Birds, Circles, and Landscapes Enclosed with Soil: Geoarchaeology at the Eastern Edge of Pinson Mounds, Tennessee, USA

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances in Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology Perspectives on Earthen-Built Constructions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Pinson Mounds is a large Middle Woodland monument complex centrally located between two other mound centers in west Tennessee. Despite intermittent archaeological research, the Eastern Precinct of Pinson Mounds has remained understudied compared to earthen monuments situated throughout other parts of the site. Comprised of the 6.7 ha. Eastern Enclosure, a platform mound, and a possible bird effigy mound, this portion of Pinson exhibits the lowest known density of artifacts and other traditional objects of archaeological focus. Geoarchaeology provides a unique opportunity to better understand the deep history of landscape modification particular to the Eastern Precinct that other archaeological approaches have not. In this research, we explore how the landscape has been modified beyond just its visible earthworks, how its components relate spatially and temporally to one another and the rest of the site, and verify the original form of Mound 30. By integrating new radiocarbon dates, geophysical techniques like magnetometry and earthen conductivity, and bulk soil analyses such as particle size analysis, magnetic susceptibility, sequential loss-on-ignition, and micromorphology, we look to answer these questions to gain insight into the complex history of interaction between Indigenous societies and the landscapes they shape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Advances in Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology Perspectives on Earthen-Built Constructions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38322.0