Refiguring the Archaeology of Greater Cahokia

Revised theoretical constructs and an enlarged database allow substantive revisions to a processual accounting of greater Cahokia. Measures of political consolidation, demographic nucleation, central transformations, and centrifugal dispersions reveal the form, scale, and developmental trajectory of greater Cahokia to have been highly centralized, regional, and punctuated by abrupt and pervasive social changes, respectively. Social restructuring, political rituals, and large-scale labor mobilizations are recognizable among the archaeological remains, as are the pre-Mississippian traditions that tempered regional government. Greater Cahokia was a product of local agricultural populations dominated and accommodated over three centuries. The processes of domination and accommodation, occurring at a time when regional administration was not yet commonplace, left unmistakable regional and panregional signatures.     

An iconographic exploration of the “rattlesnake” gorgets of eastern Tennessee

ABSTRACT

Compared to other gorget styles and themes made during the Mississippian period, the so-called rattlesnake gorgets of eastern Tennessee have been found in fairly large numbers. Stylistically, Muller assigned these gorgets to the temporally related Lick Creek and Citico styles, while Crawford’s recent work has argued for substyles within. While their style has been studied extensively, the idea that these gorgets depict rattlesnakes generally has been accepted without further consideration. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic iconographic study of rattlesnake gorgets. Ultimately, we conclude that the image’s original referent is not just a snake but instead is intended to be a model of the cosmos at night.     

The late prehistoric Cahokia cultural system of the Mississippi River valley: Foundations,florescence, and fragmentation

The development, florescence, and subsequent demise of an organizationally complex cultural system in the American Bottom, part of the central Mississippi River valley, spanned a little over half a millennium. Cahokia, the largest Precolumbian site in the United States, is located within this segment of fertile floodplain, as are many other subsidiary settlements that varied greatly in terms of their size, internal structure, and occupational histories. Numerous projects over the past 30 years have resulted in the rapid accumulation of considerable information and divergent interpretations about the nature of the societies represented archaeologically by a series of superimposed settlement systems.     

Trempealeau’s Little Bluff: An Early Cahokian Terraformed Landmark in the Upper Mississippi Valley

Archaeological and geomorphological investigations of Little Bluff (47Tr32), in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, reveal how and, possibly, why this loess-capped sandstone ridge spur was anthropogenically altered in the mid-eleventh century A.D. Project excavation units and trenches dug in 2010–2011 revealed the timing, rate of completion, structure, symmetry, and orientation of the construction. In addition to delineating construction details and associated archaeological features, our research suggests that Cahokians, by sculpting and rebuilding this ridge spur, were actively positioning themselves vis-à-vis the wider Mississippi Valley landscape, if not the cosmos generally.     

A Mississippian conflagration at East St. Louis and its political-historical implications

Abstract

A walled portion of the extensive Precolumbian civic-ceremonial precinct of East St. Louis, near present day St. Louis, Missouri, enclosed a cluster of as many as 100 small buildings or huts. The huts were associated with a walled ritual-residential zone or elite compound dating to the late Stirling phase (a.d. 1150–1200) and, importantly, were burned in a single conflagration. The burning of East St. Louis may have resulted from a ritual commemoration, an act of aggression, or an accidental fire; circumstantial evidence primarily supports the first scenario. With strongly diminished mound and architectural construction at the site in subsequent decades, and with the coeval disappearance of key ritual-residential buildings from the regional landscape after the burning, the ancient East St. Louis fire was part of a larger pattern of historical events that mark a downward turning point in the social and political history of Greater Cahokia.     

A FRESH LOOK AT A LITTLE-KNOWN SOUTHEASTERN COPPER PLATE

Abstract

Chauga (38OC47) is a mound site now under Lake Hartwell at the head of the Savannah River in Oconee County, South Carolina. Excavations in 1958–1959 by the University of Georgia recovered a Mississippian copper plate. Upon comparison to others of its kind, it is clear that this lesser-known plate encompasses some interesting design features, most notably the presence of the only known depiction of a chunkey stone on copper. We have recently created a more accurate representation of its design. The plate appears to portray many similarities to depictions of Birdman dancers: kilted dancers and dancing elders within the “Stack” style. Birdman themes are common in Mississippian iconography. Given the importance that copper plates have for interpreting Mississippian art and belief systems, this updated examination provides useful new information for researchers studying Mississippian iconography.     

Building Monks Mound,Cahokia, Illinois,a.d. 800–1400

Abstract

Cahokia (a.d. 800–1400), located near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, was the largest settlement in ancient North America. Monks Mound occupies the center of Cahokia and provides both a modern and ancient focal point for the site. Past investigations of Monks Mound explored issues of mound chronology and use. Recent soil coring around the perimeter clarifies the geological context and degree of preparation necessary before the mound was built. The results suggest that the mound is not optimally positioned for stability and its location may ultimately accelerate deterioration. Moreover, evaluation of the mound features and fill indicates that maximization of the geotechnical potential of sediments was not a primary concern for the Cahokians. Although poorly engineered relative to modern standards, the suitability of the mound as a platform may have been secondary to other design choices made while building the largest single mound in ancient North America.     

Cahokia's Rattlesnake Causeway

Recent archaeological test excavations at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site located in Collinsville, IL, document the planned and early construction of a large earthen causeway. Approximately 1-km long and 18-m wide, the Rattlesnake Causeway orientated Cahokia's 5° offset grid and tied Cahokia's central precinct to at least one if not two ridge-top mortuary mounds. The results of this excavation present new information on Cahokia's city plan, one that included the construction of at least 104 earthen monuments, a large central plaza, and an extensive earthen causeway marking the midline of the site.     

Notes and News

Abstract

In 1925 a key piece of evidence, a fragment of Sheshonq I's victory stela, was discovered at Megiddo during the preparations for the excavations of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Unfortunately it was found on the surface, on one of the spoil heaps of the previous German excavations. The Chicago team tentatively assigned the fragment to the lowest level reached in the area, initially called Stratum IV, but said little more about it. In recent years, fresh information concerning both the location and the circumstances of the discovery has been published, which, in the author's view, makes it possible to locate the context in which the stela fragment was found, both horizontally and vertically. It is now clear that the lowest level reached in the area was Stratum V, and the author suggests below that the fragment was reused in Stratum VA, the stela having originally been set up in Stratum V B, dated to the 9th century BC by the current excavators.     

“汉代城市和聚落考古与汉文化国际学术研讨会”纪要

城市是一个国家或地区的政治、文化中心和经济管理、军事指挥中心,是人类文明的集中体现,对古代城址进行发掘和研究历来是考古学的基本内容及重要任务之一。聚落一般指人们聚居的地方,是生产、生活等各种活动的空间及场所。广义的聚落包括城市,