Natchez Bluffs Archaeological Project

Curatorial Section
Research Discipline
Archaeology
Dates
2015 - Present
Project Phase
Active Fieldwork/Data Collection
The Lower Mississippi Valley is home to thousands of earthen mounds and associated settlements, and the variable form, size, and elaboration of these sites has given rise to unresolved debates about their functions and meanings. Beginning in 2015 under the direction of Dr. Megan Kassabaum, the Natchez Bluffs Archaeological Project has investigated four sites in the region—Smith Creek, Feltus, Lessley, and Pumpkin Lake—that span the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and from egalitarian to hierarchical social organization.
Focusing on a series of mound sites that served as important ritual centers for over 1,000 years, the project—which involves a large number of Penn graduate and undergraduate students—investigates the relationships between monument construction and identity, as well as foodways and politics, through archaeological excavation and analysis.
Wilkinson, Adams, Jefferson, and Claiborne Counties in Mississippi
Mound sites and associated settlements in the Natchez Bluffs region of the Lower Mississippi River Valley, named after the 200-foot vertical bluff overhanging the river. The surrounding area includes cypress swamps and hardwood forests, as well as springs, rivers, and lakes.
The Mississippi River played a defining role in the lives of pre-colonial communities in the eastern United States. Due to the natural abundance of the river and its associated floodplains, the Lower Valley region was always advanced in terms of monumental constructions and is home to thousands of earthen mounds and associated settlements. The mounds demonstrate high levels of variation in terms of form, size, and elaboration and have given rise to many unresolved debates as to their functions and meanings. The Natchez Bluffs Archaeological Project focuses on a series of mound sites that served as important ritual centers for over 1000 years, as well as the domestic sites associated with them. The primary research goal is to understand the complex relationships that existed between monument construction and identity, as well as foodways and politics, through archaeological excavation and analysis of the recovered materials.
Beginning in 2015 under the direction of Dr. Megan Kassabaum, the project has thus far focused on four mound sites—Smith Creek, Feltus, Lessley, and Pumpkin Lake—and associated settlements that span the transitions from egalitarian to hierarchical social organization and from hunting and gathering to agriculture. The project involves a large number of Penn graduate and undergraduate students both in the field and in the North American Archaeology Lab where the excavated materials are housed. Exhibitions at both the Penn Museum and the Wilkinson County Museum in Woodville, MS have displayed artifacts recovered by the project and interpreted this important history for public audiences.









Researchers
- Megan C. Kassabaum
University of Pennsylvania | Principal Investigator - Matthew Capps
University of Pennsylvania | Graduate Student
This project is open to student participation, email mkass@sas.upenn.edu for more information.