Chapter 1: Introduction
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SEGMENTED AND ASCENDANT CHIEFDOM POLITY AS VIEWED FROM THE DIVERS SITE BY GLEN ALOIS FREIMUTH DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Emeritus R. Barry Lewis, Chair Professor Timothy R. Pauketat Adjunct Professor Thomas E. Emerson Associate Professor Mark W. Mehrer, Northern Illinois University ABSTRACT This study contributes to our understanding of the nature of political control exerted by the Mississippian Cahokia polity over small rural villages in the southern American Bottom. Currently two models, which I call the Segmented and Ascendant Chiefdoms, respectively, provide contrasting explanations of the nature and amount of Cahokia control over rural villages. I examine the fit of these models against archaeological data from the Divers and other regional sites. The analyses range over several main topics, including populations, labor requirements, nonlocal artifacts, provisioning, and rituals. I find that the archaeological patterns expressed at the Divers site best fit a Segmented Chiefdom model wherein political control is decentralized and rural villages retain a high degree of political autonomy. Cahokia, as the American Bottom’s main Mississippian town, has the largest population, physical size, elite status items, and monumental construction which I describe as material domination and political dominance. Political dominance requires manipulation of local leaders and their followers for political and social control and this manipulation was expressed through ritual materials and rituals performed at Cahokia and other mound towns. The Cahokia elite created new rituals and associated material expressions through collective action and attempted to gain control of existing commoner ritual performances and symbols but these and political autonomy largely remained with the commoners who occupied small villages like Divers. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research would not have been possible without the support of many people. I want to thank my advisor, Dr. R. Barry Lewis, for his support, guidance, patience, and countless hours reading drafts. Thanks also go to my committee members, Dr. Mark Mehrer, Dr. Thomas Emerson, and Dr. Timothy Pauketat for their guidance, comments, and efforts. My parents, Leeland and Virginia Freimuth provided facilities and support over many years and my wife, Dr. Ethel Chiang, provided encouragement and understanding to complete this endeavor. Paul Dickerson and David Spear formed the backbone of a skeleton crew that labored many hours for minimal pay. I want to thank the late Jack and Clara Divers for permission to excavate on their farm and accepting minimal payment for crop damage. There are many colleagues who provided invaluable support, literature, suggestions, and assistance. Dr. James W. Porter provided my opportunity to enter the discipline, Dr. James B. Griffin and Dr. David A. Baerreis provided carbon-14 dates, and with Dr. Melvin L. Fowler they all provided invaluable insights into American Bottom prehistory. Drs. John and Lucretia Kelly kindly shared their insights and data on the southern American Bottom archaeology. Mr. Leonard Blake provided the maize and other floral analysis and Dr. Bonnie Styles provided some skeletal and bone tool analysis. Dr. Thomas Riley provided support in the early years of this endeavor and Dr. George Milner offered suggestions and comments on the current work. When I needed help they were all there to provide whatever assistance was needed. Luhr Brothers Construction Company of Columbia, Illinois provided equipment and an operator, Mr. Harold ―Putter‖ Steffenauer, to remove the plow zone and backfill iii the excavations. Nelson Reed arranged for Bob Sharp Equipment Company to provide a tractor to move backdirt. The late Judge Alvin Mayes made monetary contributions to the project. During the site excavations there were numerous volunteers who contributed their time and energy. Finally, the initial season of work was conducted by a small field school from the University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada and though I have lost contact with the members I want to thank them. This work would not have been possible without the assistance provided by all of the above persons and companies. Thank you one and all. iv Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………....vi LIST OF TABLES…… ………………………………………………………………….ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES................................................................................................................... 8 Chiefdom Models ......................................................................................................... 12 Theoretical Foundations ............................................................................................... 26 Chiefdom Models, Nodal Sites, and the Divers Site Analysis ..................................... 51 CHAPTER 3: THE DIVERS SITE (11MO28) ................................................................ 56 CHAPTER 4: LATE WOODLAND PATRICK PHASE OCCUPATION ...................... 70 Patrick Phase ................................................................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 5: TERMINAL LATE WOODLAND OCCUPATIONS .............................. 97 Range Phase .................................................................................................................. 97 Early Terminal Late Woodland Component ............................................................... 105 George Reeves Phase .................................................................................................. 114 Lindeman Phase .......................................................................................................... 123 Terminal Late Woodland Household Patterns ............................................................ 139 CHAPTER 6: MISSISSIPPIAN OCCUPATIONS ........................................................ 208 Lohmann Phase ........................................................................................................... 209 Stirling Phase .............................................................................................................. 222 Surface and Plow Zone Artifacts ................................................................................ 234 Mississippian Household Patterns .............................................................................. 235 CHAPTER 7: A SMALL VILLAGE PERSPECTIVE ON MISSISSIPPIAN POLITY 275 The Divers Site ........................................................................................................... 275 Divers as a Nodal Site ................................................................................................. 288 More on Site Hierarchies ............................................................................................ 292 Segmentary and Ascendant Chiefdoms ...................................................................... 293 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 314 REFERENCES CITED............……………………………………………………........323 v List of Figures Figure Page 1 The American Bottom............................................................................................... 54 2 Divers Site and Selected American Bottom Sites ..................................................... 55 3 Divers Site Location on Fish Lake and Hill Lake Meander Loops .......................... 67 4 Divers Site Location on Fish Lake............................................................................ 68 5 Divers Site Excavation Units and Unexcavated Features ......................................... 81 6 Patrick Component Feature Distribution .................................................................. 85 7 Key to Divers Site Rim Profiles................................................................................ 90 8 Selected Patrick Component Jars and Bowls ............................................................ 91 9 Selected Patrick Component Pipes, Pipe Stems, and Discoidals .............................. 96 10 Selected Range Component Pit: Feature 71............................................................ 142 11 Selected Range Component Pit: Feature 78 ........................................................... 143 12 Selected Range Component Pit: Feature 76............................................................ 144 13 Range Component Feature Distribution ................................................................. 146 14 Selected Range Component Jars ............................................................................. 150 15 Selected Range Component Bowls and Pipe Stem ................................................. 153 16 Early Terminal Late Woodland Component Structure: Feature 13 ........................ 155 17 Early Terminal Late Woodland Component Structure: Feature 121 ...................... 156 18 Early Terminal Late Woodland Component Structures: Features 120 and 135 ..... 157 19 Selected Early Terminal Late Woodland Pit: Feature 55 ....................................... 160 20 Early Terminal Late Woodland Component Feature