The Mississippian civilization is the name given by archaeologists to the precolumbian horticulturalists of the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, between about AD 1100-1450.
Mississippian sites can be found in the immense area reaching from the modern American states of Ohio to Iowa, from Minnesota to Louisiana. The southern half of this huge area is often called the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, or Southern Cult; clearly the two are associated based on the similarity of mound construction, artifact assemblage and cultural features.
Within this vast area, people grew maize and beans, built extensive earthworks and flat-topped pyramids (called platform mounds), and traded raw material like obsidian and copper and gulf coast marine shells. Most interestingly, the Mississippian also shared religious notions about the world and the way it worked.
Social Organization
The most important settlements--there are about 16--are widely separated, based on the the size of the site and complexity of a site's mound system. The mound complexity--lots of mounds of different sizes and shapes, arranged in complex pattern--is considered a mark of the leader's abilities, since the ability to direct labor is a mark of control.
Mississippian Capitals
The largest Mississippian capital was at Cahokia, on the east side of the Mississippi river in the state of Illinois from what is now St. Louis, Missouri.
Others include Steed Kisker, Aztalan, Cahokia, Angel Mound, Obion, Moundville, Lake Jackson, Dyar, Toqua, Cemochechobee, Pevey, and Winterville
Cahokia has by far the largest mound. Called Monk's Mound, is covers an area of 6 ha at the base and stands 30.1 m high, while most mounds are no more than 3 m high. Platform mounds were residences and mortuaries for high ranking individuals, and sites with plat form mounds are political centers with regional settlement systems.
More Mississippian Sites
Sources
A recent
bibliography of the Mississippian civilization has been assembled for this project.
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