The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee

The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee
Author: Tanya M. Peres
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2019-01-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1683400771

For thousands of years, the inhabitants of the Middle Cumberland River Valley harvested shellfish for food and raw materials and then deposited the remains in dense concentrations along the river. Very little research has been published on the Archaic period shell deposits in this region. Demonstrating that nearly forty such sites exist, this volume presents the results of recent surveys, excavations, and laboratory work as well as fresh examinations of past investigations that have been difficult for scholars to access. In these essays, contributors describe an emergency riverbank survey of shell-bearing sites that were discovered, reopened, or damaged in the aftermath of recent flooding. Their studies of these sites feature stratigraphic analysis, radiocarbon dating, zooarchaeological data, and other interpretive methods. Other essays in the volume provide the first widely accessible summary of previous work on sites that have long been known. Contributors also address larger topics such as geospatial analysis of settlement patterns, research biases, and current debates about site formation processes related to shell-bearing sites. This volume provides an enormous amount of valuable data from the abundant material record of a fascinating people, place, and time. It is a landmark synthesis that will improve our understanding of the individual communities and broader cultures that created shell-bearing sites across the southeastern United States. Contributors: David G. Anderson | Thaddeus G. Bissett | Stephen B. Carmody | Aaron Deter-Wolf | Andrew Gillreath-Brown | Joey Keasler | Kelly L. Ledford | D. Shane Miller | Dan F. Morse | Tanya M. Peres | Ryan W. Robinson | Leslie Straub | Andrew R. Wyatt A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series

Prehistory of North America

Prehistory of North America
Author: Mark Sutton
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2015-12-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317345231

A Prehistory of North America covers the ever-evolving understanding of the prehistory of North America, from its initial colonization, through the development of complex societies, and up to contact with Europeans. This book is the most up-to-date treatment of the prehistory of North America. In addition, it is organized by culture area in order to serve as a companion volume to “An Introduction to Native North America.” It also includes an extensive bibliography to facilitate research by both students and professionals.

Prehistory of the Central Mississippi Valley

Prehistory of the Central Mississippi Valley
Author: Charles H. McNutt
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1996-05-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0817308075

Experts throughout the Central Mississippi Valley present current views of the regional cultural sequences supported by data concerning recent surveys and excavations.

The Prehistory of the Chickamauga Basin in Tennessee

The Prehistory of the Chickamauga Basin in Tennessee
Author: Thomas McDowell Nelson Lewis
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 1995
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780870498633

These two volumes look at the excavation of the thirteen archaeological sites of the Chickamauga Basin in the 1930s. These reports were the first comprehensive descriptions of the Native American cultures that lived near what is now Chattanooga before and at the time of European contact.

Pinson Mounds

Pinson Mounds
Author: Robert C. Mainfort Jr.
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2013-10-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1557286396

Pinson Mounds: Middle Woodland Ceremonialism in the Midsouth is a comprehensive overview and reinterpretation of the largest Middle Woodland mound complex in the Southeast. Located in west Tennessee about ten miles south of Jackson, the Pinson Mounds complex includes at least thirteen mounds, a geometric earthen embankment, and contemporary short-term occupation areas within an area of about four hundred acres. A unique feature of Pinson Mounds is the presence of five large, rectangular platform mounds from eight to seventy-two feet in height. Around A.D. 100, Pinson Mounds was a pilgrimage center that drew visitors from well beyond the local population and accommodated many distinct cultural groups and people of varied social stations. Stylistically nonlocal ceramics have been found in virtually every excavated locality, all together representing a large portion of the Southeast. Along with an overview of this important and unique mound complex, Pinson Mounds also provides a reassessment of roughly contemporary centers in the greater Midsouth and Lower Mississippi Valley and challenges past interpretations of the Hopewell phenomenon in the region.

Falls of the Ohio River

Falls of the Ohio River
Author: David Pollack
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2021-05-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1683402383

Falls of the Ohio River presents current archaeological research on an important landscape feature: a series of low, cascading rapids along the Ohio River on the border of Kentucky and Indiana. Using the perspective of historical ecology and synthesizing data from recent excavations, contributors to this volume demonstrate how humans and the environment mutually affected each other in the area for the past 12,000 years. These essays show how the Falls region was an attractive place to live due to its diverse ecological zones and its abundance of high-quality chert. In chronological studies ranging from the Early Archaic to the Late Mississippian periods, contributors portray the rapids as at times a boundary between Native American groups living upstream and downstream and at other times a hub where cultures converged and blended into a distinct local identity. The essays analyze and track changes in stone tool styles, mortuary traditions, settlement patterns, plant consumption, and ceramic production. Together, the chapters in this volume illustrate that the Falls of the Ohio was a focal point on the human landscape throughout the Holocene era. Providing a foundation for future work in this location, they show how the region’s geography and ecology shaped the ways humans organized themselves within it and how in turn these groups impacted the area through their changing social, economic, and political circumstances. Contributors: Anne Tobbe Bader | Rick Burdin | Justin N. Carlson | Richard W. Jefferies | Michael French | Robert G. McCullough | Greg J. Maggard | Stephen T. Mocas | Cheryl Ann Munson | David Pollack | Jack Rossen | Christopher W Schmidt| Claiborne Daniel | Duane B. Simpson | C. Russell, Stafford | Gary E. Stinchcomb | Jocelyn C. Turner A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series