Rethinking Moundville and Its Hinterland

“A substantive addition to our knowledge about one of the premier archaeological sites in eastern North America.”—George Milner, author ofThe Cahokia Chiefdom

Moundville, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is one of the largest pre-Columbian mound sites in North America. Comprising twenty-nine earthen mounds that were once platforms for chiefly residences and temples, Moundville was a major political and religious center for the people living in its region and for the wider Mississippian world.

A much-needed synthesis of the rapidly expanding archaeological work that has taken place in the region over the past two decades, this volume presents the results of multifaceted research and new excavations. Using models deeply rooted in local ethnohistory, it ties Moundville and its people more closely than before to the ethnography of native southerners and emphasizes the role of social memory and ritual practices both at the mound center and in the hinterland, providing an up-to-date and refreshingly nuanced interpretation of Mississippian culture.

Vincas P. Steponaitis, professor of anthropology and director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is coauthor ofArchaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom. C. Margaret Scarry, professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is editor ofForaging and Farming in the Eastern Woodlands.