Territorially the tribe probably consisted of a number of villages and the surrounding country. Each tribe may have had a [chief] village or capital that was also a religious center with tribal (public) buildings and a temple. Archaeological and historical evidence shows that these buildings, presumably temples and the dwellings of tribal chiefs and the high priests, were erected on the flat tops of rectangular earthen mounds or pyramids, which were grouped around a plaza of ceremonial square. Here the tribe gathered for religious and political ceremonies and for important funerals. Intertribal negotiations and chunkey games were probably also staged on or near the plaza.
Pipes, either of [stone] or pottery, were generally of the “equal-armed” type (where stem length is about equal to bowl height). In numerous instances, a short projection resembling the stem in shape but shorter, extends beyond the bowl away from the smoker. Massive [effigy] pipes of stone were widespread but not numerous. Some were excellently carved. From their construction, it is obvious that they were made to be smoked through a reed or hollow wooden stem called in later times the [calumet]. These together probably constituted a form of ceremonial pipe that served as a safe conduct between tribes, as a bond and signature at peace- and treaty-making ceremonies, and to present tobacco smoke as incense to the gods in religious rituals.
Priests and possibly tribal chiefs were interred in the flat tops of mounds (e.g. the Powell [Mound]) near temple or cabin. Generally, however, the dead were buried in cemeteries. In some instances, bodies were laid on the surface above a “full” cemetery and covered with earth brought from outside. Continuing this practice eventually produced a mound (e.g. [Dickson Mound] near Lewistown). Possibly the burial mounds at Cahokia were reserved for the socially prominent while the lower classes were interred in the cemeteries nearby. The dead, especially important personages were attired in their finest apparel, [insignia] and personal ornaments. Beside them in the grave were placed their weapons, favorite chunkey stones, food and water in pottery vessels with shell spoons or a dipper.
Fig. 26. Interior view of [Dickson Mound] (in Dickson Mounds State Park near Lewistown, Illinois), showing pottery and other [artifacts] as originally placed with the dead. Cahokia [subculture], Middle [Mississippi] [phase].
[Chief] villages were large religious centers often protected by an encircling palisade or clay wall reinforced with vertical posts or logs. Remains of defensive walls can still be readily traced by a trained eye at the Kincaid (Massac County) and Lynn (Union County) villages. Exploration of the [Aztalan] village (Wisconsin) yielded remains of a reinforced clay wall surmounted at regular intervals with towers of like construction. The Cahokia village seems to have been without fortifications.
Fig. 27. Reconstruction of Kincaid Village ([Cumberland] [subculture], Middle [Mississippi] [period]) near Metropolis, Illinois. (Diorama by Arthur Sieving.)
Smaller villages occasionally had one or two small flat-topped mounds which doubtless served as bases for the cabins of the Village [Chief] and possibly [War] Chief. Other [Middle phase] villages had no mounds or fortifications.
Cabins were of three or more types. In Illinois, two kinds had rectangular floor outlines and may have developed from the earlier Baumer square dwelling and the Lewis house. One of these types prevalent at Kincaid, as determined from charred remains, had a thatched gable roof supported on four corner posts with their lower ends sunk in the ground. Walls were made of clay daubed on a latticework of cane (with foliage) interlacing vertical wall posts, the interior covered with split cane mats. The rafters, corner and wall posts, and wall plates were of poles or small logs lashed together and held in place by braided ropes. Floors do not appear to have been depressed below surrounding ground level. A larger more substantial structure, presumably a temple, on a Kincaid [mound] (Mxo9) had thick walls of clay mixed with grass, but otherwise resembled the dwelling just described. The clay floor and wall surfaces were smooth. Fire basins of puddled clay within the building may have been the remains of altars.