essay

Moundville as a diagrammatic ceremonial center

archaeology of the moundville chiefdomWashington, DcPublished In 1998 • Pages: 44-62

By: Knight, Vernon J..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Some ethnographically documented ceremonial centers have spatial layouts that are diagrammatic of basic aspects of social organization. The Moundville site shows regularities in its layout that suggest that its plan is a sociogram. An analogy for interpreting these spatical regularites comes from an ethnograpjic account collected by Frank Speck concerning spatial relationships among Chickasaw corporate kin groups in a ceremonial context (p. 44).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Reviews and critiques
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Historical reconstruction
Miscellaneous structures
Settlement patterns
Burial practices and funerals
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Mississippian
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
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
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 2005
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1989-1996
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1100 BP - 350 BP (900 A.D. - 1650 A.D.)
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Moundville, Black Warrior River, west-central Alabama, United States
NotesAdditional notes
Vernon James Knight Jr.
For bibliographical references see document 21: [Knight and Steponaitis]
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
98006875
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Mississippian culture