Reassessing the chronology of the Mississippian Central Illinois River Valley using Bayesian analysis

ABSTRACT

Chronology building has long served as a major focus of archaeological interest in the Central Illinois River valley (CIRV) of west-central Illinois. Previous methods have relied primarily upon relative dating techniques (e.g., ceramic seriation) as a means of sorting out temporal relationships between sites. This study represents the first investigation into the utility of Bayesian techniques (which consider radiocarbon dates in context with archaeological information) in the CIRV. We present the results of a detailed ceramic seriation of the region, data that we use as a priori information in our Bayesian models. We then offer contiguous, overlapping, and sequential models of site occupations in the Mississippian CIRV, review the output and appropriateness of each model, and consider their implications for the pace of sociopolitical change in the region.

KEYWORDS:

• Mississippian
• Bayesian analysis
• ceramics
• seriation
• Illinois

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to seven anonymous reviewers for their comments and edits, which have certainly enhanced the quality of this contribution. We also acknowledge a number of colleagues for their advice and support, including Lawrence Conrad, Duane Esarey, Tom Emerson, Alan Harn, Jeremy Wilson, Timothy Pauketat, John Southon, and Geraldo Aldana.

Data availability statement

The ceramic assemblages analyzed for this project currently are housed in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Bayesian data analyzed for this project are on file in the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Gregory D. Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research is concerned with issues of social inequality, identity politics, and violence in pre-Columbian North and South America. This perspective is informed by contemporary theoretical research on human agency, practice, and political economy. He investigates these issues through a household and community-centered archaeology with an emphasis on the methodologically rigorous analysis of large and diverse datasets.

Mallory A. Melton is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research uses Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates and a variety of archaeobotanical methods to investigate how large-scale social processes, such as cross-cultural encounters and urbanization, impacted the daily lives of past peoples. She specifically considers the implications of food-related practices for understanding sociopolitical dynamics, community formation, and commensal politics. Her projects examine these issues in Mesoamerica and eastern North America.

Amber M. VanDerwarker is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research encompasses a variety of methods, regions, and themes that revolve around the relationship between humans and food in the New World.

ORCID

Gregory D. Wilson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4517-957X

Mallory A. Melton http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2058-7801

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant #1062290, an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and funding from the University of California Santa Barbara Department of Anthropology.