Pathways to Power in Southeastern North America
When Spanish explorers first arrived in the region later known as the southeastern United States in the early 16th century, they encountered complex, chiefdom level societies in many areas. These societies, with populations commonly numbering in the thousands and occasionally tens of thousands, were...
| Autor Principal: | Anderson, David G. |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Idioma: | spa |
| Publicado: |
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
2012
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: |
http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/boletindearqueologia/article/view/1831/1769 |
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| Sumario: |
When Spanish explorers first arrived in the region later known as the southeastern United States in the early 16th century, they encountered complex, chiefdom level societies in many areas. These societies, with populations commonly numbering in the thousands and occasionally tens of thousands, were characterized by hereditary inequality of individuals and groups, monumental architecture, elaborate ceremonialism, and were engaged in constant warfare with one another. While state societies like those present in western South America and Mesoamerica were not found in the Southeast, most scholars believe they would have eventually emerged within the region. Indeed, some believe that a state did emerge briefly at Cahokia in the central Mississippi Valley around ca. AD 1050. The contact era societies the early European explorers saw, however, represented only the final chapter in a long record dating back thousands of years. Seemingly complex societies characterized by formal cemeteries and elaborate ceremonialism were present in the region as far back as the terminal Pleistocene some 12.000 years ago, as represented by the Dalton culture of the central Mississippi Valley, while the construction of massive mound complexes of earth and shell appears in many areas in the later Mid-Holocene era, after ca. 7000 cal yr BP. Complex societies thus persisted for thousands of years in the Southeast, with hunting and gathering providing the means of subsistence for much of this interval. Agricultural food production only became important in the final two millennia before contact, long after complex societies were widely established. |
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