The Carson Mound Complex in Mississippi - MAA Summer Dig 2009

MAA 2009 Summer Dig at the Carson Mound Complex near Clarksdale, Mississippi

I had the good fortune recently to participate in one of the Mississippi Archaeological Association's (MAA) summer digs. This one was at the Carson Mound Complex near Clarksdale, Mississippi. I left early Saturday morning and headed north towards the Mississippi Delta and the "Home of the Blues".

The picture above is one of the mounds in the complex. This site originally consisted of over 80 mounds which were built by Native Americans between 1000 and 1500 A.D. This makes this one of the largest ceremonial centers that existed in the Mississippi Valley. Archaeologist have classified this time in Native American history as the Mississippian Period. It was characterized by mound building, agriculture and a complex social structure. During the last 100 years farming has destroyed most of the mounds. Carson Mounds was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Most of the remaining mounds on the site are now owned by the Archaeological Conservancy.

When I arrived at the site I was met by archaeologist John Connaway and Dr. Jay Johnson. John is an archaeologist with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and Dr. Johnson is the director of the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Mississippi. I had met both on previous digs in the state.

In the picture above Dr. Johnson is on the right, John Connaway is in the center and bio-archaeologist Jenna James is seated. Jenna is a graduate student at the University of Mississippi. Bryan Haley was also at the dig. He is a research associate and coordinator of remote sensing application at Ole Miss. Bryan is also a member of the new PBS series "Time Team America".

The top left photograph above shows John talking with Christian Roesler and Katie King, from Memphis, about this important archaeological site. The colored flags were placed by John in the center of old post forms and other structures. Wooden posts were used in building houses and other structures by the Native Americans who lived at the site. In the bottom left photo John is excavating a trash pit that contained a variety of artifacts and deer bones. The picture at the right shows Dr. Johnson and Christian screening material from this pit.

Above left are examples of the shell tempered pottery found at this site. The shard in the lower center picture has line decorations. The picture on the right shows two pieces of the types of stone used to make tools by the early inhabitants.

I spent most of the day at the site in an excavation pit with Jenna, Bryan and Katie and enjoyed every minute of it. The results of these archaeological excavations will be published sometime in the future. I would like to thank archaeologist John Connaway and Dr. Jay Johnson for allowing me to participate in this very important archaeological dig.

The Parchman Site Dig - Summer 2003 in the Mississippi Delta - Revisited

The Parchman Mound Site Summer Dig in 2003 - Revisited

In the summer of 2003 the Mississippi Archaeological Association (MAA) took part in an archaeological dig at the Parchman Mound Site in the Mississippi Delta. It is a Mississippian Period multiple mound site with a large 10 meter tall oval earthen mound at it's center. This archaeological period lasted from about 1000 years ago until around 500 years ago. It is characterized by agriculture, ceremonial mound complexes and large chiefdoms.



I did a blog post in November 2005 about this important archaeological site. I have since located some of the artifacts I collected while there. They were surface collected in the cotton field in the background of the first picture. These artifacts include pottery, stone tools and mud daub.

Native American pottery during this period is usually shell tempered. Shell, from freshwater shellfish, was used as a tempering agent in the clay so it would hold together and be a useful device for storage after firing. Directly below are good examples of shell tempered pottery. The shell is the small white parts in the pottery. Most pottery I found at the site is not decorated. Two examples of line decorations are below rignt.







Their square houses were constructed using mud daub. This was a mixture of clay and plant fiber packed within and around a framework of wood or cane. The roofs were made of straw. Below are examples of mud daub that were preserved at the site.



The stone artifacts, or lithics, consist of tools made from gravel that is located near the site. The gravel found in Mississippi was transported there during one of the last ice ages by glaciers for the north. Below are examples of stone tools I found while collecting in the cotton field that was once a large village.

This prehistoric Native American site is owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. The University of Mississippi Center for Archaeological Research has conducted their archaeology summer field school there for several years. The University of Mississippi link has an excellent description and pictures of each of these summer digs.