Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1560988460 ISBN 13: 9781560988465

Publisher: Smithsonian, 1998

Synopsis

Built on a flat terrace overlooking the Black Warrior River in Alabama, the Moundville ceremonial center was at its height a densely occupied town of approximately a thousand residents, with at least 29 earthen mounds surrounding a central plaza. Today Moundville is not only one of the largest and best-preserved Mississippian sites in the southeastern United States, but also one of the most intensively studied. Rejecting the suggestion of previous models that Moundville suffered an abrupt collapse after a period of steady development, Vernon James Knight, Jr. and Vincas P. Steponaitis, along with the six contributors, contend that the peak occupation of Moundville occurred early in its history and was followed by a protracted decline. They analyze ceramic, human skeletal, faunal, and botanical evidence from central and outlying sites to trace the town's evolution from a settlement to a ceremonial center to a regional necropolis. Bringing together research on population history, domestic life, human health and subsistence, economic organization, spatial organization, and regional settlement patterns, Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom presents a broad, well-documented, chronological view of a site central to the study of chiefdom societies worldwide.

About this title

Book Description:

Built on a flat terrace overlooking the Black Warrior River in Alabama, the Moundville ceremonial center was at its height a densely occupied town of approximately 1,000 residents with at least 29 earhen mounds surrounding a central plaza.  Today Moundville is not only one of the largest and best-preserved Mississippian sites in the United States but also one of the most intensively studied.  This volume brings together nine Moundville specialists who trace the site's evolution and eventual decline.

CONTRIBUTORS:  Vernon J. Knight Jr., Lauren M. Michals, Christopher S. Peebles, Mary Lucas Powell, C. Margaret Scarry, Margaret J. Schoeninger, Mark R. Schurr, Vincas P. Steponaitas, and Paul D. Welch

About the Author:

Vernon James Knight Jr. is Professor of Anthropology at The University of Alabama.  Vincas P. Steponaitis is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

About this edition

• Publisher: Smithsonian
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1560988460
• ISBN 13: 9781560988465
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 203
• Editor: Vernon James Knight Jr., Vincas P. Steponaitis