Searching for the Missing Drum: The Evidence for the Presence and Ceremonial Importance of Ceramic Vessel Drums in the Prehistoric Southeastern United States

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Music Archaeology's Paradox: Contextual Dependency and Contextual Expressivity" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Early historical accounts suggest that drums played an important role in the ceremonial life of the prehistoric southeastern United States. However, because they were made in whole or in part of ephemeral materials, drums are virtually invisible in the archaeological record. Interestingly, historical records, ethnographic information, and iconographic imagery from Spiro and other southeastern sites all point to one particular form of ceramic vessel drum as being present in prehistoric times. This study focuses on how these drums fit into the cosmic symbolism of the Mississippian culture and suggests some possible techniques to distinguish them from other similar vessel forms in existing archaeological collections.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Music Archaeology's Paradox: Contextual Dependency and Contextual Expressivity

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33097