Citi trends in cahokia illinois

Week 3 - Mississippian and Cahokia/Discussion for Cahokia.docx
Anthropology P363/P663 Professor Laura L. Scheiber

North American Prehistory through Fiction Spring, 2018
In-Class Discussion
March 29: Cahokia and Cricket Sings
Question Group 1: Introduction to Cahokia – Emerson (2002)

What is the main point of this article? Why is Cahokia such an important archaeological site in North America? Why is scale particularly important when discussing the site of Cahokia? Where do trade goods come from? How does the author of Cricket Sings deal with the issue of scale and Cahokian interrelationships? Describe at least the ways that your optional article related to the events in the novel.

Question Group 2: Introduction to Cahokia – Emerson (2002)

What is the main point of this article? Why is Cahokia such an important archaeological site in North America? According to Emerson, how should we best characterize the Cahokian emergence? How does this compare with the story told by Cricket Sings? Describe at least the ways that your optional article related to the events in the novel.

Question Group 3: Introduction to Cahokia – Emerson (2002)

What is the main point of this article? Why is Cahokia such an important archaeological site in North America? According to Emerson, what two theories are often proposed for the Cahokian collapse? Which of these theories does this author favor and why? Do you think the events in Cricket Sings could support one or both of these interpretations? Describe at least the ways that your optional article related to the events in the novel.

Question Group 4: The Mississippian Period – Kehoe (2002)

What is the most interesting thing you learned while reading this chapter? Why is Cahokia such an important archaeological site in North America? Based on this chapter, what is the evidence for the death and burial ceremonies of the Sun King, as described in Cricket Sings? What is the evidence for clothing, adornment, activities, and cosmology? Describe at least the ways that your optional article related to the events in the novel.

Question Group 6: Mounds, Memory, and Contested Mississippian History – Pauketat and Alt (2003)

What is the main point of this article? Why are structuralist and functionalist arguments for mound building at Cahokia probably not the best explanations? What do the authors propose as an alterative? Do you think these authors would agree with the explanations of mound building as expressed in Cricket Sings? Describe at least the ways that your optional article related to the events in the novel.

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Week 3 - Mississippian and Cahokia/Crown et al. 2012 - Ritual Black Drink consumption at Cahokia.pdf
Ritual Black Drink consumption at Cahokia Patricia L. Crowna,1, Thomas E. Emersonb, Jiyan Guc, W. Jeffrey Hurstd, Timothy R. Pauketate, and Timothy Wardc

aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131; bIllinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820; cKeck Center for Instrumental and Biochemical Comparative Archaeology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS 39210; dHershey Technical Center, Hershey, PA 17033; and eDepartment of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801

Edited* by Bruce Smith, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and approved June 29, 2012 (received for review May 18, 2012)

Chemical analyses of organic residues in fragments of pottery from the large site of Cahokia and surrounding smaller sites in Illinois reveal theobromine, caffeine, and ursolic acid, biomarkers for species of Ilex (holly) used to prepare the ritually important Black Drink. As recorded during the historic period, men consumed Black Drink in portions of the American Southeast for ritual puri- fication. This first demonstrated discovery of biomarkers for Ilex occurs in beaker vessels dating between A.D. 1050 and 1250 from Cahokia, located far north of the known range of the holly species used to prepare Black Drink during historic times. The association of Ilex and beaker vessels indicates a sustained ritual consumption of a caffeine-laced drink made from the leaves of plants grown in the southern United States.

archaeology | organic residue analysis | caffeinated drinks | Mississippian ritual

