Plaquemine Archaeology

282 Pages·2006·2.42 MB·English

by  Mark A. Rees

Plaquemine Archaeology
A Dan Josselyn Memorial Publication
Plaquemine Archaeology
Edited by Mark A. Rees and Patrick C. Livingood
the university of alabama press
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2007
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: AGaramond and Triplex
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Plaquemine archaeology / edited by Mark A. Rees and Patrick C. Livingood.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-1543-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-1543-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5366-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-5366-6 (alk. paper)
1. Plaquemine culture. 2. Mounds—Louisiana. 3. Mounds—Mississippi. 4. Plaquemine
pottery—Louisiana. 5. Plaquemine pottery—Mississippi. 6. Excavations (Archaeology)—
Louisiana. 7. Excavations (Archaeology)—Mississippi. 8. Louisiana—Antiquities.
9. Mississippi—Antiquities. I. Rees, Mark A. II. Livingood, Patrick C.
E99.P635P57 2007
976′.01—dc22
2006016065
Contents
Figures vii
Tables xi
Preface xiii
1. Introduction and Historical Overview / Mark A. Rees and Patrick
C. Livingood 1
2. Coles Creek Antecedents of Plaquemine Mound Construction:
Evidence from the Raffman Site / Lori Roe 20
3. Extraregional Contact and Cultural Interaction at the Coles
Creek–Plaquemine Transition: Recent Data from the Lake Providence
Mounds, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana / Douglas C. Wells and
Richard A. Weinstein 38
4. Plaquemine Mounds of the Western Atchafalaya Basin /
Mark A. Rees 66
5. Transitional Coles Creek–Plaquemine Relationships on Northwest
Lake Salvador, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana / Malcolm
K. Shuman 94
6. Plaquemine Recipes: Using Computer-Assisted Petrographic
Analysis to Investigate Plaquemine Ceramic Recipes /
Patrick C. Livingood 108
7. Feasting on the Bluffs: Anna Site Excavations in the Natchez Bluffs of
Mississippi / Virgil Roy Beasley III 127
8. Plaquemine Culture in the Natchez Bluffs Region of Mississippi /
Ian W. Brown 145
9. The Outer Limits of Plaquemine Culture: A View from the Northerly
Borderlands / Marvin D. Jeter 161
vi contents
10. Contemplating Plaquemine Culture / Tristram R. Kidder 196
References Cited 207
Contributors 259
Index 261
Figures
1.1.The Lower Mississippi Valley, showing the major drainages and re-
gions discussed in the text 2
1.2.Areas discussed by individual authors 16
2.1.Core Coles Creek region and locations of most sites discussed in
the chapter 22
2.2.Middle Woodland through Historic phase chronology for the central
Lower Mississippi Valley 23
2.3.The Raffman site, showing locations of 1998 through
2004 excavations 27
2.4.Mound B at Raffman, showing locations of excavations and
soil cores 33
3.1.Location of the Lake Providence Mounds 39
3.2.Contour map of the Lake Providence Mounds, showing the four ex-
tant mounds and the Corps’ right-of-way during the 1998–1999 data-
recovery program 40
3.3.Pro¤les of north and east walls of TU N80W79 showing the three
construction stages revealed during excavation 41
3.4.Plan of wall trenches and postholes associated with the Preston phase
in Block 1, showing evidence of the three building episodes believed to
have been present 43
3.5.Date ranges of the seven Coles Creek occupations recognized at
Lake Providence 44
3.6.Proposed site-formation sequence at Lake Providence 45
3.7.Ceramics normally thought to be representative of the Balmoral and
Routh phases but clearly part of the Preston phase component at Lake
Providence 47
viii figures
3.8.Preston phase ceramics from Lake Providence 48
3.9.Additional Preston phase ceramics from Lake Providence 49
3.10.Ceramic types and varieties of the Balmoral, Preston, and
Routh phases 50
3.11.Examples of pottery associated with the “Preston ¤neware
complex” 51
3.12.Sherds of the Powell and Coker sets recovered at Lake
Providence 53
3.13.Additional artifacts suggestive of contact with the American Bottom
region 54
3.14.Depiction of Early Mississippian in®uences on the Yazoo Basin during
the Crippen Point phase 55
3.15.Chronology chart illustrating the temporal relationship of archaeologi-
cal phases in the Tensas Basin and American Bottom regions since
a.d.
about 750 59
4.1.South-central Louisiana, showing the locations of major Plaquemine
mound sites 73
4.2.Site 16SL3 74
4.3.Site 16SM38 77
4.4.Site 16SM5 81
4.5.Site 16SMY10 85
5.1.Lake Salvador and archaeological sites mentioned in
the chapter 98
6.1.Plane-polarized scan of PRP27 115
6.2.Cross-polarized scan of PRP27 115
6.3.Example of a false-color enhanced image of the cross-polarized scan
for PRP27 115
6.4.Boolean image of the shell and shell void identi¤cations
for PRP27 115
6.5.Biplot of grog and shell percentages 120
figures ix
6.6.Biplot of grog and shell percentages showing clusters determined by
analysis of the petrographic data 122
7.1.Location of Anna site 128
7.2.Site map of Anna Mounds group 131
7.3.Neo-Indian chronology in the Lower Yazoo Basin and Natchez Bluffs
region of the Lower Mississippi Valley 135
7.4.Plan view, Block 1 excavations 139
7.5.Chicot Red, var. Fairchild vessel 140
7.6.Addis Plain, var. Addis vessel 140
8.1.Selected Plaquemine sites in the Natchez Bluffs region
of Mississippi 146
9.1.Southeast Arkansas, showing major streams, county boundaries, and
locations of some key sites mentioned in the chapter 164
9.2.The Bellaire “serpent-cat” pipe 168
9.3.Addis Plain bowl with deeply notched rim from the Boydell site in
southeast Arkansas 173