Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T04:04:52.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social and Temporal Implications of Variation among American Bottom Mississippian Cemeteries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

George R. Milner
George R. Milner*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mississippian period cemeteries in the American Bottom, Illinois, were divided into three categories representing two distinct social strata. Burial areas for an elite stratum occurred in large, regionally important town-and-mound centers. Locational, organizational, and artifactual criteria distinguish these burial areas from those of a non-elite social stratum. Members of the non-elite social stratum were buried either in cemeteries located within regional centers or in peripherally located cemeteries associated with outlying communities. Mortuary practices in the American Bottom changed somewhat during the several hundred year duration of the Mississippian period. These changes were particularly apparent at peripheral cemeteries. The size and distribution of these cemeteries were related to levels of regional social segmentation and settlement autonomy, which changed throughout the Mississippian period.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , July 1984 , pp. 468 - 488
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Acsadi, G., and Nemeskeri, J. 1970 History of Human Life Span and Mortality. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest.Google Scholar
Anderson, James 1969 A Cahokia Palisade Sequence. In Explorations into Cahokia Archaeology, edited by L. Fowler, Melvin, pp. 89–99. Bulletin 7. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Baker, Frank C., Griffin, James B., Morgan, Richard G., Neumann, Georg K., and Taylor, Jay L. B. 1941 Contributions to the Archaeology of the Illinois River Valley. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 32(1). Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Bareis, Charles J. 1963 University of Illinois Projects. In Second Annual Report: American Bottoms Archaeology, edited by L. Fowler, Melvin, pp. 3–32. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Beck, Lewis C. 1823 Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri. Charles and George Webster, New York.Google Scholar
Bell, Robert E. 1972 The Harlan Site, Ck-6, a Prehistoric Mound Center in Cherokee County, Eastern Oklahoma. Memoir 2. Oklahoma Anthropological Society, Norman.Google Scholar
Benchley, Elizabeth D. 1981 Summary Report on Controlled Surface Collections of the Ramey Field Cahokia Mounds Historic Site, Madison County, Illinois. Report of Investigations 51. Archaeological Research Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1971 Mortuary Practices: Their Study and their Potential. In Approaches to the Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices, edited by A. Brown, James, pp. 6–29. Memoirs 25. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R., Binford, Sally R., Whallon, Robert, and Hardin, Margaret A. 1970 Archaeology at Hatchery West. Memoirs 24. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Brown, James A. 1971 The Dimensions of Status in the Burials at Spiro. In Approaches to the Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices, edited by A. Brown, James, pp. 92–112. Memoirs 25. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Brown, James A. 1975 Spiro Art and its Mortuary Contexts. In Death and the Afterlife in Pre-Columbian America, edited by P. Benson, Elizabeth, pp. 1–32. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Brown, James A. 1981 The Search for Rank in Prehistoric Burials. In The Archaeology of Death, edited by Robert, Chapman, Ian, Kinnes, and Klavs, Randsborg, pp. 25–38. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bushnell, David I. 1904 The Cahokia and Surrounding Mound Groups. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 3: 3-20. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Chapman, Carl H. 1980 The Archaeology of Missouri II. University of Missouri Press, Columbia.Google Scholar
Conant, A. J. 1879 Footprints of Vanished Races in the Mississippi Valley. Chancy R. Barns, St Louis.Google Scholar
DeHass, W. 1869 Archaeology of the Mississippi Valley. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 17th Meeting. 288-302. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Du Pratz, M. LePage 1972 The History of Louisiana. Reprinted. Claitor's, Baton Rouge. Originally published 1774, London.Google Scholar
