Mississippian Culture and Cahokian Identities as Considered Through Household Archaeology at Carson, a Monumental Center in North Mississippi

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayur Madhusudan Mehta ◽  
John M. Connaway
Keyword(s):  
Household Archaeology ◽  
Mississippian Culture

The Sociopolitical Economy of an Ancient Maya Village: Cerén and its Sacbe

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Payson Sheets ◽  
Christine Dixon ◽  
David Lentz ◽  
Rachel Egan ◽  
Alexandria Halmbacher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Household Archaeology ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Sociopolitical Organization ◽  
Politics And Religion ◽  
The Village

The intellectual, artistic, and architectural accomplishments of Maya elites during the Classic period were extraordinary, and evidence of elite activities has preserved well in the archaeological record. A centuries-long research focus on elites has understandably fostered the view that they controlled the economy, politics, and religion of Maya civilization. While there has been significant progress in household archaeology, unfortunately the activities, decisions, and interactions of commoners generally preserve poorly in the archaeological record. Therefore, it has been challenging to understand the sociopolitical economy of commoners, and how it related—or did not relate—to elite authority. The exceptional volcanic preservation of the site of Cerén, El Salvador, provides a unique opportunity to explore the degree to which elites controlled or influenced commoner life. Was society organized in a top-down hierarchy in which elites controlled everything? Or did commoners have autonomy, and thus the authority to decide quotidian, seasonal, and annual issues within the village? Or was there a mixture of different loci of authority within the village and the region? Research at Cerén is beginning to shed some light on the sociopolitical economy within the community and in relation to elites in the Zapotitan valley. A domain in which there was considerable commoner-elite interaction in the Cerén area was the marketplace. Elites and their attached specialists provided products, and commoners decided which marketplace they would attend to exchange their items. Evidence from Cerén also suggests that there were numerous other domains of authority within the community that had no detectable control or influence from outside. For instance, people in the village decided what crafts or specialized agricultural products to produce as surplus to be exchanged within the community for different products from other households. Cerén community members acted independently as individuals, as households, or in other domains within the community. Understanding the multiple layers of authority at Cerén sheds light on the sociopolitical organization in one non-elite Classic period Maya community.

Becoming and Descending

2020 ◽  
pp. 82-100
Author(s):  
Robert A. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Fort Ancient ◽  
Research Philosophy ◽  
Mississippian Culture ◽  
Current Emphasis

Over the course of the discipline, archaeological investigations have toggled between history and process, with the current emphasis being increasingly placed on historical aspects. Rather than seeing this as a choice to make, Cook agrees with those that see both as being necessary to understand the full dimensions of the human problems we investigate. Cook presents a Fort Ancient/Mississippian culture case study that explores various dimensions of this research philosophy. This is followed by a discussion that explores the theoretical toggling that seems to occur more so as studies that emphasize one extreme end of the historical-processual continuum seem to be exhausted.

Late Quaternary vegetation, climate, and fire history of the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Plain based on a 30,000-yr multi-proxy record from White Pond, South Carolina, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 861-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa R. Krause ◽  
James M. Russell ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
John W. Williams ◽  
Stephen T. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽  
Proxy Records ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mississippian Culture

AbstractThe patterns and drivers of late Quaternary vegetation dynamics in the southeastern United States are poorly understood due to low site density, problematic chronologies, and a paucity of independent paleoclimate proxy records. We present a well-dated (15 accelerator mass spectrometry14C dates) 30,000-yr record from White Pond, South Carolina that consists of high-resolution analyses of fossil pollen, macroscopic charcoal, andSporormiellaspores, and an independent paleotemperature reconstruction based on branched glycerol dialkyl tetraethers. Between 30,000 and 20,000 cal yr BP, openPinus-Piceaforest grew under cold and dry conditions; elevatedQuercusbefore 26,000 cal yr BP, however, suggest warmer conditions in the Southeast before the last glacial maximum, possibly corresponding to regionally warmer conditions associated with Heinrich event H2. Warming between 19,700 and 10,400 cal yr BP was accompanied by a transition from conifer-dominated to mesic hardwood forest.Sporormiellaspores were not detected and charcoal was low during the late glacial period, suggesting megaherbivore grazers and fire were not locally important agents of vegetation change.Pinusreturned to dominance during the Holocene, with step-like increases inPinusat 10,400 and 6400 cal yr BP, while charcoal abundance increased tenfold, likely due to increased biomass burning associated with warmer conditions. Low-intensity surface fires increased after 1200 cal yr BP, possibly related to the establishment of the Mississippian culture in the Southeast.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document