Moundville

6 Life and Death at Moundville

6 Life and Death at Moundville What was it like to live at ancient Moundville ? How can we understand a way of life so different from ours today? Maybe the gap of time and experience between them and us is just too great. Unlike recent histories populated with named and knowable figures, the men and women of ancient Moundville remain anonymous. Without written records, all we have are the physical remains. Ancient customs, values, and beliefs do not become fossils we can dig up and examine. The remains are fragmented and partially preserved, so our knowledge of a prehistoric culture comes to us in bits and pieces. Much about prehistory will always remain a mystery, but we can still learn from the past, even if the story is incomplete. Archaeologists can discover relationships between the artifacts and other materials that reveal parts of the whole culture and many past activities. What is most remarkable about Moundville archaeology is not that we know so little but that we have learned so much. Moundville Archaeology To learn more about how archaeologists piece together the Moundville story, let us look over the shoulder of three archaeologists as they gather evi- dence and draw conclusions about one place at the Moundville site. The following section presents a “you are there” reconstruction of actual events. As a retelling of the past, these historical sketches rely on informed imagination, but the individual archaeologists are real people. Existing records are the sources for the description of the excavation and the discoveries made there. In the sketches, each of the archaeologists has a different perspective as they interpret the same evidence at three different times—1939, 1969, and 2003. Mound State Monument, 1939 Maurice Goldsmith, archaeologist, is supervising his crew of “CCC boys” as they dig in the path of the newly paved road that will circle the park. The men work hard in the hot sun. Many are illiterate, so Goldsmith takes the notes. To record the horizontal provenience of finds, the excavation block is marked off in 5' x 5' squares, each designated by a coordinate . Watching the men dig, Goldsmith is satisfied with the results. In a deposit that is only three feet deep, soil stains outline the remains of an 18' x 26' wall-trench house, designated Structure 8 (S-8). In and around the house are a dozen burials in the shallow grave pits typical of Moundville.1 There are plenty of artifacts, too. Besides potsherds, which Goldsmith does not even glance at anymore, S-8 has yielded two well-made bowls, two effigy pot handles , red and green paint lumps, a rare bit of rock crystal, and three stone discoidals, one so crude it life and death at moundville 77 78 chapter six Above: Location of Residential Group 3 at Moundville. (Courtesy of Gregory D. Wilson.) Below: Plan view of Structure 8, Residential Group 3, showing house outline and burials. (Courtesy of Gregory D. Wilson.) life and death at moundville 79 must have been incomplete when it was thrown away. The graves contain the poorly preserved remains of men, women, children, and infants. Burial goods found thus far include an engraved stone disk placed under the skull of an adult, several wide-mouth pottery bottles, fish and frog effigy bowls, a copper ear spool, and pottery disks thought to be game pieces or spindle whorls. When the ancient people tried to place graves close together they sometimes dug into earlier graves; many of the skeletons lack a hand or foot.2 Goldsmith ambles over to the excavation where a board holds artifacts shoveled up that morning. On the board are three copper fishhooks, bright green with corrosion. “Mr. Goldsmith! Take a look at this!” He walks over to where the men are uncovering another burial from graves dug into and below S-8. Goldsmith gazes down at a poorly preserved adult skeleton in a shallow grave. The body lies extended on the back, head to the east. “This is Burial 2748. Only about A stone discoidal. Diameter 6 cm. (Courtesy of The University of Alabama Museums .) 80 chapter six five feet tall,” says Goldsmith, “probably a woman.” A wide-mouth pottery bottle, dark in color, rests at the skull. The worker points at an object by the skeleton’s right knee. Goldsmith bends down for a closer look at an oblong pendant, ground from a red stone. Incised on the...