Table Of ContentMississippian
Community
Organization
The Powers Phase in
Southeastern Missouri
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MISSISSIPPIAN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
The Powers Phase in Southeastern Missouri
Michael J. O’Brien
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Mississippian
Community
Organization
The Powers Phase in
Southeastern Missouri
Michael J. O’Brien
Universityof Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, Missouri
with contributions by
James W. Cogswell
J. Eric Gilland
Daniel S. Glover
James J.Krakker
TimothyK. Pertula
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Contributors
JamesW.Cogswell•NorthlandResearch,2510S.RuralRoad,Suite102,Tempe,
Arizona 85282
J. Eric Gilliland • Burns and McDonnell, 9400 Ward Parkway, Kansas City,
Missouri 64114
DanielS. Glover • College ofArts and Science, Universityof Missouri, Co-
lumbia, Missouri 65211
JamesJ. Krakker • DepartmentofAnthropology, NationalMuseumof Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
Timothy K. Perttula • 10101WoodhavenDrive,Austin,Texas 78753
v
Preface
The Powers Phase Project was a multiyear archaeological program undertaken
in southeastern Missouri by the University of Michigan in the late 1960s and
early 1970s. The project focused on the occupation of a large Pleistocene-age
terrace in the Little Black River Lowland—a large expanse of lowlying land just
east of the Ozark Highland—between roughlyA.D. 1250 and A.D. 1400. The
largest site in the region is Powers Fort—a palisaded mound center that re-
ceived archaeological attention as early as the late nineteenth century. Archaeo-
logicalsurveysconductedsouthof PowersFortinthe 1960srevealedthepres-
ence of numerous smaller sites of varying size that contained artifact assemblages
similar to those from the largercenter. Collectively the settlementaggregation
became known as the Powers phase. Test excavations indicated that at least
some of the smaller sites contained burned structures and that the burning had
sealed household items on the floors below the collapsed architectural ele-
ments. Thus there appeared to be an opportunity to examine a late prehistoric
settlement system to a degree not possible previously. Not only could the spa-
tial relation of communities in the system be ascertained, but the fact that struc-
tures within the communities had burned appeared to provide a unique oppor-
tunity to examine such things as differences in household items between and
among structures and where various activities had occurred within a house.
With these ideas in mind, James B. Griffin and James E. Price launched the
Powers Phase Project in 1967.
In terms of what it accomplished, the project was an unqualified success.
Over the course of the 7 years or so of its operation, dozens of students from
the University of Michigan and other institutions received excellent field train-
ing, and numerous research papers and dissertations emanated from the work.
Suffice it to say, without mentioning names, that some of the most well-known
individuals in Americanist archaeology today cut their professional teeth work-
ing in the horribly hot and humid summer climate of southeastern Missouri.
vii
viii PREFACE
Key project personnel saw to it that the basic research results were published in
visible outlets. For example, Price and Griffin (1979) published an analysis of
the Snodgrass site, one of the burned villages, which had earlier formed the
basis of Price’s (1973) dissertation. Similarly, Thomas Black (1979) published
an analysis of human skeletal materials from the Turner site, another burned
village, and Bruce D. Smith (1978b) reported on his excavation of the Gypsy
Joint site, a small, two-house settlement. Additionally, Price (1978) provided
an overview of the Powers phase settlement system in a lengthy review article.
Data from the Powers Phase Project have figured prominently in several
overviews of the late prehistory of the Mississippi River valley (e.g., Morse and
Morse, 1983), in some cases (e.g., Chapman, 1980) serving as a proxy for how
prehistoric groups outside the Little Black River Lowland organized themselves
socially and politically. There are obvious dangers involved in using the Pow-
ers phase settlement system as an analogue for what was happening elsewhere
during the time span known as the Mississippian period (ca. A.D. 900-1600),
but given the unparalleled nature of the data base it is not difficult to see why
archaeologists would find it alluring.
