Matrilineal Kinship Networks and Late Mississippian Politics in the Upper Tennessee Valley

This chapter uses ceramic data on whole pots found in 79 burial contexts from 18 communities across East Tennessee, together with the spatial distribution of mortuary contexts both within communities and across the region, to reveal patterns of Mississippian kinship, grieving, and social relatedness during the region’s Dallas phase. Similarities in ceramic technology and style are the result of communities of practice made up of women potters across Southern Appalachia. Mortuary data sets offer the added complexity of patterns of grieving and mourning. Using formal network analysis, the chapter explores the structure of local interaction networks across eastern Tennessee. Comparisons are made by the relative positions of men, women, and children within their social worlds, specifically, the potential structures of kinship networks and communities of mourning. The chapter offers insight on gender and age-specific social roles, highlighting the scales at which particular communities were evident and the ubiquity of cross-cutting relationships materialized through the widespread interactions of Mississippian women potters.