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Middle Woodland Ceremonialism at Pinson Mounds, Tennessee

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert C. Mainfort Jr.
Robert C. Mainfort Jr.*
Affiliation:
Tennessee Division of Archaeology, Route 1, Box 316, Pinson, TN 38366
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Abstract

Located on the West Tennessee Coastal Plain, Pinson Mounds is one of the largest Middle Woodland ceremonial centers in eastern North America. The site includes at least 12 mounds, a geometric embankment, and associated temporary habitation areas within an area of approximately 160 ha. Of particular significance is the presence of five large platform mounds ranging in height from 3 to 22 m. A series of two dozen radiocarbon determinations indicate that the Pinson Mounds site was constructed and used between approximately A.D. 1-500.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 158 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988

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References

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