Millstone Bluff Archaeological Project

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The great intensification of maize horticulture, the most important prehistoric North American crop, in the Southeast and lower Midwest that occurred around 1000 AD was closely linked to the rise of social hierarchy. This has been manifested most overtly in the impressive earthworks associated with Mississippian culture mound centers and differential mortuary treatment, often involving the internment of elaborate objects or exotic raw materials with graves. Such large impressive sites associated with the Mississippian are located in river bottom environments with abundant natural resources and rich soil. In recent years however archaeologists have discovered smaller - yet still substantial sites - in less desirable highland areas. Some appear associated with specific functions such as salt mining yet others are difficult to explain in that way. Large river bottom sites disappear ca. 1,300 AD and it is either slightly before or at just about this time that upland sites become prominent. Given the available data it is not possible to determine whether these latter regions were inhabited only after the breakup of the bottomland occupations or whether they formed part of a larger coincident social and political system. It has also been suggested that upland peoples were relatively autonomous. The question is of interest to archaeologists who wish to understand the Mississippean phenomenon. Perhaps the largest and most complex North American prehistoric sites are part of this tradition. Evidence indicates that large numbers of people lived were incorporated into stable, long-lived hierarchically organized societies and that long distance exchange between major centers took place. Researchers wish to understand the mechanisms which led to the development and maintenance of such societies and to accomplish this it is necessary to set these centers into a broader geographic context. That is the goal of Drs. Butler and Cobbs research. With National Science Foundation support these two investigators and their colleagues will conduct excavation at the Millstone Bluff Site, located on the top of an isolated mesa-like hill in the Shawnee Hills about 20 km from the Ohio River. Millstone Bluff displays a clear site plan with a central plaza of about 1000 sq. m., surrounded by a series of distinct depressions (house basins) arranged in multiple tiers. Over the course of two field seasons, the team will conduct geophysical survey and excavation of the site, carry out a pedestrian survey of the surrounding region and excavate at an adjacent Mississppean age locality. One goal of the research is to accurately date the span of occupation to determine whether it succeeds or is coincident with river bottom occupation. Through analysis of ceramics and other cultural remains it will be possible to determine the degree of autonomy exercised by the Millstone Bluff inhabitants. Examination of variation in material remains between houses will shed light on the social organization and degree of stratification within the site itself. This research is important for several reasons. It will take place within the context of a summer archaeological field school and thus serve an important training purpose. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and shed new light on one of the most important prehistoric Native American cultures.