The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Spring 5-1-2018 Revisiting Magee: A Mississippian Mound Center Site Nicholas Glass University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Glass, Nicholas, "Revisiting Magee: A Mississippian Mound Center Site" (2018). Master's Theses. 357. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/357 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Revisiting Magee: A Mississippian Mound Center Site by Nicholas Heath Glass A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Letters and the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts May 2018 Revisiting Magee: A Mississippian Mound Center Site by Nicholas Heath Glass May 2018 Approved: ________________________________________________ Dr. H. Edwin Jackson, Committee Chair Professor, Anthropology and Sociology ________________________________________________ Dr. Marie Danforth, Committee Member Professor, Anthropology and Sociology ________________________________________________ Dr. Bridget Hayden, Committee Member Professor, Anthropology and Sociology ________________________________________________ Dr. Ann Marie Kinnell Chair, Department of Anthropology and Sociology ________________________________________________ Dr. Karen S. Coats Dean of the Graduate School COPYRIGHT BY Nicholas Heath Glass 2018 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT REVISITING MAGEE: A MISSISSIPPIAN MOUND CENTER SITE (22SH501) By: Nicholas Heath Glass May 2018 Magee is a multi-mound center located in the Southern Yazoo Basin of the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMV). Originally recorded by Phillip Phillips, James A. Ford, and James B. Griffin in 1941, the site has not been professionally investigated since then (Phillips, Ford, and Griffin: 1951). Based on their surface collection and presence of one large mound surrounded by smaller mounds, their interpretation of the site was that it served as a large ceremonial center for a short period of time, and was utilized primarily for religious purposes (Phillips et al. 2003 [1951]:325-327). Phillip Phillips (1970) dates the site within the Late Mississippian period (A.D 1200-1500), and more specifically to what is now understood to be the Lake George phase (A.D 1350-1500) based on diagnostic artifacts. In the winter of 2015, the site was revisitied and a controlled surface collection was performed by Nicholas Glass, University of Southern Mississippi. This thesis intends to verify that initial interpretations of the site by Phillips (1970), and Phillips, Ford, and Griffin (1951) were accurate by way of controlled surface collection, type-variety ceramic analysis, and spatial distribution of artifacts. The results of ceramic analysis provides evidence that Magee is likely at the peak of its population during the Lake George phase, ca. A.D. 1400, as there were more sherds recovered that date to that phase than preceding phases. Spatial distributions of artifacts point to areas of the site that were perhaps densely occupied, but overall artifact densities on the surface ii are low for a Mississippian period mound center. While the site may not be vacant as originally suggested, it also does not appear to have been home to a significant resident population. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to recognize and thank the members of my thesis committee, Dr. Ed Jackson, Dr. Marie Danforth, and Dr. Bridget Hayden for their patience, and guidance throughout the construction of this thesis. I would like to especially thank Dr. Ed Jackson, my advisor and committee chair, for his assistance throughout this complete process. From laying the datum at Magee with the total station to countless hours of ceramic analysis back in the lab, Dr. Jackson has been patient and courteous to always help in any way that he can. His guidance has been invaluable. I would also like to recognize and thank Jessica Kowalski for her assistance since Day 1 of the Magee adventure, I have her to thank for countless hours of assistance both in and out of the field, as well as lodging in Estill, MS for the surface collection crew; without her, this project would have been much more difficult. I want to thank the landowner of Magee, Carol Finnery, for not only allowing me access to the property but allowing the survey to be conducted. I should also thank the farmers who rent the property from Ms. Finnery, Jim and Tom Hollandsworth. Their cooperation and coordination allowed for the best possible field conditions for the collection between soy bean seasons. I must also personally thank my fellow students, colleagues, and friends that assisted me in the surface collection; Dr. Ed Jackson, Jessica Kowalski, Lynn Funkhouser, Zach Myers, Mitchell Furr, Rylie Halfhill-Graber, Ryan Graber, and Paul Rose. Without their help, I would likely still be collecting artifacts in Percy, thank you! I’d like to also thank Hadley Fuller and Carson Rouse for their assistance in readying the collection for curation. I would like to express gratitude to the Alabama Army National Guard, specifically Dr. Heather Puckett and Jessica Helms for their support throughout the last leg of the “Magee iv marathon.” A special thank you to Beth Hunt for always being supportive and willing to “talk sherds”, and of course for always having a sofa-bed to crash on whenever I returned to Hattiesburg. Momma, thank you for always listening to your son ramble on about archaeology, thank you for supporting me, and thank you for loving me. Last, but certainly not least, I must also recognize and thank my wonderful family, Nick, Ava, Pike, Sumo, Greyson, and Macy for their unconditional patience and support for me, this thesis, and career. Their enthusiasm and support have been irreplaceable, I would not be here without y’all. Thank you! v DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my dad, Dennis Glass. Dad spent his life sharing his passion of science with thousands of students over the years while he taught Biology and Chemistry. Growing up, I learned what passion was through hard work and having my dad as an example. He would spend countless hours grading or perfecting the next week's lesson and lab experiment. I was fortunate enough, although I wasn’t so sure at the time, to be a student of his while I was in high school. Sitting in his classroom I felt as if I had been introduced to a whole new person. He was no longer just my dad, but I was finally introduced to Mr. Glass. He was passionate about teaching, and always went the extra mile for any of his student, myself included. When I told Dad that I planned to attend graduate school at USM, he was elated. He is the only member of the immediate family holding a graduate degree, and I could tell that he was ready for some company. I would come home at the end of the semester and talk to him about the classes I was taking and what I was learning, he was particularly interested in topics that I would discuss while taking Bioarchaeology. I would give anything to have another chat with him like that today. He was also very excited when I told him that I was going to carry out my own surface collection/fieldwork at Magee. He said, “That’ll be good for you, you know what you’re doing in the field.” He was right. I finished the collection in the Delta and returned home to tell him of the adventure, and what my expectations were for the project. He believed in me, and that meant everything. Dad passed on February 28, 2016. I wish more than anything that I could hear his feedback after reading this thesis. There is no doubt that he would have several vi constructive comments, as any good teacher would. The last words that he said to me were, “I love you, and I am so proud of you.” Hanging onto those words has given me the strength and drive to come to the completion of this thesis, the mountain has been climbed and I’m coming down the other side. This one is for you, Dad. I couldn’t have made it this far without you. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ xii CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II – PROJECT BACKGROUND .................................................................... 7 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 10 Coles Creek Period (A.D 800-1200) ........................................................................... 10 Crippen Point Phase (A.D 1000-1200) ...................................................................