive ico... more Severed trophy heads play a prominent role in Mississippian art. Perhaps the most distinctive iconographic trophy motif is the severed agnathous humanlike head of the Braden style. Agnathous heads occur during the Middle Mississippian period as elements ...
Harrington, A Pinto site at Little Lake, SOUTHWEST MUS. PAPS. 17, 1957). This problem stems from ... more Harrington, A Pinto site at Little Lake, SOUTHWEST MUS. PAPS. 17, 1957). This problem stems from the failure of these professionals to remain informed on current research in the remainder of the Western Great Basin. The situation is unfortunate since Lanning (Lanning, Archaeology of the Rose Spring site, INY-372, UNIV. CALIF. PUB. AMER. ARCH. & ETHNOL. 49[3], 1963) and others have indicated that the Rose Valley area is best understood within the context of prehistoric developments observed in this larger region as a whole. Mr. Borden's own typological predilections further confuse the issue since his types are neither internally consistent nor explicitly defined. This pertains especially to Lake Mohave and Silver Lake points and their modified forms. He further errs by incorrect use of the Humbolt Concave-Base type, and by omission of recent radiocarbon dates on the projectile points from Rose Spring (Clewlow, Heizer, and Berger, CONTRIBUT. ARCH. RES. FACILITY, Number 7:19-27, 1970). More serious is his failure to compare the Rose Valley collection with those made at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, by C. W. Clewlow (Clewlow, REPORTS OF UNIV. CALIF. ARCH SURVEY, Number 73:1-93, 1968). This group of sites is similar to Rose Valley in that both share several projectile point types including Little Lake (Pinto), Clovis, Humbolt Concave-Base "A," Great Basin Transverse (cresents), Lind Coulee, and Black Rock Concave-Base.
gion did not occur until some time after 200 B.C. (uncorrected). The earlier Lolomai phase radioc... more gion did not occur until some time after 200 B.C. (uncorrected). The earlier Lolomai phase radiocarbon dates come only from sites with a few widely scattered determinations. Further, these sites all yield first and second century B.C. dates along with the much older determinations, sometimes from the same structures. In contrast, sites yielding five or more dates in close statistical agreement invariably date to younger than 200 B.C. (based on weighted means). This suggests that the early dates resulted from the aboriginal use of dead wood or that the radiocarbon samples in question came from mature logs that had suffered extensive ring loss through burning or weathering. This latter possibility cannot be assessed properly given the published data because, in every case, the sample material is listed simply as "charcoal." There is no way of knowing whether a particular dated sample consisted of twigs, the outermost rings of a construction timber, or the innermost rings of a 300-year-old tree used for firewood. Detailed sample descriptions should be made available in a subsequent volume or in an errata sheet. In sum, if one site had produced a tight clustering of dates in the 500 to 700 B.C. range, we might be able to accept the claims of the BMAP investigators. But with the information now at hand, 200 B.C. is the most reasonable inception date for the Lolomai phase occupation and, by implication, the introduction of maize to Black Mesa.
On April 24, 1987, Thomas Emerson at the State Historic Preservation Office received a telephone ... more On April 24, 1987, Thomas Emerson at the State Historic Preservation Office received a telephone call from a Chicago lawyer who wanted an answer to a simple question:" Are there any laws that protect old Indian villages and graves that are on the ...
Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, 1971
Formal analysis is employed to express symbolically the behavior associated with disposal of the ... more Formal analysis is employed to express symbolically the behavior associated with disposal of the dead in archaeological contexts. Key diagrams are shown to economically express the partitioning of attribute space by a series of variables coded on independently measured dimensions. The attention of this paper is to explicate the analysis of formal-structural relations among archaeological materials from Spiro, a specialized Mississippian period site in eastern Oklahoma, without resort to analogies between cultural-historical configurations. The power of the analysis is extended by direct comparison of the Spiro key with keys made on the same dimensions that are drawn from the ethnohistorical literature of two southeastern societies.
... that the Hopewell period coincided with a cool and wet episode between AD 1 and 400 (9). The ... more ... that the Hopewell period coincided with a cool and wet episode between AD 1 and 400 (9). The difficulty with this model of climatic control over culture histories (via its effects ... MIDWESTERNARCHAEOLOGY 173 between regions and districts through trade relationships (122). ...
Leadership and Polity in Mississippian Society, 2006
Cahokia's Monks Mound and associated plazas have long inspired visions of either direct o... more Cahokia's Monks Mound and associated plazas have long inspired visions of either direct or indirect domination. Eric Wolf's concept of "structural power" is important in this discussion by calling attention to the agenda-setting advantages of individuals having key entitlements. Wolf's perspective is applied to the beaded burial of Cahokia's Mound 72 and its immediate contexts to show how this burial context is more satisfactorily explained as a collective effort. Contrary to the domination model this interpretation has nothing to do with the elevation of anyone's elite status.
Recently archaeologists have focused their attention on the role of re ligious belief and practi... more Recently archaeologists have focused their attention on the role of re ligious belief and practice in human social history. For the Mississippian cul tural world of the American Southeast, the latest perspective was presented in The Art Institute of Chicago's 2004 exhibition volume Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. Taking our lead from that publication, in this essay we elaborate on how Cahokia's beliefs and practices may be drawn from the Dhegiha Siouans' cultural world. While Muskogean oral traditions have been used to interpret Mississippian religion, recent scholarship has focused on the Dhegiha Siouan speakers' rich ethnographic record for midwestern Mississippian groups. Starting from highly specific Dhegiha Siouan beliefs about the human fertility powers of the falcon, this essay builds a case for interpretations based on a mixture of general analogy; archaeological context, and continuity of highly specific imagery. Mississippian platform mound construction is cus...
Religious observance historically incorporated journeys to sacred places for American Indian grou... more Religious observance historically incorporated journeys to sacred places for American Indian groups on the Plains and around the Great Lakes as an integral part of individual experience and communion with the spirit world. The history of such journeys is exemplified by the environmental contexts of several large ritual centers in the Mississippi river basin. They include the Archaic Period center of Poverty Point, the Middle Woodland centers such as the Pinson mounds, and finally the large Mississippian center of Cahokia. Material evidence reveals that the nearby mountains of the Ozarks, composed of caves, springs, and materials imbued with sacred power, were thus important as a destination for Cahokian spiritual journeys. An ancient volcanic remnant known as the St. Francois Mountains contains intrusive basalt dykes engulfed by the cedar glades of the Ozarks resulting in a ritual landscape of particular importance. Both basalt and red cedar were an important part of the material record at Cahokia and its surrounding communities. Given their power we argue that these materials were transported back to Cahokia as a token either of pilgrimages or journeys for vision quests. We explore such spiritual journeys so widespread among Native American Indians in both the recent and distant past.
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