[Previous] [Next] [Up] [Top]

Autumn Activities (continued)


Maize.

Harvesting maize was certainly an important fall activity, but ears could be "stored" on the stalk in the field for later picking. Other wild and cultivated plants, however, had to be gathered when ripe before they rotted, or were eaten by other animals. Thus, how household members scheduled their fall activities and coordinated them with other households was likely dependent on the harvest potential and time when maize, other wild and cultivated foods, and game were available.

The frequency of grinding stones, "hominy holes" (non-portable mortars and pestles), and hickory nut shells from several Mississippian upland or bluff edge sites suggests that some household members habitually harvested upland resources during the fall. This may have occurred just prior to or just after the maize harvest or both. The weight of nuts and distance from most farmsteads make it likely that these were activities requiring the cooperation of multiple households. Given other evidence of privatization of Mississippian resources, it seems likely that an association of families, a clan, a lineage, or some other form of kinship-based group may have had rights to resources in a particular area away from farms in the valley. Individuals from related families may have stayed for several days to weeks at special nut harvesting and processing sites. Organized family outings such as these offered the opportunity to extract other resources as well. Some men could periodically leave the processing camp to hunt game, or obtain chert from local outcrops and stream beds while women and children collected and processed nuts.

Hickory nuts

Carbonized (charred) hickory nut shell
from an archaeological site

Like agriculturists worldwide, Mississippians marked the end of the harvest with celebrations, ceremonies, and rituals. It seems likely that both commoner and prestigious persons performed harvest ceremonies. Like other rituals related to the seasons and subsistence, commoners performed them out of necessity and heartfelt thanks. Because of their close relationship with upper and lower worlds, the elite also performed special community-wide ceremonies and rituals to recognize the harvest and demonstrate their status. Members of some households, perhaps lineage elders, may have traveled to villages and mound-towns to take part in these community celebrations. Those living near a mound-town or the mound center of Cahokia likely found the attraction to these elaborate ceremonies performed by "near gods" difficult to resist. The social and religious benefits of attending these events must have been enormous to these people.

[Previous] [Next] [Up] [Top]