Ceramic vessels were used for cooking, eating, and storage. Drawing by Richard Marshall
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Beginning in the Archaic period, lifestyles among the Indians became more sedentary and socially complex. Drawing by Richard Marshall.
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Indians had established thousands of prehistoric settlements in Mississippi because of the area’s favorable environmental factors. Drawing by Richard Marshall.
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In the Paleo-Indian period, mastodons roamed open grasslands. Drawing by Richard Marshall.
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Excavation on the De Soto National Forest in southeast Mississippi, 2001. The excavation is a “Passports In Time” program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Photograph courtesy USDA Forest Service.
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Archaeology and Prehistoric Mississippi
By David Morgan
European explorers first arrived in North America at the end of the 15th
century. Thinking they had reached the Indies in Asia, they labeled the
native people “Indians.” While this was a “New World”
to the Europeans, it was certainly not new to these original inhabitants
who had lived on the continent for more than 10,000 years. Because the
Indians did not use a formal system of writing, the vast majority of their
history is a part of North America’s prehistory. Prehistory is the
period before the advent of written records.
Virtually all that is known about the North American Indians before European
contact comes from the discipline of archaeology. Archaeology is that
branch of anthropology that investigates people's past by studying their
material remains. Lacking written records, archaeologists could not give
most of the prehistoric groups specific names. Therefore, archaeologists
created names such as Paleo-Indian, Middle Woodland, Mississippian, Marksville,
and Plaquemine to identify distinctive prehistoric Indian groups by culture
and time of existence.
During the prehistoric period that began some 12,000 years ago in present-day
Mississippi, Indians were the only inhabitants in the area. There are
over 19,000 prehistoric archaeological sites recorded in Mississippi,
and one section of the state, the Yazoo Basin (Mississippi Delta), boasts
one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric archaeological sites
in the world.
Prehistoric sequence
The prehistory of Mississippi generally coincides with the sequence established
for much of that vast geographic region spanning the area from the Mississippi
River to the Atlantic Ocean, an area known as the Eastern Woodlands.
The earliest period is named the Paleo-Indian period, which dates from
approximately 10,000 B.C. to 8,000 B.C. During this period, the landscape
and accompanying pattern of human occupation were considerably different
from that of recent times. The colder and wetter climate supported vegetation
and wildlife unlike that of today. Evergreen forests of spruce and fir
were common. Mastodon and bison roamed open grasslands. People of this
period organized in small bands and were nomadic, following the movements
of the large animals that they hunted for food and shelter. Their major
hunting weapon was a wooden spear shaft tipped with a medium- to fine-chipped
stone point
As the climate warmed to one more characteristic of today’s climate,
archaeological remains indicate a lifestyle among the Indians that became
increasingly more sedentary and socially and culturally complex. This
pattern began in what is named the Archaic period (circa 8,000 B.C. to
500 B.C.) and continued into the Woodland (circa 500 B.C. to A.D. 1000)
and Mississippian (circa A.D. 1000 to 1550) periods. Click
here for a general summary of the characteristics of prehistoric periods.
(Acrobat PDF)
Indians had established thousands of prehistoric settlements in Mississippi
because of the area’s favorable environmental factors: abundant
plant and animal life, warm climate, fertile soils, and navigable rivers
and streams. In 1540 during the Hernando de Soto expedition, approximately
200,000 Indians lived in the area known today as Mississippi. Primarily
because of diseases introduced by the Spaniards, the Indian population
declined drastically over the next two centuries. By the time the French
arrived in Mississippi at the end of the 17th century, only about 37,000
Indians remained. This population fell to an all-time low of approximately
16,500 by 1750.
Role of archaeology
Archaeological investigations at less than one percent of Mississippi’s
prehistoric sites have provided information on the earliest inhabitants
of the area. Archaeological investigations include field surveys to identify
and map sites. They also include “testing projects” where
limited excavation is undertaken to determine site depth and size based
on distribution of artifacts.
More extensive excavations are undertaken at some sites. While extensive
excavations provide the most detailed insights into a site and its prehistoric
occupants, the sites for extensive excavation are carefully selected because
excavation is the most expensive, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and
destructive of all archaeological procedures.
Archaeologists analyze the materials recovered from a site to determine
the approximate time of occupation, occupational sequence, site activities,
and site function(s). Site activities include animal hide processing,
cooking, and toolmaking. Site function is the overall use of the site.
Examples of function include temporary camps, permanent villages, and
special purpose sites such as cemeteries or bead manufacturing sites.
Archaeologists also want to know how sites interrelate in order to determine
how prehistoric populations operated across the landscape. By plotting
the locations of sites exhibiting similar distinctive (diagnostic) artifacts,
archaeologists figure out the connections among the Indian groups.
Artifacts, ecofacts, and features
The site materials that archaeologists examine are known as artifacts,
ecofacts, and features.
