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Remote Sensing Data from Etowah's Mound A: Architecture and the Re-Creation of Mississippian Tradition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Adam King ,
Chester P. Walker ,
Robert V. Sharp ,
F. Kent Reilly  and
Duncan P. McKinnon
Adam King
Affiliation:
South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Savannah River Archaeological Research Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 (aking@sc.edu)
Chester P. Walker
Affiliation:
Archaeo-Geophysical Associates, LLC, Austin, TX 78736 (chetwalker@aga-llc.net)
Robert V. Sharp
Affiliation:
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60603 (rsharp@artic.edu)
F. Kent Reilly
Affiliation:
Center for the Arts and Symbolism of Ancient America, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University at San Marcos, San Marcos, TX 78666 (k.reilly@txstate.edu)
Duncan P. McKinnon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK 72701 (duncanm@uark.edu)
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Abstract

This paper presents the results of a gradiometer survey conducted on the summit of Etowah's largest mound, Mound A, which stands some 19 m tall. Those results are compared to limited excavation data from the summit of Mound A as well as information from the wider region on mound summit architecture. The gradiometer results reveal the presence of as many as four buildings and an open-ended portico that are arranged around an open space and obscured from view below in the plaza. We argue that decisions about the kinds of buildings constructed and their arrangement reveal the interplay between agency and structure at a point of ambiguity in the history of Etowah. The buildings located on the summit of Mound A were built after the site had been abandoned and reoccupied. With that reoccupation, agents and their followers both connected to local traditions and attempted to reformulate them.

Resumen

Resumen

En los últimos cinco años un equipo de investigación, auspiciado por el Etowah Archaeo-Geophysical Survey, ha realizado estudios de teledetección en el sitio Etowah, gran sitio del periodo misisipiano ubicado al norte del estado de Georgia, EEUU. Este estudio presenta resultados de un reconocimiento por gradiómetro de campo magnético llevado a cabo en la cumbre del montículo A, el más grande del sitio, el cual alcanza unos 19 m de altura. Comparamos estos resultados con datos que provienen de una excavación limitada en la cima, así como con información arquitectónica obtenida de una área más extensa de la cumbre. Los resultados del reconocimiento por gradiómetro de campo magnético revelan la presencia de hasta cuatro edifícios y de un pórtico abierto, distribuídos alrededor de un espacio abierto, todos ocultos a la vista desde laplaza al pie del montículo. Utilizando la teoria de acción, proponemos que las decisiones acerca de cuales tipos de edifícios se construyeron revelan una interacción entre agencia y estructura en un punto histórico de ambigüedad en el desarrollo de Étowah. Los edifícios situados en la cumbre del Montículo A se construyeron después del abandono del sitio y durante una repoblación más tardia. Con esta nueva ocupación agentes y sus adhérentes se asociaban con tradiciones locales a la vez que intentaban reformular tales tradiciones. La aparente interacción entre agencia y tradición en la iconografia, discutida por Cobb y King, se revela también a través de la manipulación de la arquitectura de la parte superior del montículo A.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 355 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2011

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