ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7512-0849
Date of Award
9-12-2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
This dissertation is a social and ecological analysis of the history of Native American mound-building from approximately 4000 to 3000 years ago in the Lower Mississippi Valley of the southeastern United States. It is comprised of three interlinked analyses. In the first, variation in material culture, architecture, and foodways is presented to suggest that the archaeological record of the Late Archaic Lower Mississippi Valley does not reflect a uniform regional culture. Rather, relationships between the two largest sites in the region –Jaketown and Poverty Point– indicate a heterarchical history in which communities selectively participated in larger social phenomena—such as exchange networks and mound-building—while maintaining diverse, localized practices. In the second analysis, a chronological model based on 14C data is presented to demonstrate that the earthworks at Jaketown were built earlier than those at Poverty Point. As such, Poverty Point represents a site of historical convergence rather than a center exporting cultural identity to peripheral communities. In the third analysis, I interpret the economy of the Late Archaic as a mode of production in which people coordinated labor and altered the reproductive cycles of select plant species to increase abundance, ordering both sets of relationships through the ceremonialism of mound-building.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Tristram Kidder
Recommended Citation
Ward, Grace M. V., "The Historical Ecology of Late Archaic Mound Building in the Lower Mississippi Valley" (2023). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3173.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/3173