The bow and arrow invented in the Final [Woodland] [phase], was developed early in the Middle [Mississippi] [period] into an effective weapon although spear and perhaps [spearthrower] continued in use. The chunkey game was probably played as a part of a religious ceremony though it may quite possibly have served as a popular pastime as well.
Pottery was slow at first to change from its more obvious [Woodland] characteristics but new shapes foreshadowing most of those of the fully developed (Old Village) cultural [phase] practically replaced the conical-based elongated pot early in the [period]. Cord-roughening and grit-tempering disappeared in the [classic] Cahokia period, and a fine polished blackware and a painted pottery were added to the smooth utilitarian ware. An excellent “dull gray” ware with smooth gray to brown surfaces was of more common occurrence. It appears to differ from the fine ware only in its partially oxidized surfaces probably due to poorly controlled firing methods.[14]
Fig. 23. The chunkey game in foreground. Man hunting with bow and arrow in background. Middle [Mississippi] [period]. (J.C.)
There were probably two or more social classes among the [Middle phase] [people] as there were among Hopewellians, Natchez and Polynesians.[15] The fine polished black and painted wares may have been marks of distinction between the highest and lower classes since it is much less common. In Hopewellian times, it is probable that both the fine ware and the specialized forms (which were usually of the highest quality) were reserved for the highest caste. In the [Mississippi] [period], the shallow bowl, the cup or beaker, and the plate of dull gray ware seem to have been wide-spread in the village and may indicate a general improvement of living conditions among the lower social classes since Hopewellian times.
Fig. 24. Pottery shapes, Middle [Mississippi] [period]. A, “bean pot”; B, angular-shouldered pot or olla; C, common pot or olla; D, shallow bowl; E, water bottle; F, [effigy] bowl; G, plate.
Advances in the [economy] were obviously present in the fully developed [Middle phase]. The Union County [flint] “mines” and workshops were intensively worked. Trade with the Lake Superior, lower Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions was resumed. [Chief] imports of raw materials were copper and marine [shells], Busycon, Marginella, Oliva and Olivella. [Art], while possibly as highly developed as Hopewellian, resulted in a far smaller number of art objects in fewer durable media. Intaglio rock carvings (chiefly in southern Illinois) of geometric designs, human hands, ceremonial paraphernalia, animal outlines, and, in a few instances, painted hollowed-out animal silhouettes can probably be ascribed to this [period] on the basis of the symbols employed. Dwellings or cabins were relatively substantial structures and the extent of village remains indicate a large general population as compared to earlier times in the state. Trade and art suggest leisure and wealth or surplus available for exchange or to support officials and others in non-food productive pursuits. This prosperity was possibly due to newly discovered methods of intensive cultivation of maize and possibly to a greater diversity of crops than ever before.
Fig. 25. Carved [stone] pipe (fragmentary) from Kingston Lake Site (Cahokia [subculture], Middle [Mississippi] [period]). Owned by Donald Wray. Right-hand figure shows the pipe reconstructed.