Investigating Ozarks Marginality: A Study of Late Prehistoric Ceramics from the Northern Ozark Highland of Missouri

Archaeologists offer a range of hypotheses about human habitation in the Missouri Ozark Highland during late prehistory (A.D. 900-1500). Ahler, Kreisa, and Edging (2010) apply the Margin model, a version of the core-periphery-margin model. Application of the margin model to the region is constrained by uncertainty about the type of relationship between margin and core societies. This research clarifies the relationship through neutron activation analysis of ceramic artifacts from archaeological sites in the Gasconade River drainage, Northern Ozark Highland. The resulting geochemical data suggest the ceramics were made locally or regionally, rather than in a Mississippian core. These results suggest the study area was relatively isolated from surrounding cores. The findings clarify late prehistoric sociopolitics in the Midwest and demonstrate the utility of the margin model for archaeological investigations of inter-societal dynamics.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Applied Anthropology

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology and Anthropology

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• O'Donnell, Sarah Rice

Contributors dc:contributor

• Elizabeth Sobel

• ceramics
• late prehistoric
• late woodland
• archaeology
• sourcing
• Anthropology

Statement dc:rights

• © Sarah Rice O'Donnell

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1188

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2189