ABSTRACT

Attributes of Mississippian public architecture have been used to infer aspects of social organization and political economy, but the inclusion of artifactual datasets in these interpretations has occurred less frequently. As a result, we often do not know much about the activities actually associated with public buildings and spaces. This article discusses several public contexts at the Town Creek site (31Mg2), a single-mound Mississippian civic-ceremonial center in central North Carolina that was occupied between AD 1150–1400. Architectural remains and multiple artifact classes are used to explore the activities associated with several public buildings in the mound area at Town Creek. Premound and mound-summit public spaces at Town Creek were associated with food consumption at multiple scales, some of which is consistent with feasting, the consumption of special foods, craft production, and ritual activities that included smoking and tattooing. Some of these activities appear to have been integrative and inclusive while others took place in smaller, more inaccessible spaces, which suggests they were more exclusive in nature. Our findings are consistent with the idea that crafting and the performance of rituals in public spaces were important aspects of leadership at Town Creek.

摘要

密西西比州公共建筑的属性已被用于推断社会组织和政治经济的各个方面，但在这些解释中包含人工数据集的情况较少发生。因此，我们通常对与公共建筑和空间实际相关的活动知之甚少。本文讨论了 Town Creek 遗址 (31Mg2) 的几个公共环境，这是一个位于北卡罗来纳州中部的单土丘密西西比式公民仪式中心，在公元 1150 年至 1400 年之间被占用。建筑遗迹和多个人工制品类用于探索与 Town Creek 土墩区的几个公共建筑相关的活动。Town Creek 的 Premound 和 Mound-summit 公共空间与多个尺度的食物消费有关，其中一些与盛宴一致，特殊食物的消费、工艺生产和仪式活动，包括吸烟和纹身。其中一些活动似乎具有综合性和包容性，而其他活动则发生在更小、更难以进入的空间中，这表明它们本质上更具排他性。我们的发现与以下观点一致，即在公共场所进行手工艺和仪式表演是 Town Creek 领导力的重要方面。