The geographic limit of inter-polity interaction during the Mississippian: A view from the Pevey and Lowe-Steen sites on the Middle Pearl River, Mississippi.

Abstract

Previous research in the western Gulf Coastal Plain has argued that the largest Mississippian sites were able to influence the development and complexity of neighboring polities through their ability to restrict access to esoteric goods. These studies primarily relied on comparisons of the abundance of non-local goods in burials. This dissertation builds on those studies by examining the geographic limit of such inter-polity interactions and arguing that polity size and signs of political centralization are useful means of identifying the effects of inter-polity competition. This approach utilizes a rigorous definition of polity developed by David Hally that links emic and etic definitions and builds on research contrasting large and small Mississippian polities to argue that large polities were likely pursuing different political strategies. When summarized, this dissertation argues that 100--125 km appears to be an important distance in inter-polity interaction in the historical record and for the study area. Most large polities occur more than this distance from each other, and this dissertation argues that this pattern is a result of the nature of inter-polity interactions among Mississippian chiefdoms. This regional analysis is possible because this dissertation is able to present data on archaeological research from two sites that were part of the same polity in the middle of the study region. The Pevey site is a nine-mound Mississippian civic-ceremonial center located on the Pearl River in Lawrence County, Mississippi and Lowe-Steen is a two-mound secondary center 18 km to the north of Pevey. This dissertation presents the archaeological research at these sites and the results of survey. Additionally, it presents a new method of using digital image analysis to analyze ceramic temper at a microscopic scale in order to develop an alternative method of characterizing paste for the ceramics from the Middle Pearl.