Household research at the Late Mississippian Little Eegypt site (9MU102)

This dissertation explores activities related to everyday production at the household level at the Late Mississippian Little Egypt site (9MU102) in northwest Georgia. Exploratory statistics are combined with the mapping features of a geographic information system and intuitive pattern recognition techniques to identify areas within three domestic structures where production activities occurred. Ethnographic and ethnohistoric studies are used to determine the gender of the individual(s) who used each activity area. In general, each household had separate activity areas for males and females, in addition to an area shared in common. Female activities appear to utilize the most space within a structure, suggesting female activities are the most important for understanding production at the household level within domestic structures. Lastly, these findings are used to develop a model of Barnett phase household activity structuring. This model is very similar to the model of the Dallas phase household unit developed by Richard Polhemus (1998), and suggests broader patterns of household activity structuring may be present across the Late Mississippian Southeast.