Madelaine Christine Azar

MADELAINE AZAR, then a graduate student at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was approved funding in April 2023 to aid research on “Pottery, Politics, and Religion in the Central Mississippi River Valley, AD 1350-1550,” supervised by Dr. Vincas Steponaitis. This project examined the religious and social significance of decorated pottery produced by Indigenous communities in the Central Mississippi River Valley (CMV) during the Late Mississippian period (AD 1350-1600). Archaeologists have long focused their research on elaborate craft objects from a few large Mississippian mound centers. The visual culture of smaller communities — like those in the CMV — have been largely overlooked. Through an analysis of decorated Late Mississippian ceramics from the CMV, this study broadens understandings of Mississippian cosmology, ritual practices, and crafting traditions. In total, 1,076 whole vessels from nine different institutions were physically documented. Most vessels were excavated from Ancestor interments between the late nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century, although not all provenience data is secure. Iconographic data from another 915 vessels were collected via assessments of published images and illustrations as well as private photographic collections. Through assessments of vessel use, production, and iconography informed by fundamental tenets of contemporary American Indian philosophy, these vessels were interpreted as world-structuring tools tied to cosmic cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Conducted in consultation with the Osage and Quapaw Nations, this project demonstrates how archaeological research on culturally sensitive materials can be conducted ethically and responsibly.