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124 Benn time of maximum redundancy in the procurement of natural and horticultural foods. The intensification of relationships between people and their tools of production contradicted the basic relations within Middle Woodland society, which focused the corporate image on the relationship between human beings and natural resources (Webb 1989: 291). A transformation in the relations of production was taking place: the previous relationship between human beings and the natural environment (as an object of production) was shifting toward a relationship between human beings and their tools of production (i.e., the artificial horticultural environment , ceramics, bow and arrow). This shift meant that authorities extended their control of the tools of production by manipulating the people who used the tools. The changeover to agricultural (maize) production did not occur rapidly during the Late Woodland and Early Mississippi periods (Asch and Asch 1985; Watson 1988: 44), nor did people of the Mississippi period intensify maize production simply because they realized its enormous productive potential for supporting a labor-intensive, tributary system of production (cf. Boserup 1965). The combination of very productive eightrowed Northern Flint and beans postdated the appearance of maize cultivation by more than four hundred years in the Midwest. The shift to intensive maize production had its roots in the social and political turmoil that resulted when authority figures attempted to extend their influence over the production and reproduction of autonomous kin groups other than their own. This process was resisted by kin communities, as it always is, because kin groups must retain the capacity to reproduce their relations of production, as their ancestors did, in order to maintain their traditional way of life (Gailey and Patterson 1987: 8). Maize production became a vehicle for an emerging elite to attract and hold the allegiance of people despite their attachments to kin-based production. By A.D. 800, maize was only one of many labor-intensive tools in a system that featured increasing complexity in kin-based labor processes. Complexity in the labor process is evident in the proliferation of specialized ceramics for culinary and storage functions (Le., bowls, jars, bottles, and plates) and for processing of raw materials like salt (Le., pans and funnels). Decorative homogeneity seen in many regional ceramic complexes (cf. Braun and Plog 1982: 517) conveys social meaning along with the elaborated technical forms of ceramics, which is evidence for the supralocal cooperation and integration that Braun and Plog observe as characteristic of the Late Woodland period. Part of the reason for sharing ceramic technology and styles may have been the relationship with maize production. Maize and specially decorated pottery forms may be viewed Emergence ofIntensive Agriculture 125 as part of a tool complex; for example, maize seed was stored in hooded bottles with stoppers (Varney Red Filmed; Morse and Morse 1983), the maize crop was simmered into porridge in jars and bowls, and salt -for seasoning maize was evaporated in pans. By manipulating the social meaning inherent in tools of production, ordinary human beings can be encouraged to perform work that contributes to the social surplus. My reasoning is that sociopolitical regulations prescribe certain types of tools for tasks that producebasic needs as well as a social surplus. Without "regulation" tools, necessary rituals cannot be successfully performed nor can a social surplus be produced in the "proper" manner. At the onset of the Mississippi period an array of standardized tool forms made from particular materials appears along with maize-complex agriculture. Pottery is elaborated into specialized wares that function in both domestic 'and ceremonial spheres of life. Specialized vessels are forms of surplus production that convey social meaning (e.g., creation myths, themes in nature, and the deceased) and represent the control of production and exchange of the labor-value. These examples show why pottery is such a prominent part of grave furniture during the Mississippian period. Symbolic vessels represent transfer of control of the forces of production to the next generation. Specialization, social meaning, and labor-value are vested in lithic technology in the same way. For example, the Mill Creek chert hoes, Crescent Quarry chert artifacts (microdrills), and stylized triangular projectile points, which are widely traded and often replace local artifact styles and raw materials, are not technically superior tools. Their use is a manifestation of political power; that is, those who control production and distribution of special tools also symbolically control surplus production from the tools and the people who utilize them. This control is an example of political hegemony imbedded in the...

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