Date of Award
Summer 8-2010
Degree Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Anthropology and Sociology
School
Social Science and Global Studies
Committee Chair
H. Edwin Jackson
Committee Chair Department
Anthropology and Sociology
Committee Chair School
Social Science and Global Studies
Committee Member 2
Bridget Hayden
Committee Member 2 Department
Anthropology and Sociology
Committee Member 2 School
Social Science and Global Studies
Committee Member 3
Mac H. Alford
Committee Member 3 Department
Biological Sciences
Committee Member 3 School
Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences
Abstract
Winterville Mounds (22WS500), a multi-mound site in the Yazoo Basin located just north of Greenville, Mississippi, is representative of Mississippian culture in the lower Mississippi River valley. Botanical macroremains from flotation samples from two large pit features from the Winterville site have been chosen for this study: Feature 113, a large midden, and Feature 5, a refuse pit. Both pits appear to have been created through the disposal of leftovers generated from ritual feasting events, and their proximity to their respective mounds may indicate these events were hosted by the mound summit residents. Temporally, the two pits bracket the occupation of the site, with Feature 113 dating to the beginning of mound building at Winterville and Feature 5 dating near the end of site occpation. Native starcy and oily seed crops were used both early and late in the Winterville occupation, although nuts, particularly acorns, remained an important resource for the inhabitants. Comparisons of the two features indicate that although maize was a staple item early in the Winterville site occupation, it may well have increased with time, supplanting native seed crops and acorns to some extent, but never completely replacing either. It is worth nothing that a significant portion of the information obtained in this study is the result of processing the samples using flotation, including the recovery of more than 1700 coneflower seeds (Rudbeckia amplexicaulis), the significance of which is undetermined.
Copyright
2010, Diana Boney Flosenzier
Recommended Citation
Flosenzier, Diana Boney, "Mississippian Feasting Strategies In the Lower Mississippi Valley: Archaeobotanical Analysis of Two Features From Winterville Mounds (22WS500)" (2010). Master's Theses. 977.
https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/977