Mississippian Beginnings

“An excellent volume that demonstrates a more explicit, nuanced, and careful approach to interpreting the social lives of these past communities. An indispensable resource.”—Paul D. Welch, author of Archaeology at Shiloh Indian Mounds, 1899–1999



“Provides much-needed updated perspectives on the origins of the Mississippian archaeological cultural phenomenon in the Southeast. The contributions to the volume present new information including the results of recent fieldwork and investigations of legacy collections considered within contemporary interpretive frameworks that emphasize agency, social lives, and historical contingency.”—Sissel Schroeder, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“A major exposition of the current scholarly understanding of the development of Mississippian societies and cultures. . . . Multifaceted and informative. This work is seminal in the field of Mississippian studies and ideal for well-informed students of the culture. Essential.”—Choice



“A badly needed update on the latest research and perspectives on how the Mississippian culture emerged and spread. . . . Mississippian Beginnings gives us a new understanding at both the site level and the entire region.”—American Archaeology



“Required reading for Mississippian scholars and for anybody interested in the archaeologies of culture contact, entanglement, and social transformation. . . . The chapters in Mississippian Beginnings exemplify the multiple kinds of processes behind the many Mississippianizations that book place across the pre-Contact Midwest and Southeastern US.”—Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology