Sixteenth-Century European Metal Artifacts from the Marengo Complex, Alabama

Title

Creator

Vernon James Knight, Jr. See all items with this value

Ashley A. Dumas See all items with this value

Date

2024

Bibliographic Citation

Knight, Vernon J., Jr., and Dumas, Ashely A. 2024. Sixteenth-century European metal artifacts from the Marengo complex, Alabama. Southeastern Archaeology, 1–21. https://doi-org.libproxy.usouthal.edu/10.1080/0734578X.2024.2393032

annotates

Summary of the analyses of metal artifacts from the 16th century Marengo complex (possible site of Mabila)

Article focuses on the iron objects that were analyzed as being possible material from the Soto and Luna expeditions across the Southeast

Discusses interesting observations on the modification/use/reuse of European metal (iron, brass, copper, silver) objects by Indigenous peoples, specifically horseshoes, nails/spikes, chain, candlesticks, chisels, stirrups, hasp, cartographic tool, and UID objects.

This is the largest collection of 16th century European artifacts recovered in Alabama, and also from non-grave contexts

Interpretations of the Indigenous handling of materials is intriguing, from the smashing of candlesticks are reminiscent of the 1597 Guale uprising where chalices were deliberately smashed and broken, to the distribution of the original forms across the Marengo complex.

Subject

Alabama See all items with this value

Black Belt See all items with this value

Mabila See all items with this value

Metal See all items with this value

Town See all items with this value

Artifacts See all items with this value

Ceramics See all items with this value

Shell Tempered See all items with this value

Chahta (Choctaw) See all items with this value

Specialized Analysis See all items with this value

Sampling See all items with this value

Survey See all items with this value

Temporal Coverage

Contact See all items with this value

Postcontact See all items with this value

16th Century See all items with this value