Mann Site
Encyclopedia
The Mann Site is a Crab Orchard culture site located off Indian Mound Road in Mount Vernon
, Posey County
, Indiana
. It was placed on the National Historic Register on October 1, 1974. Exotic ceramics and other artifacts found at the site reflect contact with Ohio Hopewell and Swift Creek culture
people of the Georgia Piedmont
and Gulf Coastal Plain
.
s, geometric earthworks
and habitation sites near the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio Rivers in extreme southwestern Indiana dating between about 100 and 500 CE. It is located on a high river terrace. The scale and complexity of mounds and other earthworks at the Mann site is rivalled in the Midwest only by the Hopewell sites of southern Ohio and whose population size may have been on a scale unparalleled by any of the Ohio centers and perhaps by any other Hopewell site in the Midwest
.
. These ceramics are stylistically similar to Early Swift Creek culture
ceramics commonly found in the Georgia Piedmont and Gulf Coastal Plain. Some of the design motifs documented at the Mann site are identical to examples found in Georgia
. Microscopic and x-ray diffraction analysis of these artifacts shows the most likely source for these exotic ceramics lies in the Blue Ridge and southern Appalachian Piedmont Provinces. Investigations in the Blue Ridge and southern Appalachian Piedmont Provinces show that sites from the Middle Woodland Connestee phase were in contact with Ohio Hopewell populations between about 200 and 500 CE. Evidence for this contact comes from similarities in vessel form, decoration, surface treatment and tempering agents. These attributes are also shared with stamped sherds from the Mann site. This suggests that the fine simple stamped sherds at the Mann site were manufactured by Connestee phase populations in the Appalachian Summit area. The rarity of these artifacts suggests that at Ohio Hopewell interactions with populations in the Appalachian Summit area, Georgia Piedmont
and Gulf Coastal Plain
were uncommon occurrences, characterized by the occasional northern movement of ceramics. Another unusual occurrence at the Mann site is the local production of vessels using Georgian Piedmont designs in significant numbers. Examples of a type of pottery decoration consisting of a diamond shaped checks found at the Mann Site are also known from Hopewell sites in Ohio (such as Seip Earthworks, Rockhold, Harness, and Turner), as well as from Southeastern sites with Hopewellian assemblages such as the Miner's Creek site, Leake Mounds
, 9HY98, and Mandeville in Georgia, and the Yearwood site in southern Tennessee
.
Mount Vernon, Indiana
Mount Vernon is a city in southern Indiana along the Ohio River and the county seat of Posey County. It is located in Black Township. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 6,687...
, Posey County
Posey County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,061 people, 10,205 households, and 7,612 families residing in the county. The population density was 66 people per square mile . There were 11,076 housing units at an average density of 27 per square mile...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. It was placed on the National Historic Register on October 1, 1974. Exotic ceramics and other artifacts found at the site reflect contact with Ohio Hopewell and Swift Creek culture
Swift Creek culture
The Swift Creek culture was a Middle Woodland period archaeological culture in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, dating to around 100-800 CE. In Florida, Swift Creek ceremonial practices and burial complexes are referred to technically as the Yent-Green Point complex...
people of the Georgia Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
and Gulf Coastal Plain
Gulf Coastal Plain
The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico.The plain reaches from the western Florida Panhandle, the southwestern two thirds of Alabama, over most of Mississippi, some of western Tennessee and Kentucky, southwest Arkansas, the Florida...
.
Description
The site is a large late Middle Woodland period multicomponent complex of moundMound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
s, geometric earthworks
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...
and habitation sites near the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio Rivers in extreme southwestern Indiana dating between about 100 and 500 CE. It is located on a high river terrace. The scale and complexity of mounds and other earthworks at the Mann site is rivalled in the Midwest only by the Hopewell sites of southern Ohio and whose population size may have been on a scale unparalleled by any of the Ohio centers and perhaps by any other Hopewell site in the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
.
Significance
Many artifacts of exotic raw materials and foreign manufacture recovered from the site reflect participation in Hopewell ceremonialism and status differentiation. A unique aspect of the materials found is the large amount of complicated stamped, simple stamped, and tetrapodal vessels. Vessels such as these are commonly found in contemporary sites from the southeastern United States, but are rare in the Ohio ValleyOhio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. These ceramics are stylistically similar to Early Swift Creek culture
Swift Creek culture
The Swift Creek culture was a Middle Woodland period archaeological culture in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, dating to around 100-800 CE. In Florida, Swift Creek ceremonial practices and burial complexes are referred to technically as the Yent-Green Point complex...
ceramics commonly found in the Georgia Piedmont and Gulf Coastal Plain. Some of the design motifs documented at the Mann site are identical to examples found in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Microscopic and x-ray diffraction analysis of these artifacts shows the most likely source for these exotic ceramics lies in the Blue Ridge and southern Appalachian Piedmont Provinces. Investigations in the Blue Ridge and southern Appalachian Piedmont Provinces show that sites from the Middle Woodland Connestee phase were in contact with Ohio Hopewell populations between about 200 and 500 CE. Evidence for this contact comes from similarities in vessel form, decoration, surface treatment and tempering agents. These attributes are also shared with stamped sherds from the Mann site. This suggests that the fine simple stamped sherds at the Mann site were manufactured by Connestee phase populations in the Appalachian Summit area. The rarity of these artifacts suggests that at Ohio Hopewell interactions with populations in the Appalachian Summit area, Georgia Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
and Gulf Coastal Plain
Gulf Coastal Plain
The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico.The plain reaches from the western Florida Panhandle, the southwestern two thirds of Alabama, over most of Mississippi, some of western Tennessee and Kentucky, southwest Arkansas, the Florida...
were uncommon occurrences, characterized by the occasional northern movement of ceramics. Another unusual occurrence at the Mann site is the local production of vessels using Georgian Piedmont designs in significant numbers. Examples of a type of pottery decoration consisting of a diamond shaped checks found at the Mann Site are also known from Hopewell sites in Ohio (such as Seip Earthworks, Rockhold, Harness, and Turner), as well as from Southeastern sites with Hopewellian assemblages such as the Miner's Creek site, Leake Mounds
Leake Mounds
Leake Mounds is an important archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia built and used by peoples of the Swift Creek Culture. The site is west of Etowah Mounds on the Etowah River, although it predates that site by hundreds of years...
, 9HY98, and Mandeville in Georgia, and the Yearwood site in southern Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.