The University of Alabama bought Moundville in 1933, and 200 CCC workers soon excavated 75 houses, 2,500 burials, and tens of thousands of artifacts. In the 1970s, Christopher Peebles statistically analyzed 2,000+ burials and identified a three-tiered hierarchy: a common class, an elite with copper art, and a chiefly class of just 7 individuals in mounds C and D.
Peebles identified three-tiered social hierarchy at Moundville from 2,000+ burials
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Key facts
- The University of Alabama purchased Moundville in 1933 to stop looting
- Starting in 1934, 200 CCC workers led by Walter Jones and David DeJouet excavated for 4 years, uncovering 75 houses, 2,500 burials, and tens of thousands of artifacts
- Christopher Peebles reanalyzed the collection in the 1970s, studying over 2,000 burials statistically
- Peebles identified a three-tiered rank society: a large lower class with utilitarian goods, an elite class with jewelry and copper art panels buried in mounds, and a chiefly class of only 7 burials concentrated in mounds C and D
- Children buried with prestige items indicated inherited elite status
- Decapitated skeletons found near elite burials are interpreted as sacrifices to honor chiefs
- Peebles observed pyramids were built in pairs: a flat-topped residential mound beside a burial mound for the same family
Site mentioned
Sources
Moundville Archaeological Site - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
With the help of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, they purchased the land containing the mounds. ... In the early 21st century, excavations at Moundville ...
Moundville Archaeological Site | SAH ARCHIPEDIAsah-archipedia.org
Walter B. Jones of the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the nearby University of Alabama, began piecemeal acquisition of the property from private ...
Moundville Archaeological Park - Encyclopedia of Alabamaencyclopediaofalabama.org
Jones mortgaged his house to fund the purchase of the site, and Mound State Park (later renamed Mound State Monument) was established in 1933. Moundville ...
Moundville Archaeology: Textsrla.unc.edu
This page contains various hard-to-find or unpublished works pertaining to the archaeology of Moundville and related sites in the Black Warrior Valley of ...
Moundville Archaeological Park – The University of Alabama ...moundville.museums.ua.edu
This survey is for individuals who have visited or interacted with one of The University of Alabama Museums within the past five years. The University of ...
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