BETWEEN PLAZA AND PALISADE: HOUSEHOLD AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION AT EARLY MOUNDVILLE by Gregory D. Wilson A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology. Chapel Hill 2005 Approved by _______________________________ Advisor: Dr. Vincas P. Steponaitis _______________________________ Reader: Dr. Brian B. Billman _______________________________ Reader: Dr. R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr. _______________________________ Reader: Dr. C. Margaret Scarry _______________________________ Reader: Dr. John F. Scarry © 2005 Gregory D. Wilson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT GREGORY D. WILSON: Between Plaza and Palisade: Household and Community Organization at Early Moundville (Under the direction of Vincas P. Steponaitis) This dissertation examines issues of political consolidation and the origins of social inequality in the context of the early Mississippian Moundville chiefdom in west-central Alabama. Using a GIS-based approach I link large-scale architectural and artifactual datasets to examine variability in the composition of and relationships among early Mississippian households at the Moundville site. Specifically, I explore how everyday household activities and political negotiations generated relations of inequality at the political and ceremonial capital of the Moundville chiefdom. Overall this analysis has revealed that the early Mississippian Moundville community consisted of a number of spatially discrete multi-household groups. This form of multi- household organization is similar to ethnohistorically described kin groups from the early Historic southeastern United States. Hosting feasts, dances, and other ceremonial events were important strategies by which elite households created social debts and legitimized their positions of authority. Non-elite households, on the other hand, maintained considerable economic and ritual autonomy through diversified production activities, risk sharing, and household ceremonialism. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank my wife, Amber VanDerwarker for years of unwavering support. I could have never made it this far without you. I thank my committee members for their guidance and patient instruction; each of which provided invaluable assistance at crucial points in the dissertation process. Thanks in particular to Vin Steponaitis for being a great advisor for all things anthropological. Special thanks to Margie Scarry and John Scarry for their help in selecting this research project. I also extend my gratitude to Steve Davis for his substantial contribution to the Moundville GIS map. Finally, I wish to thank Brian Billman for sharing his insights into household archaeology. A great number of other individuals and institutions also facilitated this research. Thanks to my peers; Tony Boudreax, Kandi Detwiler, Scott Hammerstedt; Hunter Johnson, Mintcy Maxham, Scott Meeks; Jon Marcoux, Chris Rodning, and Bram Tucker for their friendship and scholarly feedback. Hats off to Anna K. Bauguess, Catherine V. Brooks, Tara Miranda, and Jessica Newman for being great research assistants. I also thank those senior scholars who have provided me with advice and guidance; John Kelly, Vernon J. Knight, Brad Koldehoff, Bill Iseminger; and Timothy Pauketat. Major thanks to Eugene Futato and the staff at the Office of Archaeological Research in Moundville, Alabama for providing access to collections and analysis space during the early stages of this research. Finally I would like to thank my family for their love and support. Thanks dad for introducing me to Archaeology all those years ago. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES…………………………………….……………………...…………….viii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………...……x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….1 2. CHIEFDOM ORIGINS AND ORGANIZATION..……………….………………….6 2.1 Origins of the Chiefdom Concept…………………………….……………….7 2.2 The Basis of Chiefly Authority………..………………………………………8 2.3 Chiefdom Organizational Variation……………….…………………………12 2.4 Agency and Structure in the Archaeological Record……….…………….….16 2.5 Household Archaeology……………………………………………………...19 2.6 Theoretical Summary…………………………………………………..…….25 3. MISSISSIPPIAN COMMUNITIES AND HOUSEHOLDS………….……………..28 3.1 Kin Groups and Community Composition……………………….………….30 3.2 Mississippian Household Organization…………………………………..….33 3.3 Discussion…………………………………………………………………....40 3.4 Moundville Culture History and Community Organization…………………40 3.5 Previous Perspectives on Moundville Community Organization…………....51 3.6 Summary and Discussion……………………………………………...……..56 v 4. THE MOUNDVILLE ROADWAY EXCAVATIONS………………………...……59 4.1 The Study Assemblage………………………………………………………61 5. SERIATION………………………………………………..