Prehistoric Mortuary Patterning and Change in the Normandy Reservoir, Coffee County, Tennessee

A total of 127 human burials dating from the Late Archaic Ledbetter phase through the Mississippian Banks phase was recovered from sites in the Normandy Reservoir, Coffee County, Tennessee, and three nearby sites located outside the reservoir area. Formal comparative analyses of mortuary attribute states were performed on phase-level burial samples. These analyses resulted in the isolation of mortuary patterning phenomena involving body disposal, the spatial organization of burials on sites and their integration with community patterns, and the location of burials on functionally differentiated site types within local settlement systems. In turn, these patterning phenomena were assessed for their possible social implications. The generation of detailed data on mortuary behavior for each burial-yielding phase of the Normandy prehistoric sequence allowed the development of a diachronic perspective on stability and change in local mortuary practices.