The Hinterlands Of Town Creek : A Settlement Pattern Study Of The Mississippian Occupation Of The North Carolina Piedmont

Abstract

The Town Creek mound site, located in Montgomery County, North Carolina, is classified as Mississippian based on the archaeological evidence for intensive maize agriculture, the presence of complicated stamped ceramics, and the presence of an earthen platform mound. In my research, I studied hinterland sites within a 40-km radius of the mound site to determine how Mississippian settlement patterns in the surrounding region changed through time. I used ceramic analysis and the presence and absence of diagnostic artifacts to create an occupational history of hinterland sites. I also used spatial analysis to delineate polity boundaries and compare spatial patterns to others established in the region. When ceramic and spatial data were combined, patterns emerged suggesting that fewer hinterland sites were occupied during the height of Town Creek's occupation, and more hinterland sites were occupied when Town Creek's population was dwindling. These patterns suggest that as people moved away from Town Creek, they were relocating within the mound site's immediate vicinity. Spatial analysis also showed a break in hinterland sites at 18 km during all of Town Creek's occupation, indicating that the administrative center at Town Creek had an influence of at least 18 km.