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Moundville and Surrounding Sites: Some Structural Considerations of Mortuary Practices II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 June 2018
Abstract
Analysis of differential distribution of mortuary artifacts from the major site units at Moundville and the Pickwick Reservoir in northern Alabama has yielded structural similarities and differences. The occurrence of certain classes of artifacts, symbolic of high status positions, is limited to a restricted number of individuals interred in platform mounds. These artifacts are not found with individuals buried in the cemeteries either at Moundville or in surrounding sites. In turn, within the cemeteries and platform mounds there is observed differentiation and regularity in and between classes of individuals in terms of skeletal orientation and mortuary treatment. The model suggested from the archaeological remains is one of a complexly ranked and functionally specialized politico-religious organization as part of this cultural system.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology , Volume 25: Approaches to the Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices , July 1971 , pp. 68 - 91
- Copyright
- Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1971
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