Despite what has been published on the Powers phase, there are large
segments of the data base that have not been reported. For example, analysis of
the houses at Snodgrass, the largest settlement excavated during the course of
the project, was restricted to select material classes, and only the burials from
Turner were analyzed. The original goal of this volume was to add to the Pow-
ers phase data base through analysis of additional material classes from exca-
vated houses at Turner and Snodgrass, but as analysis progressed it became
evident that certain assumptions originally made about the occupational his-
tory of the two settlements were incorrect. The archaeological signatures were
much more complicated than presumed originally, and thus some published
statements about not only the two sites but also the settlement system gener-
ally are in need of revision. Asignificant component of this volume is a presen-
tation of the archaeological evidence for why older, published interpretations
should be changed. This should in no way undermine the prominent position
of either the Powers Phase Project or the data set it produced. Rather, it places
the data on a firmer footing, thus enhancing their usefulness for archaeologists
interested in the late prehistory of the Mississippi River valley.
Acknowledgments
Igratefullyacknowledgetheadviceandassistanceof myeditorat KluwerAca-
demic/Plenum, EliotWerner, andtheassistanceof productioneditorRosemary
Sheridan and copyeditor David Bahr. All figures were created or modified by
DanGlover, andtheartifactswerephotographedby Cliff White. LeeNewsom
providedallof thewoodidentificationsusedinthediscussionof Powersphase
structures and answeredinnumerable questions about treegrowthina swampy
environment. Lee Lyman read the manuscript in its entirety and made numer-
ous suggestions for improvement, but his most significant contribution to the
project was his constant willingness to provide advice on and assistance with
analytical procedures. MichaelJochim, series editor, and Carol Morrow also
reviewed the manuscript and provided helpful advice. E.J. O’Brien also read
the manuscriptinits entirety andediteditfor content as wellas forstyle. This
is theeleventhbookof mine onwhichhehasworked, andasalways, Igreatly
appreciate thehelp andadvice hehasprovidedovertheyears. Finally, I grate-
fully acknowledge the advice and constructive criticism provided by Bruce
Smith,whospent5 yearsreanalyzingthematerialsfromTurnerandSnodgrass
and creating a significant portion ofthe massive data base discussed here. He
was supposed to be my coauthor, but his first love-the origins of tropical
domesticates—got in the way, much to the detriment of this project.
ix
Contents
Chapter 1 • The Powers Phase: An Introduction................. 1
Michael J.O’Brien
The Powers Phase Project ......................................... 4
ThePresentVolume ............................................... 15
Chapter2 • The GeneralPhysical andCultural Environment ...... 19
MichaelJ. O’Brien
ThePhysicalSetting ............................................... 24
The CulturalSetting ............................................... 30
Summary ......................................................... 52
Chapter3 • ThePhysical-EnvironmentalContextof Powers
Phase Settlements .................................... 55
James J. Krakker
TheStudy Area ................................................... 58
Summary ......................................................... 72
Chapter4 • Powers Phase Settlement in the Western Lowlands ..... 77
Michael J. O’Brien and James J. Krakker
The Pattern ofPowers PhaseSettlement ............................ 85
Summary ......................................................... 97
xi
xii CONTENTS
Chapter 5 • Community Organization and Dates of Occupation . . . . 99
Michael J . O’Brien and Timothy K . Perttula
Powers Fort: The Civic-CeremonialCenter .......................... 99
The Villages ........................................................ 110
The Hamlets..................................... .................... 132
The Farmsteads....................................................... 133
Summary ........................................................... 135
Chapter 6 • The Construction and Abandonment
of PowersPhaseStructures........................... 141
Michael J. O’Brien and James W. Cogswell
Construction ........................................................ 143
The Use of Structures................................................ 163
Structure Abandonment andBurning................................... 164
Postburning Use of Structure Basins ................................... 167
Summary............................................................ 179
Chapter 7 • The Artifactual Content of Selected House Floors
at Turner and Snodgrass................................ 181
James W. Cogswell, Michael J . O’Brien, and Daniel S . Glover
Turner Structures.................................................... 187
SnodgrassStructures................................................. 195
Discussion .......................................................... 214
Summary ........................................................... 226
Chapter 8 • Stone Artifacts from Turner and Snodgra.s.s........ 231
J . Eric Gilliland and Michael J. O’Brien
Chipped-Stone Artifacts............................................. 232
Groundstone Artifacts .............................................. 260
MiscellaneousTools and Other Items ............................. 262
Summary........................................................... 263
