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Enduring Traditions and the (Im)materiality of Early Colonial Encounters in the Southeastern United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2020

Jacob Holland-Lulewicz Open the ORCID record for Jacob Holland-Lulewicz [Opens in a new window] ,
Victor D. Thompson ,
James Wettstaed  and
Mark Williams
Jacob Holland-Lulewicz*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Drive, McMillan Hall, Campus Mailbox 1114, St. Louis, MO63130, USA
Victor D. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Laboratory of Archaeology, University of Georgia, 250A Baldwin Hall, Jackson Street, Athens, GA30602, USA
James Wettstaed
Affiliation:
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, 1755 Cleveland Highway, Gainesville, GA30501, USA
Mark Williams
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Archaeology, University of Georgia, 1125 Whitehall Road, Athens, GA30606, USA
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
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Abstract

Hernando de Soto's expedition through the southeastern United States between 1539 and 1543 is often regarded as a watershed moment for the collapse of Indigenous societies across the region. Historical narratives have proposed that extreme depopulation as a result of early contact destabilized Indigenous economies, politics, networks, and traditions. Although processes of depopulation and transformation were certainly set in motion by this and earlier colonial encounters, the timing, temporality, and heterogeneous rhythms of postcontact Indigenous histories remain unclear. Through the integration of radiocarbon and archaeological data from the Mississippian earthen platform mound at Dyar (9GE5) in central Georgia, we present a case of Indigenous endurance and resilience in the Oconee Valley that has long been obfuscated by materially based chronologies and typologies. Bayesian chronological modeling suggests that Indigenous Mississippian traditions persisted for up to 130 years beyond contact with European colonizers. We argue that advances in modeling radiocarbon dates, along with meaningful consultation/collaboration with descendant communities, can contribute to efforts that move us beyond a reliance on materially based chronologies that can distort and erase Indigenous histories.

La expedición de Hernando de Soto a través del sureste de los Estados Unidos se realizó entre 1539 y 1543, y a menudo, se considera este, como un momento decisivo para el colapso de las sociedades indígenas en toda la región. Las narraciones históricas han propuesto que la despoblación extrema fué un resultado del contacto temprano, el cual desestabilizó la economía, la política, así como las redes y las tradiciones indígenas. Mientras que los procesos de despoblación y transformación ciertamente fueron puestos en marcha por estos encuentros coloniales, el momento, la temporalidad y los ritmos heterogéneos de las historias indígenas posteriores al contacto siguen sin estar claros. A través de la integración de radiocarbono y datos arqueológicos del montículo de la plataforma de tierra de Mississippian en Dyar (9GE5) en el centro de Georgia, presentamos un caso de resistencia indígena en el Valle de Oconee que ha sido ofuscado por cronologías y tipologías basadas materialmente. El modelo cronológico bayesiano sugiere que las tradiciones indígenas de tipo Mississippian, persistieron hasta 130 más años del contacto inicial con los colonizadores europeos. Argumentamos que los avances en el modelado de fechas de radiocarbono, junto con una consulta / colaboración significativa de las comunidades descendientes, pueden contribuir a los esfuerzos que nos lleven más allá de la dependencia de cronologías basadas en materiales, que puedan distorsionar y borrar las historias indígenas.

Keywords

MississippianIndigenous traditionsSpanish colonializationcolonial encounterssoutheastern United Stateschronologyradiocarbon datingMississippiantradiciones indígenascolonización españolaencuentros colonialessureste de los Estados Unidoscronologíaradiocarbono
Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 694 - 714
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by the Society for American Archaeology

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