Reconstructing Tascalusa's chiefdom : pottery styles and the social composition of Late Mississippian communities along the Alabama River / Amanda L. Regnier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Regnier, Amanda Leigh, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mississippian culture--Alabama--Alabama River Region.

Mississippian culture.

Chiefdoms--Alabama--Alabama River Region--History.

Chiefdoms.

Land settlement patterns--Alabama--Alabama River Region--History.

Land settlement patterns.

Tuskaloosa, Chief.

Tuskaloosa.

Alabama River Region (Ala.)--Antiquities.

Alabama River Region (Ala.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (176 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa, Alabama : The University Alabama Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Reconstructing Tascalusa's Chiefdom is an archaeological study of political collapse in the Alabama River Valley following the Hernando de Soto expedition. To explain the cultural and political disruptions caused by Hernando de Soto's exploration deep into North America, Amanda L. Regnier presents an analysis of ceramics and a novel theory of cultural exchange, which argues that culture consists of a series of interconnected models governing proper behavior that are shared across the belief systems of communities and individuals. An approach not often applied to archaeological research, ceramic study serves as a test of whether historic cognitive models can be extracted from ceramic data via cluster and correspondence analysis. In addition, the summary of Late Mississippian sites includes a chronology of the Alabama River from approximately AD 900 to 1600, which previously has only existed in manuscript form, and a summary of excavations at major Late Mississippian sites along the Alabama River. The results of the study demonstrate that the Alabama River Valley was settled by populations migrating from three different geographic regions during the late fifteenth century. The mixture of ceramic models associated with all three traditions at Late Mississippian sites suggests that these newly founded towns had a distinct mix of ethnically and linguistically diverse populations. Based on the archaeological record, the polity controlled by Tascalusa appears to have been both multiethnic and newly formed. Perhaps most significantly, Tascalusa's chiefdom appears to be a pre-contact example of a coalescent society that emerged after populations migrated into a new region from the deteriorating Mississippian chiefdoms in their homelands"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1. The Problem of Tascalusa's Chiefdom

2. The Alabama River Valley from A.D. 900 to 1560

3. Archaeology at Late Mississippian Communities in the Alabama River Valley

4. Late Mississippian Pottery in the Alabama River Valley

5. A New Picture of the Tascalusa Chiefdom before and after Contact.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-8173-8771-4

OCLC:

883571221