Organic residue analysis of ceramics from Cahokia, the largestprehispanic site north of Mexico, reveals the presence of theobromine, caffeine, and ursolic acid, biomarkers for Ilex, or holly, species. We analyzed residue samples using liquid chroma- tography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and show that occupants of Cahokia and surrounding small sites con- sumed Ilex drinks, documented historically as Black Drink, from beakers dating circa A.D. 1050–1250 (Fig. 1). Here we provide unique evidence of prehispanic use of Ilex, providing evidence for historical continuity in the use of caffeinated drinks in ritual activity in North America. Cahokia was the earliest and greatest of the pre-Columbian

native polities of the Mississippian era, dating to circa A.D. 1050– 1600 (Fig. 2). This proto-urban center and its allied sites were spread across the fertile floodplains and uplands of the Mis- sissippi River near modern St. Louis; a region marked by the conjunction of several major rivers and physiographic zones. By A.D. 800, numerous small farming villages dotted the landscape. In the mid-1000s, a religious, social, and political consolidation (Lohmann phase, A.D. 1050–1100) signified the rise of Cahokia as a discrete polity. Within a century, the central core, a Greater Cahokia administrative-political center, had grown in size to cover a 14.5-km2 area. It encompassed more than 200 earthen mounds including the largest in North America, the multiterraced MonksMound, ceremonial plazas, postcircle monuments, marker posts, borrow pits, dense habitation zones of elites and com- moners, and a population of 15,000+ inhabitants. By the early to mid-1300s, Cahokia was abandoned (1–5). Greater Cahokia includes three imposing ceremonial pre-

cincts. The largest precinct is at Cahokia, where an expansive 19– 24 ha plaza is fronted on the north by Monks Mound rising more than 30 m in height. This precinct contained 120 other platform and burial mounds, residential areas, specialized workshops, borrow pits, and subsidiary plazas. Situated between Cahokia and the river, the East St. Louis ceremonial precinct with ∼50 mounds may have served as a special or high-status residential district for Greater Cahokia. On the opposite of the river the St. Louis ceremonial precinct, with its 26 mounds, provided access to the northern Ozarks. Within a day’s walk of Monks Mound lay

14 subordinate single and multiple mound centers, and many hundreds of small rural farmsteads (4, 6, 7). Cahokia’s rapid growth was generated by considerable immi-

gration drawn from regional populations of several adjacent states. This suggests that Cahokia was multiethnic and linguisti- cally diverse. Early models of Cahokian growth postulated a wide trading network as pivotal to that process; however, more recent research has shown that large-scale acquisition and exchanges were focused on resources in the nearby Ozark highlands. Cahokia did, however, participate in the limited long-distance acquisition of items such as marine shell, sharks teeth, pipestone, mica, Hixton quartzite, exotic cherts, copper, and galena (4, 8– 11). Consequently, Cahokia maintained a broad network of interactions with widely diverse groups ranging from the Gulf Coast and Southeast to the trans-Mississippi South (especially the Arkansas River valley Caddoans), the eastern plains, the upper Mississippi valley, and the Great Lakes. At Contact, populations throughout much of the New World

consumed beverages created from plant leaves, twigs, bark, or nibs and characterized by the presence of methylxanthines, including caffeine, theobromine, and sometimes theophylline. These drinks derived from two primary sources: Theobroma cacao and plants of the Ilex species, which are members of the holly family found on every continent except Antarctica. Because consumption of such drinks was widespread, an important question concerns when New World populations first created drinks from these plants, how they accessed the primary ingredients, and under what circumstances they drank them. The research reported here concerns consump- tion of such drinks at and near Cahokia. The best-known New World drink with methylxanthines is

chocolate derived from the Theobroma cacao tree. Native to the upper Amazon, the tree was cultivated in the tropics of Meso- america and exchanged widely, including into the American Southwest (12, 13). Beginning in the 1500s, early explorers reported consumption

of drinks containing caffeine in the area now comprising the southeastern United States (14). Over a large area from Florida to Texas, Arkansas to North Carolina, reports described Native Americans preparing and drinking beverages made from the toasted leaves of a variety of holly, probably Ilex vomitoria Ait., also called Yaupon (Fig. 2). Men often drank these beverages from cups made of marine shells. I. vomitoria grows to 8 m tall and is native to the Coastal Plain of the southeastern US from Vir- ginia to Florida and west to Texas, as well as Bermuda, Chiapas and Veracruz (15). There is strong evidence that I. vomitoria was transplanted and cultivated by Native American populations to create this drink (14, 16, 17). A second holly, Ilex cassine L.,

Author contributions: P.L.C., T.E.E., W.J.H., and T.R.P. designed research; J.G. and T.W. performed research; P.L.C. and W.J.H. analyzed data; and P.L.C., T.E.E., J.G., W.J.H., T.R.P., and T.W. wrote the paper.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

*This Direct Submission article had a prearranged editor. 1To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: pcrown@unm.edu.