Artifacts are objects made, modified, or used by humans. Ceramics and
lithics (stone) are the two most frequently encountered types of artifacts.
Other categories include items made of bone, antler, wood, and metal.
The ceramics category includes clay objects that were heated (fired) in
order to make the objects strong and resistant to moisture. Pottery is
the most common type of ceramic found at sites and it is usually shattered
vessels.
Ceramic vessels were used for cooking, eating, and storage. Some were
employed as grave goods, accompanying the dead at time of burial. Vessel
fragments called shards, or sherds (pronounced shurds), can be quite informative
as particular pottery types can often be attributed to specific groups
and time periods. Other artifacts in the ceramics category range from
clay pipes, beads, and figurines to the remains of fire hearths and house
walls. Thus, ceramics help archaeologists determine the chronological
position, cultural affiliation, and function of a site.
The lithics category includes stone artifacts. It encompasses a wide variety
of items, from large stone axes to projectile points (spear, dart, and
arrow) and the tiniest of stone drill bits. The by-products of stone tool
production, such as stone chips and flakes, also fall into this category.
Projectile points can often be placed into established types that relate
to specific time periods. Some stone tools help determine site function
because they can be attributed to a particular use such as animal hide
working, woodworking, cutting, or drilling
Ecofacts, items such as bone, wood, plant seeds, and pollen that may occur
naturally at a site, also help archaeologists determine how a site was
used. Charcoal is particularly important in determining a site’s
age. Subjected to radiocarbon (C-14) testing, such materials can produce
a relatively accurate date for site occupation.
Features are defined as permanent fixtures such as fire hearths, storage
pits, and post holes, that, unlike artifacts and ecofacts, are not easily
removed. They generally have to be excavated and recorded on-site and
are important to the determination of site use. For example, post hole
patterns can reveal the presence of a structure at a site. The size and
shape of the structure can give clues to the site’s use and time
period.
Context is critical
Archaeologists define context as the relationship of artifacts and other
cultural remains to each other and to their surroundings. The proper recording
of context is essential during scientific excavation and is one of the
main reasons why excavating is such a slow and tedious process.
Because a site was often occupied at different time periods, contextual
data is used to help archaeologists group artifacts associated with a
particular time period, as well as to differentiate materials from different
time periods. This information also allows the archaeologist to better
understand what activities were carried out at the site, in what areas
of the site they were carried out, and how various activities may have
been interrelated.
An archaeological site must be thought of as a non-renewable resource;
that is, once it has been excavated it is destroyed and gone forever.
Whatever records were made during the excavation process are all that
remain of the site. For that reason, site recording must be extensive
and meticulous.
It is unacceptable and illegal for people to indiscriminately dig at archaeological
sites. Whether digging is done out of curiosity or for the removal of
artifacts, this activity causes irreparable damage to sites. Many important
sites have been destroyed or badly damaged by looters and grave robbers.
This vandalism occurs at Indian burial sites since ceramic vessels and
other desirable items were sometimes included with an individual at burial.
Sites with mounds are especially vulnerable because of their high visibility.
Because indiscriminate digging destroys vital contextual clues, it reduces
a site’s potential for providing important archaeological information.
Archaeological research must continue in order to increase our knowledge
of the prehistory of Mississippi. Thus, the remaining sites in Mississippi
must be properly preserved and protected. While Mississippi contains a
wealth of prehistoric archaeological sites, most of the sites are artifacts
scattered on top of the ground. Sites that extend below the ground are
less common and many of them have been damaged by natural and human activities.
Site damage is caused by naturally occurring soil erosion and, more often,
by agricultural practices (deep plowing and land leveling) or construction
activities related to land development.
Although state and federal laws help protect archaeological resources,
an informed and caring public is equally important in preserving the remaining
sites in Mississippi.
David Morgan, archaeologist, is an historian at the Old Capitol Museum,
Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Posted October 2002
Further reading
Baca, Keith A. “Indian Mounds of Mississippi – A Visitor's
Guide.” Booklet. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Archives and
History and the Southeast Archaeological Center, 1999.
Bense, Judith. Archaeology of the Southeastern United States: Paleoindian
to World War I. New York: Academic Press, 1994.
Fagan, Brian M. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent.
New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995.
Marshall, Richard A. Indians of Mississippi. Starkville: Cobb
Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi State University, n.d.
Peacock, Evan. “The Prehistory of Hunting and Fishing.” Mississippi
Outdoors, May/June 1987.
Web sites (accessed October 2002)
Ancient Architects
of Mississippi: http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/feature/feature.htm
The Archaeological Conservancy:
http://www.americanarchaeology.com
Mississippi Archaeology
at Mississippi Department of Archives and History
http://www.mdah.state.ms.us/pubs/ma.html
Mississippi Archaeological Association
Online: http://www.msarchaeology.org/
Society for American Archaeology: http://www.saa.org
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