Authority, Autonomy, and the Archaeology of a Mississippian Community

“This excellent book is an imaginative and innovative consideration of the history and materiality of monumental architecture and community at Parchman Place. Essential reading for scholars and students of the archaeology of the Mississippian Southeast.”—Christopher B. Rodning, coeditor of Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire: Colonialism and Household Practice at the Berry Site

“This detailed archaeological study of the Parchman Place site shows the important role of community negotiation within chiefdom power, providing a more comprehensive view of life in Mississippian communities.”—Maureen S. Meyers, coeditor of Archaeological Perspectives on the Southern Appalachians: A Multiscalar Approach

“Provides a compelling, multiscalar analysis that examines how the processes of community formation and maintenance operated at the neighborhood, site, and regional scales, as well within the broader Mississippian world.”—Journal of Anthropological Research

“Presents the results of a well-defined and carefully constructed research project. One major contribution . . . is a methodologically rigorous analysis of ceramics and radiocarbon dates to refine the culture history into two sequential phases. . . A second major contribution is the use of ceramic vessel types and refined analyses of mound construction histories to build interpretations about persistence and variance in feasting and mound-building practices.”—American Antiquity

“An important addition to the understanding of Mississippian communities.”—American Archaeology