Prehistory Man Discovery Ticket #1 Redemption Assignment

Prehistoric Man DT #1 Redemption Assignment

Read the following informative slides to learn more about the Mississippian culture in GA. Some slides will contain a question for you to answer in order to demonstrate your understanding of the material presented. 

Mississippian Society

"The Southeast Native Americans were the first to organize villages around chiefdoms, in which families were ranked by social status and proximity to the chief himself. Chiefs lived in elaborate wooden structures atop large mounds, indicating their power. Societies often had both peace chiefs and wartime chiefs, with distinct purposes and leadership strengths." -Khanacademy.org

Chiefdoms

Mississippian societies are called chiefdoms because they were governed by small groups of elites or even by a single individual, called a paramount chief. Commoners and outlying satellite villages paid tributes of corn, deer meat, animal skins, and prestige items to the principal town.  The labor of commoners built the mounds and suggests that elites held the power to assemble large bodies of people to do their bidding.

Multiple Choice

In the Mississippian chiefdom society, there was a small number of those that were in charge. This small group were considered the _____________.

• Braves

• Commoners

• Elites

• Mound People

Multiple Choice

The majority of residents in the chiefdoms were considered ____________.

• braves

• elites

• commoners

• mound people

Settlements

During the Mississippian Indian cultural period, a typical village consisted of  3 main parts: the central plaza, a residential zone, and defensive structures. The plaza was in the center of town, and served as a gathering place for many social and religious events. Homes were built around the plaza, and often had small courtyards.

Not all Mississippian villages had defensive structures, but the ones that did usually had palisades (large wooden fences) surrounding the village and sometimes moats were also used as an added layer of defense.

Multiple Choice

In Mississippian chiefdoms, what was the main purpose of the plaza?

• A gathering place for religious and social events

• farming

• To serve as a defensive structure

• To house the chief

Multiple Choice

What were the homes that the Mississippians lived in called?

• Mounds

• Palisades

• Wattle and daub

• Plazas

Hunting and Farming

The Mississippian Indians were horticulturalists. They grew much of their food in small gardens and their culture depended on the cultivation of maize (their most important crop), beans, squash, and pumpkins. Since they were so dependent on farming, Mississippian Indians were the least nomadic cultural group. They were also hunter-gatherers, since they gathered nuts, fruits, and berries from the forest and still hunted small game.

Multiple Choice

The Mississippian Indians were considered____________, because they grew much of their food.

• anthropologists

• horticulturists

• archeologists

• philanthropists