Mississippian

Mississippian may refer to two distinct senses in different fields: geology and archaeology. In geology, the Mississippian refers to the Mississippian period, the earlier part of the Carboniferous System in North America. It lasted roughly from 359 to 323 million years ago. In North American stratigraphy it is the regional term for the lower portion of the Carboniferous, while globally the interval is often described as the Early Carboniferous. The Mississippian was characterized by widespread shallow seas that produced extensive limestone deposits and reef-building organisms, as well as a diversification of marine invertebrates. Terrestrial landscapes saw the spread of early forests and seedless vascular plants, with evolving ecosystems that laid groundwork for later terrestrial life.

In archaeology, Mississippian refers to a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Southeastern United States from about AD 800 to 1600, reaching its peak between roughly AD 1050 and 1250. Centers such as Cahokia, Moundville, and Etowah illustrate the scale and complexity of Mississippian societies. They constructed large earthen platform mounds, palisaded ceremonial enclosures, and organized residential and ritual areas around centralized plazas. The economy combined intensive maize-based agriculture with long-distance exchange networks for shells, copper, obsidian, and other goods. Social organization was hierarchical, with leaders and elite platforms that played key ceremonial and political roles. The Mississippian world engaged in widespread ritual activity and produced distinctive pottery and artifacts associated with the Southeastern ceremonial complex. By the late 15th and early 16th centuries, many centers were abandoned or transformed, and the culture declined before sustained European contact, for reasons that likely include resource pressures, social upheaval, climate change, and disease.