This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. 1073/pnas.1208404109/-/DCSupplemental.

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mailto:pcrown@unm.edu
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known as Dahoon, might also have been used to prepare such drinks (15). I. cassine L. is native to the southeastern coastal area of North America from Virginia to southeastern Texas, Veracruz, and the Bahamas, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. This large shrub or tree grows up to 13 m in height, with evergreen leaves. Explorers called the beverage by various names, but today it is generally referred to as the Black Drink or cassina (18). Some scholars have suggested that both plants were used to create Black Drink, but most argue that only I. vomitoria was used in this way, an argu- ment bolstered by the considerably higher amount of caffeine in I. vomitoria (15). Populations in South American continue to make drinks from

varieties of holly. Yerba maté made from Ilex paraguariensis St.-Hil., té o’ maté made from Ilex tarapotina Loes., and guayusa made from Ilex guayusa Loes. are popular drinks with a deep history in South America (15). All of these holly drinks contain differing ratios of the methylxanthines caffeine and theobromine. Because plant parts rarely preserve in archaeological contexts

and because preparation of these drinks degrades or destroys the primary plant parts, direct evidence is scarce for the use of these plants to create prehispanic beverages. Fortunately, absorbed organic residue analysis allows identification of methylxanthines preserved in ceramics, permitting researchers to identify the presence of this class of beverage in the past. Absorbed organic residue analysis has been incorporated into archaeological in- terpretation for almost four decades. It relies on interpreting residues absorbed into porous, unglazed ceramics through use. Such residues can preserve for long periods of time because the interior pores are relatively protected from degradation. The residues are released upon grinding and extraction at elevated temperatures with ultrasonication. Researchers generally analyze multiple samples of ceramics to compare the results as a method of confirming initial findings. Absorbed organic residue analysis has identified cacao residues in a variety of contexts and vessel forms. Experimental work has demonstrated the persistence of caffeine from I. vomitoria in varied environmental contexts (19). When caffeine and theobromine are encountered in absorbed

organic residue analysis of archaeological materials, dis- tinguishing which of the plants with methylxanthines left the residues may be difficult. First, residues may be differentially preserved, depending on various factors including the porosity of ceramic paste, original firing temperature of the pottery, use/ cleaning of the vessel before deposition, preservation conditions at the site, and treatment/cleaning by archaeologists on recovery. Second, although each of the possible plants has a distinctive profile of methylxanthines compared with the others, the actual amounts also vary within each species. In Ilex, the amount of

caffeine declines with the age of the leaves (18); shade (20) and latitude (21) may affect methylxanthine concentrations as well. Finally, preparation techniques, including the number of leaves used as well as the amount of water and other additives, alter the concentrations of methylxanthines in the drinks. For instance, tea leaves contain more caffeine than coffee beans, but brewed coffee has many times more caffeine than tea (15). The drinks with methylxanthines consumed in the New World were pre- pared in a variety of ways. Thus, drinks made with cacao ranged from thick to thin, hot to cold, with a variety of additives (22). In contrast to a recent argument that caffeine alone is an

adequate biomarker for distinguishing such drinks when com- bined with geography (19), we argue that caffeine alone shows only that a caffeinated drink was prepared in or consumed from the vessel, not the ingredients of that drink. For some parts of the New World, including South America, Mesoamerica, and the southeastern US, multiple plants were available for creating caffeinated drinks. In other areas, such as the American South- west or the American Bottom (the flood plain of the Mississippi River in southern Illinois), no locally available plants were suit- able for producing these drinks. The closest resources are not necessarily the resources used. So, we have searched for more secure means of distinguishing which plant left the residues found in pottery fragments. Fortunately, research shows patterning in the ratios of meth-

