Circles, birds, and soil: experience across the itinerary of Pinson's Eastern Enclosure

Abstract

The Eastern Precinct of Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park in Tennessee encompasses Middle Woodland earthworks including the large Eastern Enclosure, Mound 29, and Mound 30. A paucity of investigation in comparison to other parts of the site has left large gaps in our understanding of these features and their relationships to the rest of Pinson and the Middle Woodland Southeast and Midwest. To address these gaps, I apply geophysical and geoarchaeological techniques to reconstruct the itinerary of this landform. Both North American Indigenous and Western perspectives on mnemonic landscapes, places, and experiences in relation to earthworks like the Eastern Enclosure are evaluated to form an interpretive framework for this data. My findings include the assertion that Pinson's Mound 30 is a bird effigy mound, that the Eastern Enclosures itinerary progresses from activities before earthmoving to preparatory removal of A-Horizon soils across its extent, through several phases of construction and continues with meaningful interactions between person and place even after earthworks are completed. This research also enables me to compare this landscape temporally, spatially, and morphologically to other enclosures across the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee River Valleys during the Middle Woodland period.