Emerson, Thomas E. 1982 Mississippian Stone Images in Illinois. Circular 6. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Emerson, Thomas E., and Jackson, Douglas K. 1982 The BBB Motor Site (ll-Ms-595): An Early Mississippian Site in the American Bottom. FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project Report 38. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Fowler, Melvin L. 1969 The Cahokia Site. In Explorations into Cahokia Archaeology, edited by L. Fowler, Melvin, pp. 1–30. Bulletin 7. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Fowler, Melvin L. 1974 Cahokia: Ancient Capital of the Midwest. An Addison-Wesley Module in Anthropology 48: 3–38.Google Scholar
Fowler, Melvin L. 1975 Pre-Columbian Urban Center on the Mississippi. Scientific American 233(2): 92–101.Google Scholar
Fowler, Melvin L. 1978 Cahokia and the American Bottom: Settlement Archeology. In Mississippian Settlement Patterns, edited by D. Smith, Bruce, pp. 455–478. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Fowler, Melvin L., and Hall, Robert L. 1972 Archaeological Phases at Cahokia. Papers in Anthropology 1. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Fowler, Melvin L., and Hall, Robert L. 1978 Late Prehistory of the Illinois Area. In Northeast, edited by G. Trigger, Bruce, pp. 560–568. Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, Sturtevant, William G., general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Lynne G. 1980 Mississippian Mortuary Practices: A Case Study of Two Cemeteries in the Lower Illinois Valley. Scientific Papers 4. Northwestern University Archeological Program, Evanston.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Lynne G. 1981 One-dimensional Archaeology and Multi-dimensional People: Spatial Organisation and Mortuary Analysis. In The Archaeology of Death, edited by Robert, Chapman, Ian, Kinnes, and Klavs, Randsborg, pp. 53–69. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Griffin, James B. 1977 The University of Michigan Excavations at the Pulcher Site in 1950. American Antiquity 42: 462–490.Google Scholar
Harn, Alan D. 1971 An Archaeological Survey of the American Bottoms in Madison and St. Clair Counties, Illinois. In Archaeological Surveys of the American Bottoms and Adjacent Bluffs, Illinois, pp. 21–39. Reports of Investigations 21. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Harn, Alan D. 1980 The Prehistory of Dickson Mounds: The Dickson Excavation. 2nd ed. Reports of Investigations 35. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Hatch, James W. 1976 Status in Death: Principles of Ranking in Dallas Culture Mortuary Remains. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Howland, Henry R. 1877 Recent Archaeological Discoveries in the American Bottom. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 3: 204–211.Google Scholar
Klepinger, Linda L. 1978 The Skeletons of Fingerhut, an Early Cahokia Cemetery. The Connective Tissue 5: 30–36.Google Scholar
Marshall, Richard A. 1965 An Archaeological Investigation of Interstate Route 55 through New Madrid and Pemiscot Counties, Missouri, 1964. Highway Archaeology Report 1. University of Missouri, Columbia.Google Scholar
McAdams, Clark 1907 The Archaeology of Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society 12: 35-47. Springfield.Google Scholar
McAdams, William 1882 Antiquities. In History of Madison County, Illinois, pp. 58–64. W. R. Brink, Edwardsville.Google Scholar
Melbye, F. Jerome 1963 The Kane Burial Mounds. Archaeological Salvage Report 15. Southern Illinois University Museum, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Mills, Edwin W. 1949 Some Prehistoric Sites along the Meramec River as they Appeared Fifty Years Ago. Missouri Archaeologist 11: 2–10.Google Scholar
Milner, George R. 1982a Measuring Prehistoric Levels of Health: A Study of Mississippian Period Skeletal Remains from the American Bottom, Illinois. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston.Google Scholar
Milner, George R. 1982b The East St. Louis Stone Quarry Site Cemetery (11-5-468). FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project Report 55. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Milner, George R., Emerson, Thomas E., Mehrer, Mark W., Williams, Joyce A., and Esarey, Duane 1984 Mississippian and Oneota Period. In American Bottom Archaeology, edited by J. Bareis, Charles and Porter, James W.. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Milner, George R., Jackson, Douglas K., and Emerson, Thomas E. 1982 The Florence Street Site (ll-S-458): The Sand Prairie Phase Cemetery and Occupation. FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project Report 5 IB. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Milner, George R., with Williams, Joyce A. 1981a The Julien Site (11-5-63): An Early Bluff and Mississippian Multicomponent Site. FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project Report 31. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Milner, George R., with Williams, Joyce A. 1981b The Turner (11-5-50) and DeMange (11-5-447) Sites: An Early Mississippian Occupation of a Floodplain Locality. FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project Report 37. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Moorehead, Warren K. 1922 The Cahokia Mounds: A Preliminary Paper. Bulletin 19. University of Illinois, Urbana.Google Scholar
