Multiscalar Community Histories: A Tale of Migration, Aggregation, and Integration in the Lower Chattahoochee River Valley

Summary

Mississippian archaeology has benefited from historicized approaches which situate communities and their constituent parts within larger socio-political landscapes, rather than treating them as bounded or normative entities. In this paper, we explore historical and socio-political dynamics within the community centered upon Singer-Moye, a large (30+ ha) mound center located in the lower Chattahoochee River valley. Our analyses combine archaeological and geophysical data from mound and off-mound contexts to generate an occupational history for Singer-Moye. This history included initial occupation at discrete locations, integrative activities, the demarcation of restricted and public spaces, defined residential loci, and episodes of population aggregation and dispersal. When situated in meso- and macro-regional histories of interaction and exchange, a narrative emerges which illustrates how the Singer-Moye community contributed to and was influenced by larger processes of socio-political change.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Reconsidering Mississippian Households and Communities

Keywords

Spatial Coverage