Mortuary Behavior and Social Organization at Indian Knoll and Dickson Mounds

Abstract

Two prehistoric mortuary sites, one from the Archaic and one from the Mississippian period, are compared with regard to the importance of age and sex as status-bearing variables. Statements about social organization in the two societies are examined using mortuary data, specifically, grave-good inclusions with burials. Cluster analyses at Indian Knoll in Kentucky and Dickson Mounds in Illinois show significant differences in cluster formation which can be interpreted in social organizational terms. These interpretations pertain both to the importance of age and sex and to wider principles of organization. Indian Knoll is found to be less egalitarian in organization than expected; Dickson Mounds, less hierarchical than expected.

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