Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-208) and index.
Contents:
Lots of Questions, Never Enough Answers -- Archaic Mounds in Review -- Chronology Unabridged -- Reluctant Details: Poverty Point Construction -- Building Progression and Mound Stages -- Cosmic Mounds -- Archaic Earthworks Lacking the MTV Layout -- Building Big and Tall -- Working on the Big Mound -- Onset of Community -- The Great Mounds: Beginning or End? -- Middle Archaic Sociality and Authority -- Poverty Point Sociality: A People Divided -- Monuments for the Ages -- Venerable Mound Building in Retrospect.
Summary:
"In the decades since the recognition of Archaic mounds in the Lower Mississippi Valley, archaeologists have proposed many different, and often opposing, interpretations of their meaning: physical, social, residential, and sacred uses are among the field's top explanations, but these are far from the only proposed answers to the question of why the mounds were built. The culmination of over fifty years of research and study, Archaic Earthworks of the Lower Mississippi Valley is Jon L. Gibson's attempt to unpack the best explanations for these earthworks and the peoples who made them"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.