User:The Hsinging Tree/Moundville Phase: Difference between revisions

Over the course of a century, the Moundville phase polity would rise to great heights. At least 29 mounds in its capital, and a population in its core province of between 10,000 and 30,000.<ref>Steponaitis, Vincas P., and C. Margaret Scarry, eds. ”Rethinking Moundville and Its Hinterland.” Foreword by Henry T. Wright III. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2016 p. 150.</ref> By 1250, its shadow loomed over neighbors beyond its core province, notably at [[Chakchiuma]]<ref>Clark, Emily. ”The Analysis of Contact-Era Settlements in Clay, Lowndes, and Oktibbeha Counties in Northeast Mississippi”. Master’s thesis, University of Mississippi, 2017.</ref> (at the Butler mound), Talapatica (possibly located at the [[Lubbub Creek|Lubbub Creek mound]]) and the 1GR2 mound chiefdom.<ref>Livingood, Patrick C. ”Mississippian Polity and Politics on the Gulf Coastal Plain: A View from the Pearl River, Mississippi.” Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2011.</ref> Prestige goods from all over the Southeast arrived in the grand plaza of moundville for the elite and the Moundville ”Mico.”, Appalachian copper, Lower Mississippian art, Cahokian stones, pearls and shells from the coast, colorful gemstones, and Datura drugs from New Mexico all coming together to be used in ceremonies and to boost the seeming divinity of Moundville elite.

Over the course of a century, the Moundville phase polity would rise to great heights. At least 29 mounds in its capital, and a population in its core province of between 10,000 and 30,000.<ref>Steponaitis, Vincas P., and C. Margaret Scarry, eds. ”Rethinking Moundville and Its Hinterland.” Foreword by Henry T. Wright III. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2016 p. 150.</ref> By 1250, its shadow loomed over neighbors beyond its core province, notably at [[Chakchiuma]]<ref>Clark, Emily. ”The Analysis of Contact-Era Settlements in Clay, Lowndes, and Oktibbeha Counties in Northeast Mississippi”. Master’s thesis, University of Mississippi, 2017.</ref> (at the Butler mound), Talapatica (possibly located at the [[Lubbub Creek|Lubbub Creek mound]]) and the 1GR2 mound chiefdom.<ref>Livingood, Patrick C. ”Mississippian Polity and Politics on the Gulf Coastal Plain: A View from the Pearl River, Mississippi.” Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2011.</ref> Prestige goods from all over the Southeast arrived in the grand plaza of moundville for the elite and the Moundville ”Mico.”, Appalachian copper, Lower Mississippian art, Cahokian stones, pearls and shells from the coast, colorful gemstones, and Datura drugs from New Mexico all coming together to be used in ceremonies and to boost the seeming divinity of Moundville elite.

Moundville phase continued to prosper during the 14th century and prestige goods might’ve even increased somewhat, despite mounds on the Moundville site itself being slowly abandoned.<ref>Knight, Vernon J., and Vincas P. Steponaitis. “A New History of Moundville.” In ”Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom”, 1–25. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.</ref> After however, it is certain that Moundville began to decline in long-distance prestige goods exchange. High status individuals began to be buried away from the mounds within Moundville, and by the late 15th century most mounds in the valley had stopped being built.<ref>Steponaitis, Vincas P., and C. Margaret Scarry, eds. ”Rethinking Moundville and Its Hinterland.” Foreword by Henry T. Wright III. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2016 pp. 36, 158.</ref>

Moundville phase continued to prosper during the 14th century and prestige goods might’ve even increased, despite mounds on the Moundville site itself being slowly abandoned.<ref>Knight, Vernon J., and Vincas P. Steponaitis. “A New History of Moundville.” In ”Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom”, 1–25. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.</ref> After however, it is certain that Moundville began to decline in long-distance prestige goods exchange. High status individuals began to be buried away from the mounds, and by the late 15th century most mounds in the valley had stopped being built.<ref>Steponaitis, Vincas P., and C. Margaret Scarry, eds. ”Rethinking Moundville and Its Hinterland.” Foreword by Henry T. Wright III. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2016 pp. 36, 158.</ref>

