The Archaeology of RitualElizabeth Bollwerk, Museum of Culture and Environment, CWU

What We Will Cover…

What is ritual?

Why is it important?

How do archaeologists find it?

Example: Archaeological evidence of Mississippian communities’ ritual activity

Activity – Material remains of our rituals

Ritual

What is ritual?

Ritual

Ritual is a practice that follows a set of prescribed rules and has certain materials associated with it

These practices are often repeated

Why are rituals important?

Rituals are an important part of the social fabric of communities

create social connections

maintain equilibrium and social order

Types of Evidence

Mortuary practices

Landscapes

Structures

Iconography and ethnographic texts

Artifacts and ecofacts

Mississippian Tradition AD 750-1500

Mississippian Tradition AD 750-1500

Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi River Valleys

Large platform mounds

Town plazas

Stratified social organization

Major sites: Cahokia, Moundville, Spiro, Etowah

Mortuary Practices

Burial configuration

Primary or secondary burial

Sex and age profiles

Studies of nutrition and disease

Landscapes - Cahokia

Landscapes - Cahokia

AD 850 – 1100

Area of 6 square miles

Massive palisade around town: 15,000 logs

Up to 120 mounds

Landscapes - Cahokia

Landscapes - Cahokia

Landscapes - Moundville

AD 1000 – 1500

Black Warrior River, AL

3000 people, 300 acres, 24 mounds

Map by Karen Carr

Structures

Cahokia’s Woodhenge

Cahokia’s Woodhenge

Iconography – Southeastern Ceremonial Complex

Images courtesy of Frank McClung

Museum

Eagle Dancers Weeping Eye Mask

Falcon Man

Iconography – Southeastern Ceremonial Complex

Artifacts – Chunkey Stones

Chunkey Game

Originated around 600 AD in Cahokia

Involved spiritual preparation, including ritual scratching of skin

Played in huge arenas as large of 50 acres

Associated with bird/falcon man

Ecofacts - Faunal Material

Faunal assemblages – collections of mammal, bird, and fish bones

For Cahokia fish were important, deer were secondary source of food

Ecofacts - Botanical Remains

Nuts: Hazelnut, chestnut, walnut

Seeds – goosefoot, maygrass, and knotweed

Maize (corn)

Activity

What are the material remains of our rituals?

Types of Evidence

Mortuary practices

Landscapes

Structures

Iconography and Ethnographic texts

Artifacts and Ecofacts