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4 Transitions at Moundville: A Question of Collapse Margaret J. Schoeninger Lisa Sattenspiel Mark R. Schurr The site of Moundville in west-central Alabama is the archaeological remnant of a prehistoric political and ceremonial center that oversaw a regional population of several thousand people between ca. a.d. 1000 and 1500 (Peebles 1987a). At its peak, Moundville was one of the largest such centers in the Southeast and covered about 100 ha on a high terrace overlooking the Black Warrior River. The site was¤rst mapped in the late nineteenth century and ¤rst excavated early in the twentieth century; it has been studied intensively over several decades by several generations of excavators (Peebles 1974, 1987a; Peebles and Schoeninger 1981; Steponaitis 1983; Scarry 1986; Powell 1988; Welch 1991; Knight 1992; Knight and Steponaitis 1998a, 1998b). Much still remains to be done in terms of analysis of excavated materials , but the general outlines of the site’s history are clear. The earliest settlement at Moundville apparently occurred around a.d. 1050 and included a single mound some time shortly thereafter. The greatest extent of the site came early in its history, probably between a.d. 1200 and 1250 when multiple large mounds were constructed in a planned pattern (Knight 1994). The site was occupied until the mid-1600s, although the political system of which it was the center had collapsed over 100 years earlier. Most researchers believe that the collapse was the result of an internal disruption (Knight and Steponaitis 1998a); when De Soto’s party reached the area in 1540, power in the region was centered away from Moundville (Hudson 1997). There is, however, no consensus on the source of disruption within the Moundville polity. One suggestion is that the decline was the result of inherent instability of the type of hierarchical society it exempli¤ed (Hudson et al. 1990). This hypothesis is dif¤cult to evaluate or to test beyond suggesting that individuals react negatively to authority (Knight and Steponaitis 1998a) or by comparing alternative examples of declines (Peebles 1987a; Steponaitis 1991). Recent publications dealing with the region recommend evaluation of alternative hypotheses and reconsideration of previously published carbon stable isotope data (Schurr and Schoeninger 1995; Schoeninger and Schurr 1998). Such is the goal of the present chapter. Such evaluation requires an accurate chronology of the site as well as an understanding of the relationship between Moundville and the other communities along the Black Warrior River. Work during the 1970s established a ceramic seriation summarized in Table 4-1 (based on Steponaitis 1983; Welch and Scarry 1995; Knight and Steponaitis 1998a). In conjunction with burial goods seriation and radiocarbon dates on various structures within Moundville and the valley, these ceramic data indicate an outline of development (taken from Knight and Steponaitis 1998a) within the valley as a whole (see Table 4-2). Moundville ’s function and relations within the Black Warrior River changed over time. Table 4–1. Ceramic Seriation at Moundville Ceramic Period Ceramic Descriptor Dates (a.d.) West Jefferson Baytown Plain—a plain ware 950–1050 Moundville I Serving and Storage: Low frequency 1050–1250 Cooking: High frequency Moundville II Serving and Storage: Proliferate 1250–1400 Cooking: Decline relative to serving and storage Moundville III Serving and Storage Continue to predominate relative to cooking Some types vanish late 1400–1550 Moundville IV Some stylistic links with Period III New suite of types 1550–1650 Sources: Steponaitis 1983; Welch and Scarry 1995; Knight and Steponaitis 1998a 64 Schoeninger, Sattenspiel, Schurr During the earliest Developmental period (Intensi¤cation of Local Production), few if any people lived in the area that was to become Moundville. The population along the Black Warrior River was distributed in large villages supported by maize agriculture supplemented with starchy seeds and other wild resources, particularly acorns and hickory nuts (Scarry 1993b). The shift to ¤eld production of corn apparently began during this period, and because the area was sparsely populated (Welch 1991), this shift is thought to have provided a food surplus that allowed support for crafts people (Scarry 1993b). Some Southeastern river valleys show evidence of local overcrowding, subsistence stress, and warfare at this time, and subsequent development within the Black Warrior River Valley is assumed to have been affected by events in other areas of the Southeast (Knight and Steponaitis 1998a). This development is apparent in the subsequent Developmental period (Initial Centralization), during which a settlement of signi¤cant size was established at Moundville. Botanical remains indicate increased dependence on maize and decreased use...

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