Cahokia

This dramatic and controversial new interpretation of Cahokian leadership strategies examines the authority a ruling elite exercised over the surrounding countryside through a complex of social, political, and religious forms. Using the theoretical concepts of agency, power, and ideology, this study explores the development of cultural complexity within the hierarchically organized Cahokia Middle Mississippian society of the American Bottom from the 11th to the 13th centuries. By scrutinizing the available archaeological settlement and symbolic evidence, Thomas E. Emerson demonstrates that many sites previously identified as farmsteads were actually nodal centers with specialized political, religious, and economic functions that were integrated into a centralized Cahokian administrative organization. These centers are accompanied by such "artifacts of power" as figurines, ritual vessels, and sacred plants. The consolidation of this symbolism into a rural cult marks the expropriation of the cosmosas part of,the increasing power of the Cahokian rulers.

When Columbus arrived on the shores of Hispaniola, a rich and complex civilization already existed that forms the core of American cultural history. Exploring ancient southeastern Indian sites from the metropolis of Cahokia (near present-day St. Louis), ancient capital of the American heartland, to the Island stronghold of Calos, king of the Florida Calusa, Mallory O'Connor examines the significance of these prehistoric cultures. Bringing together scholarship from classics in architecture, archaeology, and iconography, she discusses twenty sites of Mississippian culture, describing the religious patterns of the inhabitants and the sophisticated art works that supported their sacred practices. She also addresses the controversial topic of repatriation of Indian artifacts and the continuing problem of archeological "looting" of Indian sites and ceremonial centers. Lavishly illustrated with maps, site plans, and photographs of the ruins of ancient ceremonial centers along with sculpture, ceramics and other artifacts, Lost Cities of the Ancient Southeast captures the timeless beauty and technical sophistication of the art and architecture of pre-Columbian America.

With nine papers examining a distinct body of archaeological data, Ungendering Civilization offers a much needed scrutiny of the role of women in the evolution of states.Studying societies including Predynastic Egypt, Minoan Crete, ancient Zimbabwe and the Maya - to determine what the facts actually show, the contributors critically address traditional views of male and female roles, and argue for the possibility that the root historical cause of gender subordination is participation in modern world system, rather than 'innate' tendencies to domesticity and child-rearing in women, and leadership and aggression in men.With an interdisciplinary potential, students of archaeology, cultural studies and gender studies will find this full of useful information.

Combining broad chronological syntheses and regionally specific case studies, this volume presents up-to-date findings about plant use by prehistoric and early historic peoples who lived in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. The contributors stress that current depictions of the subsistence strategies, settlement patterns, and social relations of these earliest Americans need to be reformulated to accommodate our new understanding of both the importance of native crops and the variability in peoples' foodways.

In this volume, leading scholars use archaeological discoveries and, in a few instances, historical documents from the early sixteenth century to examine Mississippian chiefdoms. These native polities are not viewed as static constructs but as dynamic systems.

Though they speak several different languages and organize themselves into many distinct tribes, the Native American peoples of the Southeast share a complex ancient culture and a tumultuous history. This volume examines and synthesizes their history through each of its integral phases: the complex and elaborate societies that emerged and flourished in the Pre-Columbian period; the triple curse of disease, economic dependency, and political instability brought by the European invasion; the role of Native Americans in the inter-colonial struggles for control of the region; the removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" to Oklahoma; the challenges and adaptations of the post-removal period; and the creativity and persistence of those who remained in the Southeast.