Negotiating interaction during the Late Woodland-Mississippian transition in Southern Appalachia

Abstract

Cultural interaction has been shown to be important in the (re)organization of social relationships in pre-contact North America and an important causal factor in Mississippian origins throughout the U.S. Southeast and Midwest. Indeed, recent research has documented the significance of migration and other forms of far-flung interactions in the spread of Mississippian lifeways. The Mississippian period (CE 1000–1550) in the Southern Appalachian region of the US Southeast was a dynamic period of profound sociopolitical and ideological transformations that are associated with an increase in social complexity. Scholars have argued that interregional interactions during the 11th and 12th centuries established important relationships among Native American groups from Southern Appalachia. These connections have been poorly understood but appear to have been largely centered at the Etowah site in northwestern Georgia where engagements between potential diverse populations were instrumental in the spread of Mississippian practices and beliefs, eventually leading to the development of hierarchical regional polities. The functional and stylistic analysis of Etowah pottery (CE 1000–1100/1200) and a comparative and multivariate statistical analysis of ceramic assemblages from three adjacent regions of the interior Southeast, indicate that the earliest populations at Etowah were pluralistic and composed of disparate groups from northwestern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. However, unlike many communities, the diverse population at Etowah maintained distinct traditions of ceramic production and consumption, while simultaneously engaging in communal ceremonial activities. This unique perspective on Etowah’s origins deviates from typical Mississippian beginnings contexts and offers valuable insights into how cultural interactions occurred in pre-contact North America.