ylxanthines in the Ilex species and cacao (15, 23, 24). Of the options known to have been present in North America, gener- ally, I. vomitoria has a ratio of caffeine to theobromine of about 5:1 (15). In contrast, I. cassine has a ratio of caffeine to theo- bromine of 1:2, and low levels of both (15). T. cacao has a ratio of caffeine to theobromine of anywhere from 1:4 to as much as 1:7 (24). Specific compounds help to distinguish these as well. Although theobromine and caffeine are present in all of these plants, theophylline is not detected in I. vomitoria or I. cassine, but is present in low amounts in cacao. Our research indicates that ursolic acid is a biomarker for distinguishing Ilex from cacao. Ursolic acid (3b-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28 oic acid) is a triterpe-

noid known to occur in a wide variety of plants in the form of a free acid or as an aglycone (25). It does not occur in cacao, although it does occur in many plants in addition to holly. We believe that use of a number of biomarkers provides an or- thogonal approach to resolving the question of which plant left the organic residues; hence the inclusion of ursolic acid along with the methylxanthines. In attempting to distinguish the source of organic residues in

the Illinois material, we looked specifically at the ratios of caf- feine to theobromine, the presence/absence of theophylline, and the presence/absence of ursolic acid. We note that theophylline occurs in low amounts in cacao and should not be taken as a necessary marker for chocolate drinks. If theophylline is present, chocolate was definitely present; if theophylline is absent, the ratios of theobromine to caffeine may help to determine the original substance. One additional issue confounds the search for caffeinated

drinks in the prehispanic NewWorld: drinking vessels may or may not have been dedicated to use with only a single specific drink. It is entirely possible that populations with access to both chocolate drinks and Ilex drinks consumed both from the same vessel. Researchers need to be aware that vessels may have held multiple types of drinks, each potentially made from multiple ingredients.

Materials and Methods For Cahokia, eight samples frombeakers excavated at four separate siteswere analyzedusing LC-MS/MSat theKeckCenter for Instrumental andBiochemical Comparative Archeology at Millsaps College. Initial sample preparation in- volved burring all exterior surfaces from fragments of ceramics ∼1 cm2 in size using a tungsten-carbide bit. Because the instrumentation is highly sensitive and the ceramics porous, samples may be contaminated from any contact

Fig. 1. Beakers from Greater Cahokia and the hinterlands (Linda Alexander, photographer). [Used with permission of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey].

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with caffeine, so it is critical that laboratory workers wear masks, gloves, and gowns and that no caffeinated drinks enter the laboratory. Samples were then ground into a powder for analysis.

For methylxanthine analysis, ∼500 mg of ground sample was weighed out into a test tube and ∼3 mL of hot deionized water was added to the test tubes. The samples were then heated in the heating block at 85 °C for 20 min. Samples were then cooled to RT and placed in a centrifuge for 10 min at a speed of at least 1,000 RPM. The supernatant was decanted into a 10-mL beaker and was reduced at 90 °C on the heating block until ∼1.5 mL remained. Spiked solutions were created to confirm the trace peaks. Spiked solutions were made by taking a 495-μL aliquot of each 1.5-mL sample so- lution and spiking it with 5 μL of a standard solution of 1 ppm caffeine and

theobromine. After mixing, this resulted in a spiked solution with an addi- tional concentration of 10 ppb of caffeine and theobromine. All samples were transferred to auto sampler vials for LC-MS/MS analysis.

