Under the direction of Dr. Vincas P. Steponaitis, Ms Erin Stevens will gather and analyze data from Parchman Place, a late Mississippi period site located in the northern Yazoo Basin of northwest Mississippi. The Parchman site dates to the middle of the 15th century and consists of four mounds and at least three discrete residential neighborhoods. These neighborhoods have been identified using geophysical survey techniques (notably magnetic gradiometry) and consist of grouped domestic structures and associated pit features and activity areas. Mound excavations at Parchman reveal evidence of community-building ritual activity associated with the building of mounds, as well as destructive events that may signal competition between groups at the sub-community level. This evidence suggests that mound building traditions at Parchman were malleable and that individuals or groups of people were able to manipulate or adapt their construction practices in order to emphasize particular identities. Stevens will investigate whether similar patterns of social cohesion or differentiation at the community level can be seen in the material remains of practices other than mound building. These include: (1) the organization of public and domestic space; (2) the production and use of pottery for storage, cooking, and serving of food in domestic and ritual contexts; and (3) the types, quantities, and combinations of foods produced and consumed by those living at Parchman.
Broadly speaking, the archaeological study of communities is important because communities are the primary locus of social interaction between neighbors, relatives and strangers. Ms Stevens's study will contribute to our understanding of the interactions of people and groups in the late prehistoric Yazoo Basin by situating the study of communities and communal identities firmly within current discussions of Mississippian sociopolitical formations, which have largely focused on the nature of regional polities. Investigations at the local level will enrich interpretations of Mississippian lifeways by focusing on the practices that structure daily life. The arrangement of community space can address questions about the social nature of daily activities such as pottery production and meal preparation. Food practices serve as a means through which people emphasize sameness or difference. Both foodways and the organization of space speak to issues of social inequality and identity formation within communities, and can additionally suggest ways in which local communities articulate with larger (regional) political formations.
In addition to its intellectual merits, the present study has a number of broader impacts, including contributing to the training of Ms Stevens and a number of undergraduate research assistants and volunteers in traditional and technologically innovative field and laboratory methods. More broadly, the dissemination of archaeological findings through publications and professional meetings, as well as local papers and regional historical societies, leads to deeper and broader understandings of local histories. The history of the South, and particularly of the Mississippi Delta, is too often depicted as a history of blacks and whites. Archaeology is powerful in that it makes alternative histories visible on the landscape. This increased visibility ultimately results in the preservation of that history and its record in the form of archaeological sites, which are currently threatened by development projects and modern agricultural practices.
Introduction This project focuses on the archaeology of Parchman Place, an American Indian site in northwest Mississippi that dates to the Late Mississippi period (AD 1400-1550). Mississippian people built large earthen ceremonial mounds and made elaborately decorated pottery and other craft goods. Politically, they were ruled by an elite class of political and religious specialists. However, we know relatively little about the non-elite community members that participated in Mississippian societies. To help fill the gap, this research focuses on two questions: (1) How were the residential areas of the site organized? (2) What was the nature of food and food-related practices in these residential areas? Archaeological data collected as part of this project show that Mississippian people communicated a range of different, sometimes contradictory, ideas about what it means to belong to a community. For example, ritual practice emphasized a common identity at the same time that the organization of community space emphasized social difference. Architecture and the Organization of Space Parchman consists of several elements considered "typical" of Mississippian ceremonial sites. It has one large and four smaller platform mounds as well as an open plaza surrounded by residential areas. Using remote sensing and excavation, I identified four neighborhoods at the site, organized along different spatial principles. Three of the neighborhoods have houses clustered around courtyards where people would have shared daily activities such as cooking and eating, pottery production, and childcare. The final neighborhood consists of houses lined up in rows and lacks shared workspace, begging the question of where shared daily activities took place. Significantly, a broad avenue between two rows of houses orients residents toward a nearby ramp leading to the summit of the largest mound. The orientation of the avenue to the mound suggests the neighborhood and the mound were planned in reference to one another, and associated pottery suggests that both were built relatively late in the site’s history. The spatial organization of neighborhoods and the associated artifacts therefore suggest that early on, the focal point of community life centered on the courtyards located in individual neighborhoods. Later, some portion of the population began to draw social distinctions between themselves and other people living at the site by shifting the locus of communal activity to mound tops. Foodways Food and food related practices are sometimes used to emphasize or deemphasize one’s differences with others. This research evaluates animal and plant remains as well as pottery used for cooking and serving food that may point to the construction of identities of sameness or difference. In some cases, the depositional context of foods is particularly meaningful. For instance, one excavation block at Parchman revealed a layered deposit of ash that I interpret as hearth scrapings from several nearby houses. The nature of the plants, animals, and ceramic pots contained within the ash suggest typical household food debris. However, the context of deposition suggests that this "trash" has a more significant meaning. The deposit bears a striking resemblance to ash heaps created during historic period and present-day Southeast Indian world renewal ceremonies that focus on restoring balance in the world and within the community. During these ceremonies the old "polluted" fire is extinguished and the hearths of houses and public buildings are cleaned out in preparation for the new fire. The hearth deposits at Parchman suggest that community members took on responsibility for maintaining balance in the world by ritually disposing of polluted refuse in a designated location. In this instance, practices related to foodways have a strong community-building focus. Significance This approach to community studies contributes to a broader discussion about the ways we can understand past communities. Spatial organization and foodways indicate that Mississippian communities were dynamic, flexible social formations that depended on the actions of both elite and non-elite people. In a broader sense, this research has the potential to impact modern communities and their understanding of local histories. The history of the American South is too often depicted as a history of blacks and whites, while Indian groups are left out of the picture. Archaeology is powerful in that it brings untold stories to light. This project has resulted in numerous opportunities for undergraduates, elementary-age children and the public at large to learn about this buried history. Undergraduates and adult volunteers have been involved in every aspect of the project from excavation to artifact analysis. Additionally, the results have been presented at professional meetings, in elementary school classrooms, and at public talks. This increased visibility ultimately results in the preservation of history and its record in the form of archaeological sites, which are quickly disappearing due to development projects and modern agricultural practices.
