“Even Before the Battle’s Begun”: Historicizing Violence and Warfare in the Southeastern US

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Method, Theory, and History in the Mississippian World: Papers in Honor of Timothy R. Pauketat" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological approaches to warfare and violence have traditionally been influenced by socioevolutionary theoretical frameworks. The research stemming from these perspectives have focused on identifying external factors that caused warfare, the role of violence in the evolution of complex societies, and the use of violence by elites to gain prestige and power. In this paper, I discuss the impacts of Timothy Pauketat’s theoretical and methodological perspectives on changing the ways in which many archaeologists now recognize violence and warfare as historical processes (learned, lived, experienced, and negotiated practices) rather than innate qualities of humanness or characteristics of certain types of societies. To highlight how Pauketat’s theoretical influences have impacted my approach to researching warfare, I turn to two archaeological examples: the Common Field site, a palisaded, burned Mississippian town located downstream from Cahokia Mounds; and Camp Watts, a Confederate Camp of Instruction in Alabama. Both sites highlight that violence and warfare were more than battles and politicking and that the power of archaeology lies in understanding lived experiences before, during, and after periods of heightened violence and conflict.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Method, Theory, and History in the Mississippian World: Papers in Honor of Timothy R. Pauketat

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50869