Introduction

This chapter introduces the book with a discussion of culture contact dynamics and the need to investigate these questions in complex non-state societies. The spread of Cahokia’s influence through both direct and indirect interaction across the Midcontinent, had diverse outcomes in different regions. Mississippianization was a historical process whereby Woodland peoples had the agency to resist or participate in Cahokian practices and did so with reference to their own identities and traditions. Within this framework, the chapter lays out the following research questions: 1) did the Lower Illinois River Valley’s (LIRV) proximity to Cahokia enable certain social, political, and economic interactions with American Bottom groups that did not transpire with more distant groups; and 2) how did these interactions impact the social organization and daily practices of groups in the LIRV?

Making Mississippian

This chapter synthesizes the patterns presented in the book to reconstruct what life was like for Audrey Mississippians. It discusses the implications of these findings for the limits of Cahokia’s economic control and political influence and the nature of culture contact dynamics north of the American Bottom. The Lower Illinois River Valley’s proximity to Cahokia did in fact result in more changes to social organization at Audrey than observed in the northern hinterland. Audrey inhabitants nevertheless maintained certain Woodland-era conventions and hybridized others, generating new Mississippian traditions in the process. Finally, a discussion of exotic materials north of Cahokia characterizes a spirit of exchange and interaction between and among these diverse regions that likely fueled the Mississippianization of the north.

Culture Contact and the Cahokia Phenomenon

This chapter orients the reader with a discussion of anthropological and archaeological theory pertaining to culture contact and the history of research at Cahokia. A brief summary of Mississippian settlement systems and chronology in the Greater Cahokia area, the northern hinterland, and the Lower Illinois River Valley provides the regional background and theoretical focus necessary for situating the arguments made in subsequent chapters. The theoretical frameworks include political economy, craft production, and theories of identity and tradition, migration, and social interaction.

Archaeological Investigations at the Audrey-North Site (11GE20)

This chapter describes previous and recent archaeological investigations at the Audrey-North site (11Ge20) in the Lower Illinois River Valley. The Center for American Archaeology excavated from 1975 to 1983, exposing both Late Woodland and Cahokia-style structures, a circular sweatlodge, pit features, and a palisade segment. In 2000, Colleen Delaney-Rivera analyzed the ceramic artifacts recovered, identifying Woodland- and Mississippian-period pottery in addition to hybrid pots and non-local vessels. A magnetic gradiometry survey of the site in 2014 revealed two areas of interest for excavation: one Mississippian house and one unidentified anomaly. The house area was exposed with a backhoe, revealing a Stirling-phase (AD 1100–1200) wall trench house and associated pit features. Excavations over the other anomaly revealed a small early Mississippian wall trench structure, the floor of which was lined with yellow clay.

Ceramic Traditions

This chapter presents an analysis of ceramic artifacts collected during recent Audrey site excavations. Jar rims are seriated using established chronological sequences from Cahokia; these patterns are considered in conjunction with AMS dates from four features to date the site to Cahokia’s early Stirling phase (AD 1100–1150). An interregional comparative analysis of ceramic temper, surface finish, orifice diameter, and vessel class from the Audrey site, Greater Cahokia, and northern hinterland regions is conducted to determine the degree to which Audrey inhabitants adopted Cahokian potting practices and/or retained traditional Woodland-era potting techniques and foodways. Finally, the presence of exotic, non-Cahokian pottery at Audrey and northern hinterland sites is considered as potential evidence for interregional exchange and interaction among northern groups.

Architecture and Community Organization

This chapter addresses questions related to the impacts of Mississippianization on community organization at the Audrey site. It begins with a detailed architectural analysis, and a functional and spatial analysis of pit features from recent excavations. A comparative analysis of patterns from Audrey, Greater Cahokia, and northern hinterland sites is presented to assess whether Audrey villagers maintained a communally oriented, Woodland-era social organization or subscribed to a more hierarchically organized, Cahokian way of life. The Audrey site was a large nucleated Mississippian village with multiple types of structures including elite and special purpose buildings, reflecting a Cahokian architecture of power. Audrey inhabitants also continued to practice lifeways influenced by local Woodland traditions, including hybrid architectural techniques and communal domestic activities.

Lithic Tool Industries

This chapter addresses whether the Lower Illinois River Valley’s proximity to Cahokia enabled access to craft exchange networks vital to the political economy of Greater Cahokia. This issue requires a detailed lithic analysis of the Audrey site’s lithic assemblage, examining both the craft production and/or exchange of Mill Creek hoes, basalt celts, and microlithic chert drills for marine shell bead manufacture, and the consumption of local Burlington chert. A comparative analysis with data from the Greater Cahokia and northern hinterland areas assesses the extent of Cahokian economic control, the organization of Mississippian lithic tool industries, and regional variation in the nature of economic activities. Finally, an analysis of exotic cherts within lithic assemblages suggests interregional exchange and interaction among northern groups.