article

Middle Woodland ceremonialism at Pinson Mounds, Tennessee

American antiquity53Published In 1988 • Pages: 158-173

By: Mainfort, Robert C..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Mainfort describes the platform mounds, the burial mounds, and other geometric earthworks at the site of Pinson Mounds. He emphasizes that platform mounds were also constructed in the Middle Woodland and not just during the Mississippian period. These platform mounds were constructed without structures on their top. This also points to a nonmortuary use of this center. As Mainfort states, '…the mound group apparently was constructed for ceremonial use by a number of relatively small societies lacking mutivillage political authority.' (page 169). Also briefly described are the excavations.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Identification
Ceramic technology
Religious and educational structures
Miscellaneous structures
Settlement patterns
Burial practices and funerals
Chronologies and culture sequences
Cultural stratigraphy
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Eastern Middle Woodland
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2005
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
article
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
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry ; 2003
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1974-1975, 1981-1983
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
2000 BP-1500 BP (1 A.D.-500 A.D.)
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Pinson Mounds, Madison County, Tennessee, United States
NotesAdditional notes
Robert C. Mainfort, Jr.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-173)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
46036122
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Woodland culture