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223 GLOSSARY American Bottom. The floodplain created by the confluence of the Missouri, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers. A large wetland area up to twelve miles wide, containing a maze of waterways connecting oxbow lakes and tributary streams to the main channel of the Mississippi. Ancient South. Term developed by Charles Hudson as a complementary concept to that of the “Old South.” The Ancient South, which covered roughly the same territory as the Old South, was inhabited by Mississippian farming societies, which dominated the area from about 900 to the European invasion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. bastion. Watchtowers on stockades. They served the dual purpose of buttressing the large walls and providing elevated platforms from which archers could defend a town. black drink. A caffeinated drink similar to tea or coffee made from the leaves and twigs of the yaupon holly. (See the box feature Black Drink, page 18.) borrow pits. A by-product of mound construction resulting from the excavation of earth to use for mound fill. Some borrow pits were converted into ponds that were stocked with fish. buffer zone. Uninhabited wilderness areas separating chiefdoms. Of varying size, buffer zones served as political boundaries and as areas where members of a chiefdom could hunt, fish, gather wild foods, and collect firewood and other nonfood resources. causeway. A narrow, elevated man-made ridge that sometimes connected the bases of mounds to each other or led from mounds to borrow pits. They may also have been used as pathways to facilitate movement across low-lying areas of a site. celt. Another name for an axe. Most celts were made of ground and polished stone, but copper celts intended for ceremonial use have been discovered throughout the Ancient South as well. chert. A common name for a type of stone particularly suited for the production of tools. Chert found throughout the southern Coastal Plain is typically tan in color, while that found in the Ridge and Valley Province is grey-black. chiefdom. A society characterized by the hereditary transfer of leadership positions and a social system that included both elites and commoners, but smaller and less complex than a state. 224 GLOSSARY chunkey. A variation of the hoop-and-pole game common throughout North America. Chunkey stones, used to play the game, are found at Mississippian Period sites, and chunkey players are regularly depicted in Mississippian art. (See the box feature Chunkey, page 65.) Civilian Conservation Corps (ccc). A Depression-era, government-funded work-relief program designed specifically for young men. ccc crews built trails, visitor centers, lodges, and archaeological and historical reconstructions throughout the nation’s parks and monuments. Coles Creek culture. Society predominating in the Lower Mississippi Valley between 700 and 1100. Coles Creek societies shared some characteristics with the emerging Mississippian culture but were not integrated into hierarchical regional polities like Mississippian chiefdoms. columella pendant. Ornaments made from the center (or columella) of lightning whelk, emperor helmet, or horse conch. It was removed in the production of shell drinking cups. corncrib. Small storage shed built on legs several feet high. All manner of foodstuffs were kept in corncribs, and the space below them were often used as outdoor kitchens. (See the box feature Mississippian Homes, pages 30–31.) cradleboard. A wooden backpack-like devise used to transport and protect infants. cranial deformation. The practice of binding an infant’s head to a cradleboard in order to slowly alter the shape of the head. Cranial deformation, generally seen as a mark of beauty, was a widespread but not necessarily common characteristic of the Mississippian world. double-cropping. The practice of planting successive crops in a field during the same year, which could be done only where the climate provided enough frostfree days. The practice allowed Mississippian chiefs to store relatively large amounts of food. dugout canoe. Varying greatly in size, dugouts were canoes carved from the trunk of a single tree, often pine or cypress. Though long, narrow, and shallow of draft, dugouts could carry a large amount of cargo. Most Mississippian towns included a canoe landing. (See the box feature Dugout Canoes, pages 22–23.) earspool. An earring-like stone or wooden disc inserted into a slit made in the earlobes. effigy pottery. Pottery made in the shape of a human or other animal. Vessels of this type are often featured prominently in museum displays. exogamous. Marrying outside a specified group. During the historical period, southeastern Indian clans were exogamous, that is, marriage was forbidden within the...

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