Transforming Places and Persons: Community and Personhood at the Mississippian Transition in the American Bottom

Researchers now recognize the active role space, architecture, and monuments play in constructing personhood and community identities. In this paper I will measure the degree to which communities and spaces were altered at the onset of the Mississippian period in the American Bottom of Illinois through analyses of settlement histories and production activities and techniques at several Mississippian transition sites located near Cahokia. These investigations will provide evidence for alterations or continuity in daily practices as demonstrated through changes in spatiality.