Moorehead, Warren K. 1923 The Cahokia Mounds. Bulletin 21. University of Illinois, Urbana.Google Scholar
Moorehead, Warren K. 1929 The Cahokia Mounds. Bulletin 26. University of Illinois, Urbana.Google Scholar
Peebles, Christopher S. 1971 Moundville and Surrounding Sites: Some Structural Considerations of Mortuary Practices II. In Approaches to the Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices, edited by A. Brown, James, pp. 68–91. Memoirs 25. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Peebles, Christopher S., and Kus, Susan M. 1977 Some Archaeological Correlates of Ranked Societies. American Antiquity 42: 421–448.Google Scholar
Peet, Stephen D. 1903 The Mound Builders. 2nd ed. Office of the American Antiquarian, Chicago.Google Scholar
Perino, Gregory 1950 Details of the Vietzen Cahokia Dig. In Cahokia Brought to Life, edited by Grimm, R. E., pp. 47–48. The Greater St. Louis Archaeological Society, St. Louis.Google Scholar
Perino, Gregory 1959 Recent Information from Cahokia and its Satellites. Central States Archaeological Journal 6: 130–138.Google Scholar
Perino, Gregory 1967 Additional Discoveries of Filed Teeth in the Cahokia Area. American Antiquity 32: 538–542.Google Scholar
Perino, Gregory 1971a The Krueger Site, Monroe County, Illinois. In Mississippian Site Archaeology in Illinois I, pp. 187–191. Bulletin 8. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Perino, Gregory 1971b The Mississippian Component at the Schild Site (No. 4), Greene County, Illinois. In Mississippian Site Archaeology in Illinois I, pp. 1–148. Bulletin 8. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Prentice, Guy 1983 Cottage Industries: Concepts and Implications. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 8: 17–48.Google Scholar
Prentice, Guy, and Mehrer, Mark 1981 The Lab Woofle Site (1 l-S-346): An Unplowed Mississippian Site in the American Bottom Region of Illinois. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 6: 33–53.Google Scholar
Pustmueller, A. E. 1950 The Copper Serpent. In Cahokia Brought to Life, edited by Grimm, R. E., pp. 13–14. The Greater St. Louis Archaeological Society, St. Louis.Google Scholar
Saxe, Arthur A. 1970 Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Smith, Harriet M. 1969 The Murdock Mound: Cahokia Site. In Explorations into Cahokia Archaeology, edited by L. Fowler, Melvin, pp. 49–88. Bulletin 7. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar
Snyder, John F. 1962 Certain Indian Mounds Technically Considered. In John Francis Snyder: Selected Writings, edited by C. Walton, Clyde, pp. 230–273. Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield.Google Scholar
Swanton, John R. 1946 The Indians of the Southeastern United States. Bulletin 137. Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Thomas, Cyrus 1894 Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology. 12th Annual Report, pp. 3–730. Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Throop, Addison J. 1928 Mound Builders of Illinois. Call Printing Company, St. Louis.Google Scholar
Titterington, Paul F. 1938 The Cahokia Mound Group and its Village Site Materials. St. Louis.Google Scholar
Waring, Antonio J. 1968 The Southern Cult and Muskogean Ceremonial. In The Waring Papers, edited by Williams, Stephen, pp. 30–69. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 58. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Walthall, John A. 1981 Galena and Aboriginal Trade in Eastern North America. Scientific Papers 17. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Weiss, Kenneth M. 1973 Demographic Models for Anthropology. Memoirs 27. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Williams, Stephen, and Goggin, John M. 1956 The Long Nosed God Mask in Eastern United States. Missouri Archaeologist 18: 3–72.Google Scholar
White, Douglas R., Murdock, George P., and Scaglion, Richard 1971 Natchez Class and Rank Reconsidered. Ethnology 10: 369–388.Google Scholar
Winters, Howard D. 1974 Some Unusual Grave Goods from a Mississippian Burial Mound. Indian Notes 10: 34–46.Google Scholar
Wislizenus, A. 1857 Indian Stone Graves in Illinois. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis 1: 66-70. St. Louis.Google Scholar
Wittry, Warren L., and Vogel, Joseph O. 1962 Illinois State Museum Projects. In First Annual Report: American Bottoms Archaeology, edited by L. Fowler, Melvin, pp. 14–30. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Urbana.Google Scholar