VERNON JAMES KNIGHT JR. AND VINCAS P. STEPONAITIS have proposed that the Moundville ”Mico,” still held a de jure sovereignty among the inhabitants of the Black Warrior River Valley.<ref name=”:1″ /> Interestingly, the various De Soto chronicles seem to identifiy a ”de facto” political head of the region lay with the “Lord of the Province of Apafalaya,” located at the newly established Snow’s Bend Site in the far north of the core Moundville province.<ref>Snow’s Bend (1TU2/3) and the Landscapes of the Moundville Chiefdom: A Multi-Method Geophysical Survey</ref><ref>Hudson, Charles. ”Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun: Hernando de Soto and the South’s Ancient Chiefdoms.” Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1997.</ref>

== References ==

== References ==

Moundville Phase polity
Mothra Deity depicted in the Willoughby Disc found at Moundville (among other palettes and artifacts), possibly a symbol of the Moundville polity
Alabama in the mid 12th century:
Status	Mississippian-culture micoship
Location	Black Warrior River
Capital	Moundville
Common languages	Alabama language
Government	Monarchy
Mico
Historical era	Middle Mississippian period
• Start of Moundville I period (Consolidation of Moundville as capital?	c. 1120
• Establishment of the Moundville Site during the West Jefferson Phase	c. 1050
• Exile of the Bottle Creek lineage	c. 1100
• First Intrusion into the Alabama River	c. 1120 – c. 1260
• Extension of influence into the Tombigbee chiefdoms (chickasaw, alabama, chakchiuma)	13th century
• Second Intrusion into the Alabama River/Founding of Tuskaloosa Province	1450
	1540
• Final move to the Alabama River to join the Creek Confederation	1690
Today part of

The Moundville phase, was a major Mississippian polity in the U.S. state of Alabama. Centered in the Black Warrior River valley, the Mico (or “great cacique”) of Moundville held enormous amounts of power over its people. When its much more diminished descendants were encountered by a Spanish expedition, even they (called “lords” by the chroniclers) were able to manage and relocate whole granaries, mobilize forces, organize expedition parties and hire guides to help the Spanish. Moundville would split in two in 1450^[1] from a variety of reasons. Crop failure, political infighting, end of the Moundville lineage, disagreements on the polity’s future, or even violent civil war all could’ve contributed to the split in the Moundville phase. The two main successors were the Province of Apafalaya (lineage based at the Snow’s Bend Site), who stayed in the Black Warrior River and evidently replaced Moundville as the dominant power in the Moundville phase. The other, more powerful, successor was the Province of Tuskaloosa, east to the Alabama River, with its capital at Atahachi, known as the “Big Eddy phase.”

The Moundville site itself is considered to have been established c. 1050 , but the Moundville I material culture and political entity only began around 1120. The Moundville chiefdom is considered to have been founded as a group who split away from the Shiloh phase.

Over the course of a century, the Moundville phase polity would rise to great heights. At least 29 mounds in its capital, and a population in its core province of between 10,000 and 30,000.^[2] By 1250, its shadow loomed over neighbors beyond its core province, notably at Chakchiuma^[3] (at the Butler mound), Talapatica (possibly located at the Lubbub Creek mound) and the 1GR2 mound chiefdom.^[4] Prestige goods from all over the Southeast arrived in the grand plaza of moundville for the elite and the Moundville Mico., Appalachian copper, Lower Mississippian art, Cahokian stones, pearls and shells from the coast, colorful gemstones, and Datura drugs from New Mexico all coming together to be used in ceremonies and to boost the seeming divinity of Moundville elite.

Moundville phase continued to prosper somewhat during the 14th century and prestige goods might’ve even increased, despite mounds on the Moundville site itself being slowly abandoned.^[5] After however, it is certain that by 1400 Moundville began to decline in long-distance prestige goods exchange. High status individuals began to be buried away from the mounds, and by the late 15th century most mounds in the valley had stopped being built. ^[6]

VERNON JAMES KNIGHT JR. AND VINCAS P. STEPONAITIS have proposed that the Moundville Mico, still held a de jure sovereignty among the inhabitants of the Black Warrior River Valley.^[6] Interestingly, the various De Soto chronicles seem to identifiy a de facto political head of the region lay with the “Lord of the Province of Apafalaya,” located at the newly established Snow’s Bend Site in the far north of the core Moundville province.^[7][8]

That first Mico of Moundville split off from Shiloh at the same time as another group split from Shiloh, the Province of Apalachicola, eventually known archaeologically as the Rood phase. Possibly even splitting for the same reason, Moundville likely remained amicable with the Province of Apalachicola throughout the centuries, and during the 16th-17th centuries, the two main provinces of Moundville descent, Tuscaloosa and Apafalaya, would reunite with their brethren in Apalachicola and form the Upper and Lower Creek Confederacy.^[1][9]

References