The Mississippian Community at Parchman Place

Abstract

The final chapter offers a reconstruction of the occupational history of Parchman Place through the founding of the community in the early 14th century and continuing through its abandonment in the late 15th or early 16th century. Following this reconstruction, the chapter ties together themes considered throughout the book. Organized by scale, this tying-together begins with a look at Mississippian neighborhoods and moves through increasingly broader scales, ending with a consideration of how Mississippian people used placemaking to locate themselves and their community within the greater Mississippian cosmos. Throughout, the emphasis is on particular instances of placemaking, including the intentional deposition or emplacement of culturally meaningful substances in mound and neighborhood contexts. These practices illustrate the continued negotiations between authority and autonomy that Mississippian people navigated as they created and re-created their communities in the image of a whole and balanced world.