Shell Bead Production at a Southern Appalachian Mississippian Frontier

Summary

Frontier areas differ from non-frontier areas in multiple ways; one is by a more intense degree of interaction with other cultures. To successfully settle a frontier area, frontier groups must not just interact but also socially integrate with other groups. Craft production is one way social integration occurs. At the Middle Mississippian-period Carter Robinson site, there is evidence for the production of shell beads. This paper presents this evidence, which includes all stages of shell bead production, shell waste, drills, and flake tools, and discusses how shell bead production may have acted as an integrative mechanism at this Mississippian frontier.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Investigating Interaction from Tunnacunnhee to Talaje: Papers in Honor of Richard W. Jefferies

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14428