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Paradigms Lost: Reconfiguring Cahokia’s Mound 72 Beaded Burial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas E. Emerson ,
Kristin M. Hedman ,
Eve A. Hargrave ,
Dawn E. Cobb  and
Andrew R. Thompson
Thomas E. Emerson*
Affiliation:
Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute UIUC, Nuclear Physics Laboratory, 209 Stadium Drive, Champaign, IL 61821
Kristin M. Hedman*
Affiliation:
Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute UIUC, Nuclear Physics Laboratory, 209 Stadium Drive, Champaign, IL 61821
Eve A. Hargrave*
Affiliation:
Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute UIUC, Nuclear Physics Laboratory, 209 Stadium Drive, Champaign, IL 61821
Dawn E. Cobb
Affiliation:
Illinois State Museum Society, Research & Collections Center, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703 (, [email protected])
Andrew R. Thompson
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, ML 0667, Cincinnati, OH 45267 (, [email protected])
*
corresponding author, (, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected])
corresponding author, (, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected])
corresponding author, (, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected])
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Abstract

The Beaded Burial central to F101 within Cahokia’s mound 72Sub1 has been fundamental to some cosmological explanations of the founding of this North American precolumbian polity. The central burial, identified as two males surrounded by retainers, has been interpreted as paradigmatic of a paramount chiefdom, or conversely, as a mythic cosmogram. Recent bioarchaeological reanalysis and two independent osteological studies of F101 and associated burials have identified the presence of male/female pairs, numerous females, and at least one child, suggesting that previous explanations privileging the male Red Horn association should be reexamined. We suggest that 72Sub1 is most likely correlated with ritual practices promoting world creation, renewal, and fertility symbolism.

El Entierro con Cuentas, central al contexto F101 del Montículo 72Sub1 ha sido fundamental a algunas de las explicaciones cosmológicas de la fundación de esta sociedad compleja precolombina norteamericana. El entierro central, identificado como dos individuos masculinos rodeados de sirvientes, ha sido interpretado como paradigmático de una jefatura mayor o, por el contrario, como un cosmograma mítico. Un nuevo análisis bioarqueológico y dos estudios osteológicos independientes de F101 y entierros asociados han identificado la presencia de pares de individuos masculinos y femeninos, varios individuos femeninos y por lo menos un subadulto, sugiriendo que explicaciones previas que privilegian una asociación al guerrero-héroe masculino Cuerno Rojo deben ser re-examinadas. Nosotros sugerimos que 72Sub1 más probablemente se correlaciona con prácticas rituales que promovieron la creación del mundo, renovación, y simbolismo de fertilidad.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , July 2016 , pp. 405 - 425
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016 

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