From Cahokia to Larson to Moundville : death, world renewal, and the sacred in the Mississippian social world of the late prehistoric Eastern Woodlands

Byers, A. Martin

doi:10.7290/v76q1v59

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Archaeologists now recognize, however, that the role of platform mounds was complex and variable beyond any presupposed rigid uniformity. For example, some mounds are thought to provide elevated ground for religious specialists and sacred ceremonies (e.g., Byers, 2013), whereas Lindauer and Blitz (1997) argue that platform mounds indicated ceremonial precincts within different communities and that the mounds accentuated social distinction in their use. Some contend that groups construct and manipulate mounds to invoke lasting impressions amongst those who interact with the architecture frequently (Brennan, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐method geophysical investigation at Snow's Bend, a Mississippian platform mound

Plattner

Filoromo

Blair

2022

Archaeological Prospection

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Archaeological investigations of Mississippian platform mounds have traditionally required invasive excavation or coring. Excavations are damaging to sites, and in many cases, invasive or destructive research methods on Native American mounds are forbidden or inappropriate. Non-invasive geophysical investigations avoid these issues but have their own challenges in terms of resolving the interior of the mound, particularly if electrically conductive materials, such as clay, are present. Here, we present a multi-method non-invasive geophysical approach using ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography, time-domain induced polarization, and electrical resistance mapping to study the Mississippian platform mound at Snow's Bend (1TU2/3), a late Moundville II/III (ca. AD 1300 to 1520) site located near Moundville, Alabama. From our data, we interpreted at least two construction stages and found indications of remnants of summit architecture on each. The final, as well as earlier, construction stage of the mound had a two-tier summit with a lower platform in the northern half of the mound. Summit buildings were identified on the lower platforms of each mound stage. We acknowledge that there is inherent uncertainty with any non-invasive approach, but demonstrate the capabilities of geophysics for new understandings of the life-histories of Mississippian platform mounds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%