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The Temporal Distribution and Duration of Mississippian Polities in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2019

David J. Hally Open the ORCID record for David J. Hally [Opens in a new window]  and
John F. Chamblee
David J. Hally*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 355 S. Jackson St., Athens, Georgia, 30602, USA
John F. Chamblee
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 355 S. Jackson St., Athens, Georgia, 30602, USA
*
(dhally@uga.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

To aid our understanding of prehispanic social change in a subcontinental context, this article presents data and analysis relating to the occupational histories of 351 Mississippian platform mound sites in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Based on the premise that sites with platform mounds served as the administrative and ritual centers for Mississippian polities, our study demonstrates that polities in the study area rose and fell with some regularity, and in many cases, new polities succeeded old ones in the same locations. Our work expands on a previous analysis of 47 northern Georgia area sites. Through a theoretical framework tailored for macroregional processes and a rule-based approach in collecting and standardizing data from previous work, this study serves as an example for incorporating different processes and regions to provide a more coherent and complete picture of the Mississippian macroregion. Our results show that polity cycling was typical in our study area, and we argue that the rise and fall of polities is best described within a theoretical framework emphasizing collapse and resilience. By treating collapse as a normal feature of Mississippian polities, we can better understand the interconnectedness of Mississippian polities across regions.

En un esfuerzo por entender el cambio social prehispánico en la escala de subcontinentes, este papel presenta datos y análisis de 351 sitios montículo de la plataforma misisipiana en Alabama, Georgia, Misisipí y Tennessee. Basado en la premisa que los sitios con montículos de la plataforma sirvieran como los centros administrativos y rituales de estructuras políticas misisipianas, nuestro estudio demuestra que las estructuras políticas en el área de estudio se subieron y se cayeron con alguna uniformidad y, en muchos casos, las nuevas estructuras políticas sucedieron a viejas en las mismas localizaciones. Nuestro trabajo expande en un análisis anterior de 47 sitios en el parte norte de Georgia y presente historias de la secuencia de ocupación para los 351 sitios. Usando un marco teórico hace a medida para procesos macroregionales y un enfoque basada en la regla para coleccionar y estandarizar datos del trabajo anterior, este estudio sirve como un ejemplo para la incorporación de otros procesos y regiones en una imagen más coherente y completa de la macroregión misisipiana. Nuestros resultados muestran que es típico para nuestra área de estudio que las estructuras políticas se repiten en ciclo, y sostenemos que la subida y la caída de las estructuras políticas es describir mejor con el uso de un marco teórico que enfatizar desplome, teoría de resistencia y panarquía. Tratando el desplome como una característica tradicional de las estructuras políticas misisipianas, podemos entender mejor la interconectividad de las estructuras políticas misisipiana a través de regiones.

Keywords

Southeastern U.S.Mississippian polity cyclingresilience theoryadaptive cyclespanarchysureste de EE.UUciclos en unidades políticas mississipianasteoría de resilienciaciclos adaptivospanarquía
Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 420 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by the Society for American Archaeology 

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