scholarly journals Geophysical Detection and Assessment of Leveled Mounds: An Example from the Upper Mississippi Valley

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
William Green ◽  
Adam S. Wiewel ◽  
Steven L. De Vore
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Magnetic Survey ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Burial Mounds

Most earthen burial mounds of eastern North America have been destroyed—or have they? We review geophysical methods for assessing whether leveled mounds retain intact deposits or features. Magnetic survey holds promise for locating and evaluating leveled mounds because it is rapid and sensitive to magnetic variations associated with anticipated features such as pits and deposits of mound fill. As a case study, we discuss our magnetic survey of the Gast Farm site (13LA12) in eastern Iowa. The survey covered 8.64 ha, encompassing loci of one previously reported mound and possible geometric earthworks as well as Middle and Late Woodland habitation areas. Interpretation of survey results incorporated quantitative differentiation of magnetic anomaly types using GIS techniques, along with standard visual inspection. We found no evidence of geometric earthworks but identified at least six leveled mounds. Displaced mound fill appears to account for the earthwork-like features. We conclude that leveled mounds are detectable and may retain subsurface integrity. Their associated features, including burials, may be identifiable even when above-ground evidence has disappeared.

Copena Galena: Source Identification and Analysis

1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Walthall ◽  
Stephen H. Stow ◽  
Marvin J. Karson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Atomic Absorption ◽  
Source Identification ◽  
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Absorption Spectrophotometry ◽  
Burial Mounds

Galena artifacts from Middle Woodland Copena burial mounds have been analyzed by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry in order to determine their trace element compositions. These results are compared to trace element characteristics of galena sources in eastern North America. Analysis to date suggests the Upper Mississippi Valley galena district as the source for these artifacts. Implications concerning Middle Woodland exchange systems are also offered.

A LOOK INTO THE EARTH: EVALUATING THE USE OF MAGNETIC SURVEY IN AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Magnavita ◽  
Norbert Schleifer
Keyword(s):  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Magnetic Survey ◽  
The Past ◽  
Common Technique ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Prehistoric Settlements ◽  
Present Case Study

In the last decades, geophysical methods such as magnetic survey have become a common technique for prospecting archaeological sites. At sub-Saharan archaeological sites, however, magnetic survey and correlated techniques never came into broad use and there are no signs for an immediate change of this situation. This paper examines the magnetic survey undertaken on the Nigerian site of Zilum, a settlement of the Gajiganna Culture (ca 1800-400 BC) located in the Chad Basin and dated to ca 600-400 BC. By means of the present case study, we demonstrate the significance of this particular type of investigation in yielding complementary data for understanding the character of prehistoric settlements. In conclusion, we point out that geophysical methods should play a more important role in modern archaeological field research, as they furnish a class of documentation not achievable by traditional survey and excavation methods, thus creating new perspectives for interpreting the past of African societies.

Population Aggregation and the Emergence of Circular Villages in Southwest Virginia

2018 ◽  
pp. 140-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Jefferies
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Settlement Structure ◽  
Southern Appalachian ◽  
Late Prehistoric Period ◽  
Population Aggregation

Archaeological evidence from throughout much of eastern North America documents a transition from small, scattered settlements to nucleated, often circular, villages during the Late Woodland/Late Prehistoric period (ca. A.D. 1000-1600). In southwestern Virginia's Appalachian Highlands, this transition is marked by the appearance of large circular palisaded villages associated with what Howard MacCord called the Intermontane Culture. This paper investigates the origin, structure, and spatial distribution of Late Woodland circular villages across the southern Appalachian landscape and compares their emergence to similar trends in settlement structure and organization witnessed in other parts of the Appalachian Highlands and beyond.

Gathering in the Late Woodland

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey R. Barrier ◽  
Megan C. Kassabaum
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Lower Mississippi Valley ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Archaeological Work

The practice of enclosing open spaces with earthen mounds begins in the Lower Mississippi Valley around 3500 B.C. As the earliest recognized monumentalized landscapes in Eastern North America, these locations are thought to have provided periodic bases for the exploitation of rich natural resources and the maintenance of social relationships. Archaeological work at these early plaza sites has focused on establishing the age and stratigraphy of the associated mounds, leaving little known about the everyday activities that occurred around or between them. In this chapter, two case studies from separate areas of the Late Woodland Southeast are discussed: Feltus and Range sites. Participants in the large-scale rituals occurring in the Feltus plaza spent much of their time spatially separated, but the periodic moments of aggregation quite literally created the personal relationships, social structure, and ritual system in which they lived their daily lives. On the other hand, participants in the daily activities that occurred in the Range courtyards co-resided, but the particular relationships they shared with other individuals were negotiated in outside spaces, and the very presence and structure of the courtyard itself tied them – every day – into a much larger local community around formal, central plazas.

Evidence for Stepped Pyramids of Shell in the Woodland Period of Eastern North America

2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Pluckhahn ◽  
Victor D. Thompson ◽  
W. Jack Rink
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Alternative Form ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Woodland Period ◽  
Mississippian Period

AbstractAntiquarians of the nineteenth century referred to the largest monumental constructions in eastern North America as pyramids, but this usage faded among archaeologists by the mid-twentieth century. Pauketat (2007) has reintroduced the term pyramid to describe the larger, Mississippian-period (A.D. 1050 to 1550) mounds of the interior of the continent, recognizing recent studies that demonstrate the complexity of their construction. Such recognition is lacking for earlier mounds and for those constructed of shell. We describe the recent identification of stepped pyramids of shell from the Roberts Island Complex, located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida and dating to the terminal Late Woodland period, A.D. 800 to 1050, thus recognizing the sophistication of monument construction in an earlier time frame, using a different construction material, and taking an alternative form.

Reexamining the Evidence for Bear Ceremonialism in the Lower Mississippi Valley

Bears ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 235-255
Author(s):  
Ashley Peles ◽  
Megan C. Kassabaum
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Americanus ◽  
Black Bear ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Lower Mississippi Valley ◽  
Late Woodland Period ◽  
Coles Creek

This chapter reexamines the archaeological evidence for black bear (Ursus americanus) ceremonialism in the Lower Mississippi Valley (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi). While the environment of the Lower Mississippi Valley was certainly favorable for black bear, we find that not only do ethnohistorical records indicate the importance of black bear but there is a particularly high amount of bear remains at sites dating to the Late Woodland period (AD 700–1200). Feltus, a Coles Creek mound center in southwest Mississippi, is then presented as a case study of black bear ceremonialism. Extensive excavations show that black bear remained a consistent focus throughout the site’s use. Although the specific nature of bear use differs when comparing off-mound and pre-mound contexts to summit-related activities, black bear is consistently found in association with feasting events and ritual activities related to the setting of freestanding posts.

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