Quote:
Originally Posted by Liquid Reigns
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Historical Pottery
The Hopewell culture began to fade near the end of the Burial Mound II period. Around 700 CE a new tradition known as the Mississippian was forming in the area of northeastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri. For the purposes of this exhibition, this region will be referred to as the "core area". There were substantial differences between Mississippian sites and their Woodland predecessors. Sites were marked by flat-topped mounds upon which temples and important buildings were constructed. As such, the Mississippian Tradition is divided into Temple Mound I and Temple Mound II periods. In contrast to the Hopewell sites, burial mounds became far less significant. Agriculture intensified considerably with the introduction of better strains of maize, which resulted in a far more sedentary lifestyle. New vessel forms arose along with new types of decoration. Shell tempering became the norm. Many of these characteristic features
clearly indicate Mesoamerican influence. The relatively smooth and slow transition from Woodland to Mississippian traditions indicates that this influence was not direct, but absorbed gradually over time.
The Mississippian tradition is best represented by the site at Cahokia, in southern Illinois. The Temple Mound I phase is not well understood, but it appears to have been the continuation of a trend towards nucleation into large centers,
but now these centers took on a form more like their Mesoamerican counterparts. From Cahokia other sites were "colonized" in outlying areas, such as Aztalan in Wisconsin, Obion in western Tennessee and Hiwassee Island in eastern Tennessee, and Macon, Georgia. Contemporary developments were occurring in the Lower Mississippi Valley, with the Coles Creek cultures of Louisiana and Mississippi. These were similar to the Cahokia types, and exerted influences eastward into Florida and Georgia and westward up into the Caddoan regions along the Red River.
http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/mat...eb/mod13D.html
One
issue that still raises its head deals with the
apparent similarities between elements of Mississippian culture and
that of Mesoamerica.
1. This goes back to speculations on similarities between the Mesoamerican Olmec and Poverty Point
2.
Truncated pyramid construction in both areas (even though the Mississippian ones are constructed of earth)
3.
Death imagery in the Southern Cult artifacts
4.
Specific points of Mississippian/Mesoamerican similarity:
a.
Shell gorgets:
(1)
Huaxtec (Northern Mesoamerica)
(2)
Middle Mississippian and Caddoan (Spiro, Etowah, etc.)
(3) (Discuss the
Gillmore Corridor linking the Caddoan area with
Coahuila and the
Huaxteca)
b.
"Eccentric flints"
(1) Something the Maya excelled in
(2) Also found in Mississippian sites, but the style is different
c.
Cultigens:
(1) Maize, beans and squash—the triumvirate—do appear to have originated in Mexico
(Mesoamerica) and traveled hence.
(2) But, other crops were in use by Mississippian peoples as well.
d. The
Crystal River Site in Florida:
(1) Mounds arranged in a distinct plaza arrangement
(2) Stairs fronting central plaza
(3) At base of stairs are stones that appear to be reminiscent of stelae (à la Classic Maya?)
(4) In Florida, we also have recent evidence of some intensive wetland agriculture with features
perhaps analogueous to raised fields
e.
Celestial serpents:
(1) Flying, winged, horned serpents in the Southeast
(2) Quetzalcoatl and Itzamna in Mesoamerica?
[SIZE=2] H. The bottom line is that we have yet to work out some of these questions. I. A Middle Mississippian figurine head was found in the cenote at the Classic Maya site of Dzibilchaltún in Yucatán thus indicating some kind of contact—direct, or "down the line." J. Given that Mesoamerican peoples were apparently aware and interested in the American Southwest (for turquoise), it would appear likely that others may have been prospecting the Southeast for things of value.[/SIZE]
http://www.beloit.edu/logan_online/e...nd/culture.php
In the eastern United States, the period from around 700 BCE to 1500 CE can be divided into two fairly distinct cultural traditions. The first, the Woodland Tradition, (sometimes referred to as the Burial Mound Builder Period), emerged from the Archaic tradition with the development of cultivation and ceramics. The second, the Mississippian Tradition, (also referred to as the Temple Mound Builder Period), developed out of the Woodland Tradition, but
shows the influence of Mesoamerica in the near complete shifts in living patterns, agriculture and pottery types. Different parts of the East developed different forms of these traditions, but it is possible to discuss Woodland and Mississippian culture generally in terms of seven geographic areas, illustrated in the map below.
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