Excavation of a Chickasaw Homestead in Tupelo

Author(s): Daniel Turner; Steven Meredith; Martha Dorland

Year: 2016

Summary

In March and April 2015, a Phase II cultural resources investigation was conducted to assess the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility of the Webb Site (22LE516) in Tupelo, Mississippi. Excavations identified 36 cultural features, including the outlines of two Chickasaw houses and several nearby clay-extraction pits, or okaakinafa'. Materials recovered from the site suggest a single-component occupation between A.D. 1680 and 1760. The site lies near the eighteenth-century complex of settlements known as Chokkilissa' or "Old Town" and represents one of the few Chickasaw settlements investigated using modern excavation standards. The apparent short-lived occupation of the site opens an opportunity for a detailed review of site formation and material use in the volatile eighteenth century on Mississippi's Black Prairie.

Cite this Record

Excavation of a Chickasaw Homestead in Tupelo. Daniel Turner, Steven Meredith, Martha Dorland. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404544)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.274; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -72.642; max lat: 36.386 ;