For the ursolic acid analysis, ∼500 mg of ground sample was weighed into a test tube and ∼3 mL of hot methanol added to the test tube. The samples were placed in an ultrasonic bath for 10 min, followed by a centrifuge for 10 min at a speed of at least 1,000 rpm in a Fisher Scientific Micro-V 7200 Gram Capacity Micro Centrifuge. The supernatant was decanted into a 10-mL beaker and reduced in an ultrasonicator until ∼1.5 mL remained. Spiked solutions were made by taking a 495-μL aliquot of the 1.5-mL sample solu- tion and spiking it with 5 μL of a 10-ppm ursolic acid standard solution. After mixing, this resulted in a spiked solution with an additional concentration of

Fig. 2. Map showing distribution of Ilex vomitoria and Ilex cassine and Cahokia area sites used in study. Distribution data from http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/ atlas/little/. (Ron L. Stauber, draftsman).

13946 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1208404109 Crown et al.

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100 ppb ursolic acid. All samples were transferred to auto sampler vials for LC-MS/MS analysis.

The samples were analyzed using a Varian 325 LC-MS/MS. For methyl- xanthine analysis, the drying gas temperature was set at 400 °C and the voltage on the detector was set at 1400 V. Separations were performed on a Grace 4.6 mm × 50 mm C18 reverse phase column with a mobile phase consisting of 85% (vol/vol) ammonium acetate buffer 0.1% (vol/vol) at pH of 4.2 and 15% (vol/vol) acetonitrile at a flow rate of 200 μL/min. For ursolic acid analysis, the drying gas temperature was set at 300 °C, the voltage on the detector was set at 1200 V. Separation was performed on a 4.6 mm × 50 mm FRULIC-C column with a methanol–water mobile phase [85% (vol/vol) methanol, 15% (vol/vol) water, 0.2% (vol/vol) ammonium hydroxide, and 0.3% (vol/vol) acetic acid] at a flow rate of 200 μL/min. Table 1 lists the mass fragments used to monitor caffeine, theobromine, theophylline, and ursolic acid in the ESI mode. In SI Text we provide the data for sample 2085, in- cluding chromatograms of standard, sample, and spiked sample for quan- tification respectively for caffeine and theobromine as well the total ion chromatogram of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline for sample 2085 (Figs. S1–S3); two chromatograms of ursolic acid show the mass fragment (457.4–439.3) and the parent fragment (455.0) (Figs. S4 and S5).

All samples were routinely analyzed at least twice to ensure the accuracy of the results. Multiple blank samples were routinely analyzed between the archaeological samples to acquire a blank reference and to prevent con- tamination. There were no signals for any of the compounds detected in any of our blank solutions. Limits of detections (LODs) were calculated based on the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) method: 3 * s (noise of the blank)/m (slope of the calibration curve). LODs are defined by both the noise and the signal intensity. We note that although all of the samples in this study produced positive results, in our larger study of 137 samples from other geographic areas, the number of samples analyzed with negative results (39 of 137) provides evidence that we are not simply mon- itoring background contamination.

Beakers are usually mug-shaped and -sized containers with relatively flat bottoms, near-vertical walls, lug handles, and depths and orifice diameters of less than 20 cm. Beakers are unknown in the greater Cahokia region before the 1000s (26, 27). These vessel forms might ultimately derive from similar vessels common among the ceremonial wares of various peoples in Arkan- sas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. After appearing in the early 11th century, beakers remain a ubiquitous, although infrequent, component of Cahokia’s assemblages (28–30). They seldom comprise more than a small percentage of any assemblage, attesting to their use as special serving dishes.

The eight vessels in the present sample include beakers dating from A.D. 1050–1250 (Table 2). At least four beakers were shattered in ritual per- formances, including one beaker from the sub-Mound 51 pit (31), one from ritual refuse at a Cahokian “ritual-administrative” outpost (8), and two from platform mound contexts at Cahokia proper (32, 33). Two others were offerings buried with an adult at the Curtiss Steinberg Road site, a small rural cemetery 10 km south of Cahokia (34). The last two vessels are from likely domestic contexts from pits at both the Olszewski site, a large resi- dential outlier on the southern border of Cahokia (35), and the Cahokia site’s Dunham Tract area (30).

