Spatial, Architectural, and Economic Dimensions of Neighborhoods: A Comparison of Three Large Mississippian Sites in Indiana

Summary

The vast majority of Mississippian research in southwestern Indiana has focused on Angel Mounds, specifically the extensive excavations of the Eastern Village and analysis of decorated ceramics. Recently, a site wide magnetometry survey and large scale analysis of Mississippian Plain Pottery from the Angel site were completed by the first and second author of this paper. Additionally, recent magnetometry and excavations at the Stephan-Steinkamp site, the second largest Angel phase site in the region, were undertaken by the third author. Comparisons between Angel, Stephan-Steinkamp, and the nearby Southwind sites suggest certain architectural styles, structural alignments, and monumental constructions created social landscapes that served to integrate local, regional, and supraregional Mississippian communities. Results from these research projects also suggest the common existence of intrasite social organizations (termed neighborhoods), manifested in both spatial propinquity and everyday material practices. In this paper, we will discuss neighborhoods through analyses of architecture, ceramic traditions, communities of practice, and individual styles, and argue for the importance of neighborhood-level research as a potential comparative scale of data relevant to studies of intra-site diversity, domestic economy, power, and other theories of Mississippian society previously focused on the whole site or regional levels.

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