essay
Toward an explanation of variation in Moundville Phase households in the Black Warrior Valley, Alabama
mississippian communities and households • Tuscaloosa • Published In 1995 • Pages: 156-180
By: Mistovich, Tim S..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper Mistovich presents the dynamics of subsistence and social organizational change in the Black Warrior River valley of western Alabama. He focuses on the early phases of development of Mississippian in the region of the Moundville site. He challenges several exixting interpretations of life in the valley, especially the idea of a panregional settlement model and the role of maize in the transition to Mississippian. Although individual farmsteads in the region have only recently received much attention, there is a growing awareness of the significance of these small sites in the overall makeup of the settlement system. Subsistence evidence from a chronological sequence of small sites (Mill Creek, Tibbee Creek, and Yarborough) indicates only a gradual shift toward maize. Synthesis of settlement data for the region allows Mistovich to downgrade the existing hierarchical settlement model, at least for the early portion of the sequence. The information also allows recognition of differences between households occupying nucleated settlements such as Moundville or Bessemer and those scattered across the region, far from the centers of power (32: Rogers, p. 5).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Identification
- Historical reconstruction
- Sociocultural trends
- Ceramic technology
- Dwellings
- 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
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1050 BP - 350 BP (950 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 Phase, Black Warrior Valley, western Alabama, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Tim S. Mistovich
- For bibliographical references see document 31:[Rogers and Smith]
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 94044049
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Mississippian culture