January 2021 Speaker

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Mima (Pimple) Mounds in Texas: Some thoughts on the context and integrity of prehistoric occupations that lie within

Mounds of mystery. Although the origins of mima mounds are still debated, the context and integrity of cultural material found within them is generally poor.  This is in large part due to bioturbation by gophers, that are currently thought by many to be the architects of these enigmatic mounds. Recent fieldwork in coastal and northeast Texas on sites found in mima mounds has yielded some new observations on human use of these microrelief landforms. Although many consider these features to be of recent age, it is apparent in some landscapes that these mounds are ancient features that have stood proud since Paleoindian times and perhaps much longer. Furthermore, many of these features found in forested landscapes are relict landforms, no longer forming today, and this change in formation status has implications for the context of the debris left by past populations who once lived upon their crests. This talk will explore the weird world of mima mounds, ideas on how they form, and how spatially and temporally dynamic vegetation change may dramatically affect the context of prehistoric materials left upon their surface.