essay
A Consideration of the social organization of the Shell Mound Archaic
archaeology of the mid-holocene southeast • Gainesville • Published In 1996 • Pages: 235-258
By: Claassen, Cheryl P..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Claassen discusses the Shell Mound Archaic which occurred during the Middle and Late Archaic. As Claassen doesn't usually distinguish between the Middle and Late Archaic when discussing particular sites, the reader is urged to use caution. Claassen discusses how shell mounds were more than middens and may have been purposely constructed to act as territorrial markers and places to bury the dead. She points out that freshwater shellfish can be found in large quantities in more places than one finds shell mounds so 'neither optimal foraging theory nor environmental change can explain either their advent or demise. Instead, sites attributable to the [Shell Mound Archaic] constitute a landscape shaped by social concerns' (page 242). To explore the possible social processes involved, Claassen examines mortuary data (especially beads) and looks at gender differences and exchange and social status.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Identification
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Fauna
- Ornament
- Settlement patterns
- Burial practices and funerals
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Eastern Middle Archaic
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2001
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Woodlands
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 8000 BP - 5000 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Southeast United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Cheryl P. Claassen
- For bibliographical references see Anonymous, 1996.
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 95045466
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of North America--Middle West--Antiquities