Pinson Mounds

About

Pinson Mounds: Middle Woodland Ceremonialism in the Midsouth is a comprehensive overview and reinterpretation of the largest Middle Woodland mound complex in the Southeast. Located in west Tennessee about ten miles south of Jackson, the Pinson Mounds complex includes at least thirteen mounds, a geometric earthen embankment, and contemporary short-term occupation areas within an area of about four hundred acres. A unique feature of Pinson Mounds is the presence of five large, rectangular platform mounds from eight to seventy-two feet in height.

Around A.D. 100, Pinson Mounds was a pilgrimage center that drew visitors from well beyond the local population and accommodated many distinct cultural groups and people of varied social stations. Stylistically nonlocal ceramics have been found in virtually every excavated locality, all together representing a large portion of the Southeast.

Along with an overview of this important and unique mound complex, Pinson Mounds also provides a reassessment of roughly contemporary centers in the greater Midsouth and Lower Mississippi Valley and challenges past interpretations of the Hopewell phenomenon in the region.

Author

Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. is an archaeologist with the Arkansas Archeological Survey and professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas. He is coeditor of Mississippian Mortuary Practices: Beyond Hierarchy and the Representationist Perspective and author of Sam Dellinger: Raiders of the Lost Arkansas.

Review

“A tour de force … provides an interesting, intriguing, and comprehensive consideration of this important Mid-south Middle Woodland site… I strongly recommend the book to the archaeological community, both professional and avocational.”
—Timothy K. Perttula in Southeastern Archaeology, Winter 2014

“This is the first comprehensive study of one of the largest and most complex sites in the South and a must for everyone with an interest in the archaeology of the region.”
—American Archaeology

“There is much to recommend in Mainfort’s excellent work. A significant body of data concerning one of the most powerful Hopewellian places in the ancient Eastern Woodlands is drawn together into a comprehensive volume that will be of interest to professionals and accessible to laymen.”

—Bret J. Ruby, Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology

Praise

“Sauls, Ozier, the Eastern Citadel, and the Twin Mounds—all well known names in Eastern Woodland archaeology. Together they constitute the Pinson Mounds, that magnificent complex of earthworks that tower above the landscape of west Tennessee. Pinson is one of the few sites that I know of where the individual mounds that comprise it are almost as readily recognizable as the principal site designation. The construction of Pinson ranks near the top of anyone’s list of the great engineering achievements of North American Indians. Robert Mainfort has devoted a major portion of his life to bringing this site out of the shadows. Though there is much that remains to be known of what went on at Pinson in the past, Mainfort and the other contributors have helped fill in many of the gaps in our knowledge. This book is truly a masterpiece and it most certainly belongs in every Southeastern archaeologist’s library.”
—Ian Brown, University of Alabama

“Pinson Mounds is a comprehensive and much needed synthesis of research and thinking on one of the largest and most enigmatic prehistoric archaeological sites in eastern North America. This volume is the magnum opus of a scholar who has spent decades documenting what happened at the site and who, with a team of talented colleagues, has produced a volume that will serve as a benchmark for many years to come.”
—David G. Anderson, University of Tennessee