Bundled Transfers and Water Shrines:the big-historical implications of a pan-American phenomenon

Summary

Even a cursory outline of the pan-continental history of non-domestic circular architecture impels us to relate similar buildings, some of which are water shrines, in the greater Cahokia region to Mesoamerica and the Southwest. In the central Mississippi valley, standardized steam baths, rotundas, and circular platforms make a dramatic appearance in the late eleventh century CE. Explaining the big-historical patterns, of which this appearance is a part, entails theorizing the bundled transfer of putative religious practices. Thus, this paper draws from both a contemporary relational archaeology and the anthropology of Michael Taussig and Mary Helms. The result involves rejecting yet-common functional categorizations of circular architecture while unpacking how the animacies of buildings are localized. Definitive conclusions are not yet possible, but the implications include rethinking pan-American "connections."

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The North American Continental System: Interaction and Exchange across the Continent   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14529