Prehistory of the Central Mississippi Valley

1. Southeast Missouri

Preface THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY comprises the area between the confluence of the Ohio River in the north and the Arkansas River in the south (Figure P-1). Thus defined, it extends for a linear distance of approximately 420 kilometers or 260 miles and lies between two of the major population centers in the Southeast : the American Bottom to the north and the Lower Yazoo Basin to the south (Figure P-1). As might be expected, the Central Valley received its share of cultural influences from these two great centers. But the Central Valley had its own distinctive cultural developments and also served as a connecting link between the American Bottom and the Lower Yazoo throughout much of prehistory. This volume is concerned with all of these aspects of Central Valley prehistory. Dan and Phyllis Morse published an excellent summary of Central Valley archaeology in 1983, and it is referred to frequently in the following pages. The Morses' volume, produced by two closely cooperating authors, has both the inherent advantages of continuity and disadvantages of a single perspective. For the past few years, I have felt the need for a volume representing the views of the various major contributors to Central Valley archaeology. The major goal of such a volume would be the presentation of updated culture histories for the various subareas of the Central Valley, followed by a summary of the individual contributions (expanded as necessary), with a secondary goal of providing some coordination between the culture sequences of the American Bottom and Lower Yazoo Basin. Toward this end, scholars who were active in southeast Missouri, west Kentucky , the Reelfoot Lake area, west Tennessee, northeast Arkansas, east-central Arkansas, and northwest Mississippi were invited to a mini-conference, held in conjunction with the meetings of the Southern Anthropological Society in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 1989. Introductory comments were delivered by James B. Griffin; Stephen Williams and I served as discussants. Subsequently, papers were revised and submitted to me. Their contributions form the main body of this volume. Other obligations prohibited revision of the paper on northwest Mississippi. I have attempted to cover this area (with a little help from some friends) for the all-important tie to the Lower Yazoo. xi Fig. P-1. The Central Mississippi Valley o 10 20 40 MILES N 60 Preface I xiii Some of my colleagues may be surprised to see an unabashed presentation of culture history at this date. I regard fine-tuned culture history as an absolute prerequisite for more theoretically oriented syntheses and processual studies. Although archaeology has supposedly passed beyond the culture history stage to greater things, I have not yet been convinced by recent protestations of progress in the science of prehistoric culture. The processualists' retreat from grand theory to the murky grounds of "middle-range theory" is adequate evidence that we may have attempted to advance too far too quickly. I am not exactly sure what we have gained from the middle ranges and suspect the retreat should have been back to better definitions of relevant culture history. When such definition has been accomplished, the processual approach, based on firmer foundations than are now available, obviously has the potential to lead us to higher levels of understanding. Critical assistance in preparing this manuscript has been received from students and colleagues. Mary Evelyn Starr drew the map of the Central Mississippi Valley and redrafted the base maps for the phase distributions in Lafferty and Price. Shawn Chapman prepared the projectile point drawings for the Yazoo Basin chapter. Truly invaluable comments were received from John Connaway , James B. Griffin, and Stephen Williams and from two very constructive anonymous reviewers. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the unflagging encouragement of the editorial staff of the University of Alabama Press and the tremendous assistance of Kathy Cummins in preparing the final manuscript. I believe that I can speak for all contributors in saying that this volume is dedicated to the future and written in honor of the past. C.H.M. 1 Southeast Missouri Robert H. Lafferty III and James E. Price ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH HAS been conducted in southeast Missouri for more than a century (see Morse and Morse 1983:18-19). As with much of the Mississippi Valley, the most extensive early work was conducted by the Smithsonian Mound Exploration Project (Thomas 1894), which recorded and excavated many large mound sites. Thomas and his associates identified the American Indians...