………………………..64 5.1 Background on Moundville Ceramic Seriation…………………..………….68 5.2 Methods of Seriation……………………………………………………...….71 5.3 Summary of Seriation Evidence…………………………………………..…82 6. ARCHITECTURE AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION………………………84 6.1 Architectural Construction Techniques and Functions…………………...….84 6.2 Creating a Geographical Information System for Moundville……………....86 6.3 Structure Identification……………………………………………………....89 6.4 Variation in Structure Size and Function………………………………….…90 6.5 Residential Group Organization……………………………………...…….100 6.6 Changing Community Patterns……………………………………….…….121 6.7 Estimating Occupation Span……………………………………………..…126 6.8 Intra-community Status Differences………………………………………..133 6.9 Mortuary Patterns…………………………………………………………...135 6.10 Summary……………………………………………………………………136 7. CERAMICS AT EARLY MOUNDVILLE……………………………...…………146 7.1 Methods of Analysis……………………………………………………..…147 7.2 Previous Research on Vessel Function at Moundville……………………..151 7.3 Form and Function of Moundville I Vessel Classes………………………..153 7.4 Inter-Assemblage Comparison……………………………………………...176 7.5 Discussion………………………………………………………………..…188 vi 8. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION……………………………...………………192 8.1 Community and Everyday Practices …………….…………………………197 8.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………….………204 APPENDIX A: DATA TABLES………………………………………………….……….206 REFERENCES CITED……………………………………………………………………..266 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 5.1 Selected chronologically sensitive Moundville basic shape classes………………....69 5.2 Selected chronologically sensitive secondary shape features………………………..69 5.3 Distribution of selected types and modes in the study sample……………………....72 5.4 Counts and percentages of selected ceramic attributes by assemblage……………...72 6.1 Counts of buildings by size class and area……………………………………….....104 6.2 Counts of buildings by construction style………………………………..…………123 6.3 Counts of in situ building episodes by structure style…………………………...…125 6.4 Residential group occupation estimates based on total building episodes………....131 7.1 Vessel counts in the study assemblage by basic shape and type variety…………...153 7.2 Counts of unburnished jars by type and variety…………………………………….155 7.3 Counts of burnished jars by type and variety……………………………………….159 7.4 Counts of simple and restricted bowls by type and variety………………………...163 7.5 Counts of flaring-rim bowls by type and variety……………………………….…..169 7.6 Counts of carinated bowls by type and variety……………………………………..170 7.7 Counts of cylindrical bowls by type and variety………………………………...…171 7.8 Counts of terraced bowls by type and variety………………………………………172 7.9 Counts of bottles by type and variety……………………………………………....175 7.10 Counts and frequencies of general vessel classes by assemblage…………………..178 7.11 Counts and percentages for early Mississippian serving wares by context………...183 A.1 Jars from Roadway blocks 43+50 to 46+00…………………………………..……207 viii A.2 Bowls from Roadway blocks 43+50 to 46+00…………………………...…….…..220 A.3 Flaring rim bowls from Roadway Blocks 43+50 to 46+00……………………..….224 A.4 Bottles from Roadway blocks 43+50 to 46+00…………………………………….226 A.5 Jars from Roadway blocks 30+00 to 31+50…………………………………….….227 A.6 Bowls from Roadway blocks 30+00 to 31+50…………………………………..…228 A.7 Flaring rim bowls from Roadway blocks 30+00 to 31+50…………………………229 A.8 Jars from the Museum Parking Area (MPA)…………………………………….....230 A.9 Bowls from the Museum Parking Area (MPA)…………………………………….236 A.10 Flaring rim bowls from the Museum Parking Area (MPA)………………………...238 A.11 Bottles from the Museum Parking Area (MPA)……………………………………239 A.12 Jars from the Administration Building (ADM)…………………………………….240 A.13 Bowls from the Administration Building (ADM)……………………………….…243 A.14 Flaring rim bowls from the Administration Building (ADM)……………………...245 A.15 Bottles from the Administration Building (ADM)……………………………...….246 A.16 Jars from Roadway blocks 70…………….………………………………...………247 A.17 Bowls from Roadway blocks 70………………………………………………..…..256 A.18 Flaring rim bowls from Roadway blocks 70………………………………..………258 A.19 Bottles from Roadway blocks 70………………………………………………..….260 A.20 Body sherd counts by type and variety……………………………………….…….261 A.21 Architectural data………………………………………………………………..….263 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 The Moundville Site featuring the 1939-1940 Roadway excavation…………………2 2.1 Cyclical relationships between different power bases…………………………….…11 3.1 The Moundville site featuring mounds, central plaza, and palisade wall……………41 4.1 Drawing of the relationship between excavation blocks and the Roadway………….60 4.2 The Moundville site featuring portions of the Roadway from which pottery assemblages were analyzed……………………………………………………..……62 5.1 Mississippian period chronology