In my particular corner of
archaeology, we read the accounts written by the French during the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries to better understand what life was like in colonial
communities, and also to get a glimpse of native traditions and beliefs that
were not written down by those who practiced them. Both the French and native
traditions of the period were a mixture of the ancient and the then-modern.
There are some observations
by the French, made in the southern Mississippi River Valley during the early
eighteenth century, which provide particularly elusive glimpses of something
that was more ancient than modern at the time. These accounts record the last echoes
of Mississippian cultural practices that dated back to the eleventh century,
and which were largely abandoned and forgotten in native communities by the
time of the arrival of Europeans in North America. In a way, what the French saw
at a village in modern-day southwestern Mississippi was a view back into time -
even then.
 |
| Temple mound at the Grand Village of the Natchez. |
Some of my favorite passages
relate to a temple that sat atop a flat-topped mound at the Grand Village of
the Natchez. Inside was a sacred fire that burned day and night, as well as a
number of baskets inside of which were kept the bones of the previous leaders of
the community, who were known as the “Suns”. The descriptions of the temple, made just before the ancient practices that constructed them came to an end,
provide views that we can never really approach when we dig into the ground.
“There is no window, no
chimney, in this temple, and it is only by the light of the fire that you can
see a little, and then the door, which is very low and narrow, must be open…
The old man who is the keeper keeps the fire up and takes care not to let it go
out. It is in the center of the temple, in front of a sort of mausoleum…This
would be rather graceful were it not all blackened with smoke and covered with
soot. There is a large mat, which serves as a curtain to cover a large table… on
which stands a large basket that is unlawful to open…”
“I saw a number of little
earthen pots, platters, and cups, and little cane baskets, all well made. This
is to serve up the food to the spirits of the deceased chiefs...”
“The interior of this temple
is divided into two unequal parts by a little wall which cuts it from the
rising to the setting sun. The part into which one enters may be 20 feet wide
and the other may be 10, but in this second part it is extremely gloomy… There is
nothing remarkable in the inside of the temple except a table or altar about 4
feet high and 6 long by 2 broad. On this table is a coffer made of cane splints
very well worked, in which are the bones of the last great Sun. The eternal fire
is in the first part of this temple. In the other and more secluded part
nothing can be distinguished except two planks worked by hand on which are many
minute carvings which one is unable to make out, owing to the insufficient
light.”
 |
| Mississippian figurine (wood) from the Spiro Mounds. |
There are also a few
drawings of what the French saw at Natchez. The image below is particularly
haunting. It illustrates the funeral of the “Tattooed Serpent”, who was the
brother of the spiritual and political leader of the Natchez nation. Note how
the route of the funeral procession is depicted with a simple looped line. What
kind of artifact from the ground could provide such a view? Meanwhile, eight villagers are
ritually strangled as the body passes by, on its way to the temple on top of
the mound. It is difficult to overstate the value of these accounts and
drawings today.
 |
| The funeral of the Tattooed Serpent. |
The site of the
Grand Village is still there today. The mounds on which the temples stood are covered in well-mown grass, and the place is now a quiet park. Follow the Natchez Trace, one of the oldest roads in the country, to where it meets the Mississippi River. Stand on the low mounds and remember the fire that burned day and night.