Results The results in Table 2 demonstrate a combination of theobro- mine, caffeine, and ursolic acid, confirming the presence of Ilex. Although historic documents would suggest that the source was likely I. vomitoria, the detection of more theobromine than caf- feine in many of the samples indicates that we cannot rule out the use of I. cassine instead, or even a combination of both species.

Discussion Black Drink was recorded as used in historic period political, religious, and social contexts among many tribes of the US Southeast and trans-Mississippi South (14, 18, 36, 37). Its prep- aration involved the parching of holly leaves and small twigs that were subsequently placed in a large pot with water, boiled, and finally agitated into froth before consumption. For many groups, Black Drink played a central role in the ritual cleansing and purging of the body when combined with fasting and vomiting that was an essential precursor to conducting any important activities. Euroamerican observers documented the prodigious consumption of Black Drink, especially by men, often followed by bouts of ritual vomiting, before individual or community re- ligious rituals, important political councils and negotiations, ballgames, or war parties. There are five implications of this research that we outline be-

low. First, the documentation of Black Drink at ∼ A.D. 1050 is the earliest known precontact use. Second it demonstrates the

Table 1. Mass fragments used tomonitor caffeine, theobromine, theophylline, and ursolic acid in the ESI mode

Compound Mode Mass fragments

Caffeine Positive 195.0 > 109.9 Positive 195.0 > 137.9

Theobromine Positive 181.0 > 138.0 Positive 181.0 > 163.0

Theophylline Positive 181.0 > 123.9 Ursolic acid Positive 457.4 > 297.3

Positive 457.4 > 411.3 Positive 457.4 > 439.3 Negative 455.0

Table 2. Samples analyzed by HPLC-MS with contextual information and results

Beaker sample no. Site Context Phase Reference

Theobromine ppb*

Caffeine ppb*

Ursolic acid ppb*

2085 Cahokia Submound 51, feasting pit Lohmann A.D. 1050–1100 (31) 1.1 0.48 3 2086 Cahokia Mound 33, general

contexts Late Stirling–early Moorehead

A.D. 1150–1250 (32) 0.8 0 6

2087 Grossmann Feature 308, ritual deposit in pit

Stirling phase A.D. 1100–1200 (8) 0 T 2

2088 Curtiss Steinberg Road site

Feature 8, adult burial Late Stirling–early Moorehead A.D. 1150–1250

(34) T 1.1 4

2089 Curtiss Steinberg Road site

Feature 8, adult burial Late Stirling–early Moorehead A.D. 1150–1250

(34) T T 4

2090 Olszewski Feature 11, refuse pit Late Stirling phase A.D. 1150–1200

(35) T T N

2091 Cahokia Mound 11, general collection

Late Stirling phase A.D. 1150–1200

(33) 0 0 3

2092 Cahokia Feature 34, Dunham Tract Stirling phase A.D. 1100–1200 (30) 1 0.5 N

All samples are from collections of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign. *T, trace (theobromine in trace level (0.15–0.3 ppb); caffeine in trace level (0.1–0.2 ppb); N, insufficient sample available to analyze; 0, nothing detected. No samples had theophylline. LODs for theobromine, 0.1 ppb; for caffeine, 0.06 ppb; and for ursolic acid, 0.7 ppb.

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presence of Yaupon or Dahoon holly far north of their natural distributions, indicating their deliberate transportation. Third, it suggests that beakers may have been manufactured specifically to play a role in Black Drink ceremonies (38). Fourth, it reinforces other evidence for the existence of a fertility/life-renewal cult at Cahokia that included Black Drink ceremonies. Most importantly, it bolsters earlier suggestions that Cahokia played an important role in the subsequent religious developments in the Southeast. Given its close association with important religious and polit-

