The Archaeology of Events: Cultural Change and Continuity in the Pre-Columbian Southeast

325 Pages·2015·2.46 MB·English

by  Zackary I. Gilmore

The Archaeology of Events
A Dan Josselyn Memorial Publication
The Archaeology of Events
Cultural Change and Continuity in the
Pre- Columbian South east
Edited by Zackary I. Gilmore and Jason M. O’Donoughue
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALAB AMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
The University of Alab ama Press
Tuscaloosa, Ala bama 35487- 0380
uapress.ua.edu
Copyright © 2015 by the University of Alab ama Press
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ISBN: 978-0-8173-1850-5
E-ISBN: 978-0-8173-8783-9
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction: The Enigma of the Event
Zackary I. Gilmore and Jason M. O’Donoughue 1
I. WHEN PRACTICE BECOMES HISTORY
1. In the Unlikely Event: Method for Temporalizing the Experience of
Change
Kenneth E. Sassaman and Jason M. O’Donoughue 25
2. Beyond the Event Horizon: Moments of Consequence(?) in the St. Johns
River Valley
Jason M. O’Donoughue 46
3. Hunter- Gatherer Histories: The Role of Events in the Construction of the
Chiggerville Shell Midden
Christopher R. Moore 62
4. Pits for the Ancestors
Meggan E. Blessing 77
5. Households Making History: An Eventful Temporality of the Late
Woodland Period at Kolomoki (9ER1)
Thomas J. Pluckhahn 93
II. HIS TORI CAL INTERVENTIONS
6. Subterranean Histories: Pit Events and Place-M aking in Late Archaic
Florida
Zackary I. Gilmore 119
7. Pilgrimage to Poverty Point?
S. Margaret Spivey, Tristram R. Kidder, Anthony L. Ortmann, and
Lee J. Arco 141
8. On the Monumentality of Events: Refiguring Late Woodland Culture
History at Troyville
Mark A. Rees and Aubra L. Lee 160
vi / Contents
9. Mississippian Microhistories and Submound Moments
Charles Cobb 196
III. COMMENTARY
10. Event and Structure: Culture Change and Continuity in the Ancient
Southeast
David G. Anderson 223
References Cited 243
Contributors 299
Index 303
Illustrations
FIGURES
1.1 . Absolute frequency distribution of tree-r ing growth index values at Black
River, South Carolina, for the period a.d. 550–1650 and 20y -ear rolling
sum averages of the same data for the period a.d. 570–1650 33
1.2 . Heuristic model of the relationship between experience and expectation
in the generation of different temporalities 39
2.1 . Location of freshwater springs in the middle St. Johns River valley 52
2.2. Results of the GIS model showing areas of possible spring flow under
conditions of lower than present potentiometric surface 54
2.3. Map of the Silver Glen Run complex showing Mount Taylor–era
deposits 58
3.1 . Map of the Green River region depicting locations of sites mentioned
in text 63
3.2. Feature No. 17 at the Chiggerville site 71
3.3 . Close- up of the rock-l ined hearth in Feature No. 17 71
4.1 . Map of the Savannah River valley and inset of middle Savannah area
with sites mentioned in the text 80
4.2. Chart of Late Archaic culture history of the Savannah River valley 81
4.3. Select profiles of Mill Branch and Classic Stallings features illustrating
the differences in pit morphologies 85
5.1 . Locations of Kolomoki and other sites mentioned in the text 95
5.2 . Map of the Kolomoki site, with locations of Blocks A and D 101
5.3 . Comparison of early/middle Late Woodland structure from Block A and
late/terminal Late Woodland structure from Block D 101
5.4. Comparison of floor area of structures in Blocks A and D 102
viii / Illustrations
5.5 .Comparison of the volume of pit features in Blocks A and D 103
6.1 .Orange period shell mound sites in the middle St. Johns
River valley 126
6.2. Map of the Silver Glen Run complex showing the reconstructed Late
Archaic topography of site 8LA1 and estimated outlines of the shell
mounds at sites 8MR123 and 8LA4242 127
6.3. Schematic showing the Late Archaic depositional sequence at Silver
Glen Run’s Locus B 129
6.4. Test unit profile from Silver Glen Run’s Locus B showing a large
Orange period pit cutting through preexisting Mount Taylor
domestic deposits 135
6.5. Profiles of radiocarbon-d ated Orange period pits from Silver Glen Run’s
Locus B 136
7.1. Map of the Poverty Point site 151
8.1 .Map of Troyville in Jonesville, Louisiana 167
8.2. Map of the Troyville Mound site 168
8.3. Map of the Troyville Mound site, showing the locations of the
embankment, mounds, and areas investigated by ESI 171
8.4. Profiles of Trenches 2 and 3 from the embankment 173
8.5 .Small- necked jar from Feature 49 at Troyville 174
8.6. Plan of the Great Mound, by Walker 176
8.7. Cross- sections of the Great Mound 177
8.8. Plan of the South Pit excavation in the Great Mound 178
8.9. Stratigraphic profiles of the Great Mound South Pit excavation by
Walker correlated with calibrated median 14C dates from the West
Approach Ramp 180
8.10 .Troyville Glyph 183
8.11. Sacred- fire symbolism and the cross-a nd- circle motif 185
8.12 .Ritual- ecological cycle and plan of the lower platform of the
Great Mound 191
9.1 .Chronological dispersal of the Mississippian phenomenon 197
9.2. Location of sites in sample 202
9.3. Overlapping wall- trench residential structures at the Bridges site,
Illinois 206
Illustrations / ix
9.4. Time- transgressive radiation of wall-t rench–style architecture from the
Ameri can Bottom region 207
9.5. Single- post residential structure from the Averbuch site, Tennessee 208
9.6. Premound circular structure at Toqua site, Tennessee 210
9.7. Earth lodge below mound at Peachtree Mound site, North
Carolina 211
9.8. Paired structures at the Garden Creek site, North Carolina 213
9.9. Comparison of paired structures on one of the platform mound surfaces
at Toqua with those below the mound at Garden Creek 218
TABLES
1.1 .Descriptive Statistics on 20- and 60- Year Exponentially Weighted
Moving Averages for Tree-R ing Growth Indices, Black River,
South Carolina, Broken Down by Culture-H is tori cal Period,
a.d. 550–165 0 35
1.2 .Generational Occurrence and Mean Magnitude of Unlikely Events
Inferred from Tree-R ing Growth Indices, Black River, South Carolina,
for Culture- His tori cal Period, a.d. 550–165 0 37
5.1 .Radiocarbon Dates from Blocks A and D at Kolomoki 100
5.2 .Comparison of Macrobotanical Assemblages from Blocks A and D 104
5.3 .Comparison of Wood Charcoal Assemblages from Blocks A and D 105
5.4. Comparison of Faunal Assemblages from Blocks A and D 106
5.5 .Relative Frequencies of Surface Treatments in Identifiable Woodland
Pottery Assemblages from Blocks A and D 107
5.6. Relative Frequencies of Vessel Forms Identified in MNV Analysis of
Ceramics from Blocks A and D 108
5.7. Comparison of the Relative Frequencies of Hafted Biface Types in
Blocks A and D 108
9.1 .Structure Types by Location (State) 204