Mississippian Moundbuilders

Question 1

Ephraim Squier and Edwin Davis

Answer 1

• Began large scale and semi-systematic survey/exploration of the mounds
• Wrote “ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY” (long argument about the differences between Moundbuilders and First Nations)
• Thought Aztecs to be related to Moundbuilders

Question 2

Mississippian Societies

Answer 2

• Emergence: AD 800-1000
• Expansion: AD 1000-1300
• Decline: AD 1300-1550
• Located in Mississippi Valley, lower SouthEast
• Sedentary, corn-based agriculture

Question 3

Mississippian Settlement Hierarchy

Answer 3

• Paramount mound center (elite residence)
• Villages (minor mound center)
• Hamlets (no mounds, houses)

Question 4

Mississippian Chiefdom

Answer 4

• Chiefdom is institutionalized but kin-based with tributary economy
• Elite, chiefly lineage
• Commoner

Question 5

Mississippian Material Culture

Answer 5

• Shell-tempered Pottery
• Figurines and Pipes
• Lithics (arrow points, large stone knives, etc)
• Ceremonial maces, or “spuds”
• Shell gorgets
• Shell drinking cups (for black drink)
• Copper plates
• Discoidals

Question 6

Mississippian Economy

Answer 6

• Tributary economy (commoner classes owe tribute to elite class)
• Food, finished goods (Elite then present gifts to other elite)

Question 7

Trade and Interaction

Answer 7

• Extensive trade between polities

Question 8

Religion

Answer 8

• Two fold symbolism (Fertility, War and Violence)
• Probably a priest class
• Numerous symbolic motifs

Question 9

Cahokia

Answer 9

• Largest and best known Mississippian center
• Illinois, opposite from St. Louis
• 1000-1350 AD
• Numerous outlying settlements
• Population peak between 10,000 and 30,000

Question 10

Monks Mound

Answer 10

• Largest architectural monument north of Mexico

- 600,000 cubic meters

Question 11

Interpreting Cahokia

Answer 11

• Early phase: Cahokia a minor mound center, rural sites small, independant
• Middle phase: Cahokia rapidly grows in size, rural populations under Cahokia’s control
• Late phase: Cahokia’s influence on rural population decreases

Question 12

Natchez

Answer 12

• One of few chiefdoms to make it in to contact period (1500)
• First contact between Native Americans and Europeans, in the form of materials traded inland
• Exposed to Disease, smallpox and measles. warfare, missionization, colonization