ical events in areas south of Cahokia, and given Cahokia’s documented ties to those areas, especially with the Caddoan groups, Black Drink would logically seem to have been an integral part of Cahokian ritual activities (38). Cahokia, however, is well outside the historically recorded natural distribution of I. vomi- toria or I. cassine (Fig. 2). Historical accounts place I. vomitoria in southwestern Arkansas and the southeastern corner of Oklahoma (south of the Arkansas River), in the southern one-half of Loui- siana, and the southern one-third of Mississippi, distance ranging from ∼500–650 km overland from Cahokia. I. cassine would be found at an even greater distance from Cahokia. Early accounts (14, 16, 36, 39) indicate that populations

without access to natural stands of holly acquired dried Yaupon leaves through trade or transplanted Yaupon holly bushes near to their habitations in settings where it could survive the local climate. Unfortunately, archaeological signatures of such activi- ties are difficult to identify. For example, University of Illinois archaeobotanical researchers have examined nearly 10,000 L of Mississippian period soil samples, searching for carbonized Ilex remains, to no avail. There is no ethnobotanical evidence for the presence of Yaupon or Dahoon holly in the American Bottom. It appears then that when Cahokians imbibed Black Drink, it

was an imported luxury. If Black Drink were as intimately in- terwoven into the spiritual and political life of Cahokians as it was among historic natives in the Southeast, they would have required large amounts of Ilex. Such an exchange network would have connected Cahokians to groups who had access to holly, such as their Caddoan neighbors in the Arkansas River valley or groups near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Scholars have postulated that Black Drink ritualism may have

been more widespread in precontact than in historic times based on its close association with marine shell cups and renewal and purification ceremonialism (39). Cahokians certainly possessed both shell cups and ceramic effigy shell cups, and some researchers have used this line of reasoning to argue for Black Drink at Cahokia (38). Others have suggested the centrally manufactured, highly iconic Ramey jars may have been used for the preparation and distribution of medicines, perhaps including Black Drink (40). The association of shell cups, Ramey jars, and possibly effigy shell cups with Black Drink consumption needs to be verified with residue analysis. The conclusive evidence for the use of beakers as part of Black

Drink ceremonialism raises the issue of whether this form is consistently evidence for Black Drink consumption. If so, then its appearance marks a significant elaboration in ritual Black Drink ceremonialism at Cahokia during the 11th to 13th centuries. In addition, the spread of this unique vessel form up the Illinois River

valley and into southern Wisconsin with suspected American Bottom missionaries, colonists, or emigrants indicates another close but previously unrecognized religious tie to the Cahokia homeland’s practices. It suggests that the beakers spread as part of a religious package including a suite of ritual accoutrements such as flint clay figures, Ramey Incised vessels, and accompanying icons and religious ceremonies. If their association with Black Drink is shown to be exclusive, then beakers add another dis- tinctive artifact to those already associated with Cahokian religion during the Stirling phase (A.D. 1100–1200) (1, 41). Fairbanks (36) has argued that Black Drink ceremonialism has

time depth in the Eastern Woodlands, perhaps even dating to late Archaic times, but most probably present in Hopewellian times. Future research should consider this argument. If it is shown to be correct, it is possible that Cahokian beakers repre- sent ritualized elaboration of earlier localized Black Drink con- sumption practices, practices that may have continued past the demise of the polity. Creation of a regional history of Black Drink consumption will require analysis of earlier and later ce- ramic wares. Our results represent unique proof that Black Drink ceremonialism has actual time depth—pushing its docu- mented use from historic accounts in the 1500s back four cen- turies to the 11th century in the northern midcontinent. In the areas where I. vomitoria, and perhaps I. cassine, is native, its use may have very deep roots. Whether the historic meaning and ceremonialism have a similar time depth is unknown. We rec- ognize that Cahokia was the primate center in the Eastern Woodlands, and that its ritualism, religion, and political and social milieu had a deep impact on surrounding groups. Al- though Cahokia residents are not likely to have invented Black Drink, they may well have shaped its role in native religious ceremonialism and served as a catalyst for its spread across the Eastern Woodlands. Before this study, arguing for Black Drink purification cere-

