book chapter

Excavation of the truncated mound at the Walling site: Middle Woodland culture and Copena in the Tennessee Valley

University of Alabama, Alabama State Museum of Natural History, Division of Archaeology[University] • Published In 1990 • Pages: i-xix, 1-115, 157-187

By: Knight, Vernon J..

Abstract
This document describes the excavations and analysis of a truncated, rectangular mound at the Walling site. The site contains a small trucated mound located near the western margin of a village midden; both are presumed to be contemporary with the Copena burial mound to the east. The truncated mound had some excavations conducted on it in 1941 as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority/Alabama Museum of Natural History archaeological program for the Wheeler Basin. The older excavations were re-found and are also described. The majority of the artifacts consisted of ceramic sherds and flaked lithic artifacts. Knight uses the ceramics to propose the Walling phase for the period ca. A.D. 100-350. The mound may have been the focus of communal feasting and there is evidence for the manufacture of goods, perhaps for ritual display and exchange. There is no evidence for mortuary activity on the platform mound and the Walling site was not a 'vacant' ceremonial center as the village appears to have been a small, formal village of six or seven houses. Knight also places the Walling site in its regional context with a discussion of other pre-Mississippian truncated mound sites throughout the southeast.
Subjects
Identification
Reviews and critiques
Organization and analysis of results of research
Archaeological excavation methods
Ceramic technology
Lithic industries
Religious and educational structures
Settlement patterns
General tools
Visual arts
Burial practices and funerals
Cultural stratigraphy
Typologies and classifications
Archaeological inventories
tradition
Eastern Middle Woodland
HRAF PubDate
2005
Region
North America
Sub Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document Type
book chapter
Evaluation
Creator Type
Archaeologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Sarah Berry ; 2003
Field Date
1986
Coverage Date
1900 BP-1650 BP (100 A.D.-350 A.D.)
Coverage Place
Walling site (1MA33), Madison County, Alabama, United States
Notes
by Vernon James Knight, Jr.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-187)
LCCN
90622519
LCSH
Woodland culture