Recent Geophysical Investigations and New Interpretations of Etowah’s Palisade

Bigman, Daniel P.; King, Adam; Walker, Chester P.

doi:10.1179/sea.2011.30.1.003

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The estimated use life of the palisade (40-85 yr; 68% probability; Figure 6; Primary Model: Palisade Span) suggests that the structure was standing for at least several decades and, potentially, a century. These results are similar to other Bayesian estimates for the use lives of Mississippian bastioned palisades (Krus 2016;Krus and Cobb 2018), but contrast with previous shorter-use life estimates based on wood decay rates (Bigman et al 2011;Iseminger et al 1990;Scarry 1998). The longer use-life of the Lawrenz palisades suggest that the true use-life of a palisade may only be partially contingent on the durability of its construction materials.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

et al. 2019

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Geophysical survey and excavations from 2010–2016 at Lawrenz Gun Club (11CS4), a late pre-Columbian village located in the central Illinois River valley in Illinois, identified 10 mounds, a central plaza, and dozens of structures enclosed within a stout 10 hectare bastioned palisade. Nineteen radiocarbon (14C) measurements were taken from single entities of wood charcoal, short-lived plants, and animal bones. A site chronology has been constructed using a Bayesian approach that considers the stratigraphic contexts and feature formation processes. The village was host to hundreds of years of continuous human activity during the Mississippi Period. Mississippian activity at the site is estimated to have begun incal AD 990–1165 (95% probability), ended incal AD 1295–1450 (95% probability), and lasted150–420 yr (95% probability)in the primary Bayesian model with similar results obtained in two alternative models. The palisade is estimated to have been constructed incal AD 1150–1230 (95% probability)and was continuously repaired and rebuilt for15–125 yr (95% probability), probably for40–85 yr (68% probability). Comparison to other studies demonstrates that the bastioned palisade at Lawrenz was one of the earliest constructed in the midcontinental United States.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

et al. 2019

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“…The Mississippian period in the American Southeast is characterized by a variety of cultural phenomena that includes: population aggregation, the intensification of maize agriculture, the integration of numerous settlements into larger decision‐making bodies, the institutionalization of leadership, and in some areas, heavy competition seen in site clustering and territorial boundaries (Smith, ; Hally, ; Milner, ; Anderson and Sassaman, ). Mississippian political centres often adhered to an ‘architectural grammar’ that consisted of mounds, plazas and palisades (Lewis and Stout, ), but their arrangements varied, and each architectural element was probably multifunctional (Bigman et al ., ). Although the geotechnical and design characteristics of mounds varied (Schilling, ), they probably represented monuments of memory (Pauketat and Alt, ) or the ascension of new leadership (Hally, ), and were the material representations of social networks (Knight, ; King, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Construction History, Labour Investment and Social Change at Ocmulgee National Monument's Mound A, Georgia, USA, Using Ground‐penetrating Radar

Bigman

Lanzarone

2014

Archaeological Prospection

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Prehistoric societies from around the world constructed monumental mounded architecture (earthen pyramids) for a variety of functions, including the foundation for temples or a leader's residence, community stages and cemeteries. Flat-topped earthen mounds often have complicated histories where the function, size, orientation and summit architecture varied throughout time. This paper presents the results from a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey conducted on the summit of Mound A, the largest prehistoric Native American mound at Ocmulgee National Monument located in central Georgia, USA. Our study indicates that performing depth-slice analyses of flat-topped mounds can effectively map successive construction stages over distinct periods of archaeological prehistory. The GPR data show distinctive low-amplitude, discontinuous stratigraphic variations that we interpret to be related to mound fill, which are interrupted by high-amplitude coherent summit reflections. We also maintain sufficient vertical and horizontal resolution to identify summit architecture on earlier mound-use episodes, which is imaged by distinct reflection geometry as patterned linear, square and circular high-amplitude events in GPR depth-slices. The authors recorded four possible mound summits, the western expansion of the mound, and the shifting location and shape of summit architecture; in addition to resolving a discrepancy regarding the location of early excavation units from the 1930s. Shallow geophysical data indicate a decline in the volume of material used over the course of mound construction, and by inference, a decline in the size of the labour force used to construct each stage. We conclude that the power and influence of Ocmulgee's early leadership subsided over the course of Mound A's use, and may have been contested by an emerging faction.

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“…This method is also very promising for sequencing other sites where houses have been located with geophysical prospecting and where there are adequate faunal assemblages and appropriate soils and topography for fluoride dating. This should prove of particular interest given the recent proliferation of geophysical surveys that have been able to map entire settlement plans (for a few Mississippian examples, see Bigman et al 2011; Butler et al 2011; Peterson 2015). This approach could possibly be used to relatively quickly and feasibly sequence these and other sites.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth of a Village: Using Fluoride Analysis and Artifact Frequencies to Examine Early Fort Ancient/Mississippian Household and Site Formation

Cook

Schurr

2018

Am. Antiq.

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Examining the formation histories of single-component prehistoric villages is difficult using only radiocarbon dating. This study investigates such a case with the added considerations of two relative dating techniques, artifact accumulation and fluoride dating, at the Guard site (12D29), an early (ca. AD 1000–1300) Fort Ancient/Mississippian village located in southeast Indiana. The goal was to assess the depositional history of the individual house basins and, if possible, to determine a relative sequence of construction within the village. The observed relationship between relative artifact frequencies and fluoride levels was statistically examined with the expected result being that fluoride concentrations and artifact frequencies are significantly correlated. Houses built initially contained lower relative artifact frequencies, whereas houses built more recently contained higher relative artifact frequencies. This pattern is further explored with artifact and fluoride distinctions in vertical stratigraphy, which show that some structures were slowly filled with midden trash, whereas others were more likely rapidly filled during the latter part of the village occupation, perhaps at the time of site abandonment. Overall, the results are very promising and consistent with the SunWatch site, the only other Fort Ancient culture site with a defined construction sequence, establishing a general pattern of village development in the study region.

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Recent Geophysical Investigations and New Interpretations of Etowah’s Palisade

Cited by 15 publications

References 6 publications

Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

Investigating Construction History, Labour Investment and Social Change at Ocmulgee National Monument's Mound A, Georgia, USA, Using Ground‐penetrating Radar

Growth of a Village: Using Fluoride Analysis and Artifact Frequencies to Examine Early Fort Ancient/Mississippian Household and Site Formation

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