monialism in the American Bottom depended on proxy evi- dence. Such assertions were made based on the recognition of agricultural ceremonies involving fertility/life-renewal rituals at Cahokia (38). The demonstrated presence of Ilex in Cahokian beakers beginning around A.D. 1050 and continuing to around A.D. 1250, both in central Cahokia, and in outlying sites estab- lishes that Black Drink consumption was intimately associated with the polity and that its use was pervasive across a number of political, social, and religious contexts.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We acknowledge the Illinois State Archaeological Survey for their contributions to this project. Josh Henkin provided samples of Ilex species for our analysis. T.E.E. and T.R.P. selected the samples from the collections of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign. Ellen Sieg aided P.L.C. in preparing the archae- ological samples. T.W. and J.G. analyzed the samples at the Millsaps College Keck Center for Instrumental and Biochemical Comparative Archaeology with help from undergraduates Erin Redman, Syed Ali, and Marlaina Berch. Linda Alexander photographed the beakers in Fig. 1 and Ron Stauber drafted Fig. 2. We thank Bruce Smith and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This research was con- ducted with funding from National Science Foundation Grant BCS-1012438 (to P.L.C. and W.J.H.) and the WM Keck Foundation (to Millsaps College).

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Week 3 - Mississippian and Cahokia/Emerson 2002 - Introduction to Cahokia.pdf
AltaMira Press

AN INTRODUCTION TO CAHOKIA 2002: DIVERSITY, COMPLEXITY, AND HISTORY Author(s): Thomas E. Emerson Reviewed work(s): Source: Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 27, No. 2, Cahokia 2002: Diversity, Complexity, and History (Fall, 2002), pp. 127-148 Published by: AltaMira Press on behalf of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20708175 . Accessed: 18/03/2013 13:53

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AN INTRODUCTION TO CAHOKIA 2002: DIVERSITY, COMPLEXITY, AND HISTORY

Thomas E. Emerson

ABSTRACT

Cahokia research has advanced rapidly in the last two decades. Our understanding of Cahokia has been promoted by the acquisition of new data sets and fresh theoretical paradigms. These advances have allowed Cahokia researchers to reexamine the scale of the Cahokian polity, the timing of its emergence and collapse, and the nature of its eco nomic and ideological parameters. This r??valuation indicates that Cahokia was a unique pristine center and that understanding its historical trajectory is an important facet of comprehending the development of contemporaneous and subsequent societies of the Eastern Woodlands.

There is little question that Cahokia was the most complex political and social

polity in the late precolumbian Eastern Woodlands. The implications of this com

plexity for regional societies, however, have been difficult to ascertain (see dis cussions of these issues in Emerson 1991, 1999; Emerson and Hughes 2000; Pauketat 1998a; also articles in Emerson and Lewis 1991 and Stoltman 1991). For those concerned with Cahokia and its role in regional cultural evolution, the

availability of detailed archaeological data has been limited. Early scholars such as Griffin (e.g., 1960) had little beyond ceramic chronologies with which to as sess the impact of Cahokian Mississippian throughout the Midwest. Further

more, they struggled with the ongoing problem of whether the similarities they observed were due to the historical relatedness of those groups or, rather, to like

responses to similar stimuli (that is, to homology or analogy; Lyman et al. 1997; Smith 1990). The absence of adequate contextually based archaeology at Cahokia and contemporaneous regional sites led archaeologists to depend on broad dis tributional studies subsumed under the rubrics of trade, diffusion, migration, or,

more recently, prestige economy to interpret site relationships. Although these studies documented the spatial distribution of Cahokia-like materials or local imitations in part of the midcontinent, they provided little understanding of the

social, political, ideological, or even economic forces that generated this distri

bution, nor, more importantly, their effects on indigenous societies. Given this situation it is little wonder that regional perspectives of what we might label the "Cahokia effect" have produced contrasting interpretations. Scenarios developed on the Cahokian peripheries often