Early Radiocarbon Dates From a Site on the Pee Dee-Siouan Frontier in the Piedmont of Central North Carolina
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Joseph B. Mountjoy, Professor, Emeritus (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract:
In Coe's (1952) discussion of the Pee Dec focus and in a subsequent study by Reid (1967) of Pee Dee pottery from the mound at Town Creek in Montgomery County, North Carolina, accounts are provided of the intrusion and eventual withdrawal of the Indians responsible for the remains of the Pee Dee culture found there. These Mississippian-related people are said to have invaded south-central North Carolina from the southwest at about AD. 1450, originating in the area of the South Carolina-Georgia border and dispossessing people of the archaeological Uwharrie culture in the process. The people of the Pee Dee culture brought with them a new mode of life which included living in large villages supported by well-developed agriculture, the construction of a ceremonial center containing a large temple mound, infant burials in "killed" pottery urns, and stamped surface treatment of a considerable proportion of their pottery vessels. This new way of life was centered at the Town Creek site and radiated out along the Pee Dee River and its tributaries for about 30 miles. After some 200 years of constant warfare, during which time they are said to have contributed nothing to and received nothing from the indigenous culture other than strife, the Pee Dee people were forced to withdraw by the Siouan tribes which were known to occupy the area in historic times.
Early Radiocarbon Dates From a Site on the Pee Dee-Siouan Frontier in the Piedmont of Central North Carolina
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Created on 4/21/2011
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Southern Indian Studies, Vol. 38, pp. 7-22.
- Language: English
- Date: 1989
- Keywords
- Pee Dee, pottery, Town Creek, Montgomery County, Uwharrie culture, radiocarbon dates