The Desert of OcuteHudson, Charles, Marvin T. Smith, and Chester B. DePratter. "The Hernando de Soto Expedition: From Apalachee to Chiaha." Southeastern Archaeology (1984): 65-77. or Wilderness of OcuteHudson, Charles. Knights of Spain, warriors of the sun: Hernando de Soto and the South's ancient chiefdoms. University of Georgia Press, 1998. was a vast uninhabited area encompassing the Savannah River, as well as the Broad and Saluda River basins. The Desert covered some , including parts of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The region was formed between 1370 and 1450 by a series of depopulations due to warfare between the chiefdoms in the Desert (Like McCollum and Mason's Plantation), and those around, notably Cofitachequi and Ocute.
History
Fall of the McCollum Chiefdom (c. 1375) Around 1375, a Broad River chiefdom, centered on the McCollum Mound, collapsed.Riggs, Brett H., R. P. Davis Jr, and Mary Elizabeth Fitts. "Archaeology at Ashe Ferry: Late Woodland and Middle Mississippian Period Occupations in the Lower Catawba River Valley, York County, South Carolina." (2015). Likely caused by a combination of drought,Cable, John S. Megadrought in the Carolinas: The archaeology of Mississippian collapse, abandonment, and coalescence. University Alabama Press, 2020. and warfare with Cofitachequi,Beck, Robin. Chiefdoms, collapse, and coalescence in the early American South. Cambridge University Press, 2013. the end of Cofitachequi's longtime regional competitor signaled the start of Cofitachequi's rise to power regionally. A large influx of people from the now-abandoned Broad River Chiefdom likely boosted Cofitachequi's population and capacity, enabling a larger workforce to create more earthen monuments like those at Canosi (Mulberry) and Talimeco (Adamson). When De Soto went through the area in 1540, he encountered a few abandoned hunting camps, and roads leading to the McCollum and Blair Mounds, though the towns were reported to be abandoned. The "Other" Mound Site, dated to the Mississippian period, may've also been part of this period of abandonment.
Fall of the Lindsey Chiefdom (<1450) Another Broad River chiefdom was centered at the headwaters, near modern-day Greenville on the Lindsey mound. Unlike the McCollum Chiefdom, the Lindsey Chiefdom was of the Pisgah culture, ancestral to the modern Cherokee.Dickens, Roy S. Cherokee prehistory: the Pisgah phase in the Appalachian Summit region. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1976. The chiefdom located the Lindsey mound and its related Pisgah sites in the region may have moved to Cauchi (The Garden Creek site)Beck Jr, Robin A. "From Joara to Chiaha: Spanish Exploration of the Appalachian Summit Area, 1540-1568." Southeastern Archaeology (1997): 162-169. and TocaE (possibly at the Swannanoa siteSteere, Benjamin A. "Revisiting platform mounds and townhouses in the Cherokee heartland: a collaborative approach." Southeastern Archaeology 34, no. 3 (2015): 196-219.) which was established around the time Lindsey was abandoned and had similar material culture.Schubert, Ashley. "Pisgah Ceramic Production in the Southern Appalachians." These two chiefdoms went on to be affiliated with Xuala/Joara and Cofitachequi.Hudson, Charles. The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Exploration of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568. University of Alabama Press, 2005.
Fall of the Middle Savannah River Chiefdom (c. 1375–1390) Drought, as well as warfare involving Ocute and Cofitachequi, greatly affected the Mississippian 'complex-chiefdom' (a polity with more than two tiers of administration) centered on Mason's Plantation near modern-day Augusta along the Savannah River, possibly the largest site along the river Savannah. During the 1370s and 1380s, the polity began to abandon their major monumental capitals. such as Red Lake (abandoned around 1380), Mason Plantation mounds (abandoned around 1385), Hollywood (abandoned around 1386) and Spring Lake (abandoned around 1389).Stephenson, Keith, Adam King, and Karen Y. Smith. "SPACE AND TIME." Archaeological Perspectives on the Southern Appalachians: A Multiscalar Approach (2015): 171. Although a small population at the 38AK757 site may've stayed on after the major abandonment period until at least 1400,King, Adam, and Keith Stephenson. "Mississippian Period Research at the Savannah River Site." Legacy 5, no. 1 (2000): 11. the Middle Savannah River was, for all intents and purposes, abandoned. The once abandoned Cofaqui, the oldest Mississippian mound site within Ocute, was resettled in 1400 shortly after the abandonment of the Middle Savannah River,Williams, Mark. "Growth and decline of the Oconee Province." The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521 1704 (1994): 179-196. possibly founded by taking these refugees. The largest contigent however, fled to coastal groups, forming the bulk of the emerging Irene Phase chiefdom centered on the Irene Mound in Savannah, Georgia.Ritchison, Brandon T., and David G. Anderson. "“Vacant Quarters” and Population Movements: Legacy Data and the Investigation of a Large-Scale Emigration Event from the Savannah River Valley to the Georgia Coast." In Following the Mississippian Spread: Climate Change and Migration in the Eastern US (ca. AD 1000-1600), pp. 257-299. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. The Irene phase Chiefdom, possibly related to the Timucuan exonym Ybaha/Yupaha for the Coastal southeast groups, was likely organized into three main provinces or site clusters. Along with the core Irene province at the mouth of the Savannah, there were the antecedents of the Guale, possibly centered on the Kenan Field site,Pluckhahn, Thomas J., and David A. McKivergan. "A critical appraisal of Middle Mississippian settlement and social organization on the Georgia coast." Southeastern Archaeology (2002): 149-161. and the antecedents of the Orista, centered on the Indian Hill site on St. Helena's Island.Moore, Clarence Bloomfield. The Georgia and South Carolina Coastal Expeditions of Clarence Bloomfield Moore. University of Alabama Press, 1998.
Fall of the Rembert Chiefdom (c. 1375–1450) North of the Middle Savannah Chiefdom was a chiefdom centered at the Rembert site, possibly the largest in the entire Savannah River with its largest mound standing at 10 meters,Anderson, David G., David J. Hally, and James L. Rudolph. "The Mississippian occupation of the savannah river valley." Southeastern Archaeology (1986): 32-51. around the same as Cofitachequi's Talimeco.Judge, Christopher, and Chester Walker. "Remote Sensing at the Adamson Mounds Site (38KE11), Kershaw County, South Carolina." Legacy 25, no. 1 (2021): 12. Its dissolution compared to the Middle Savannah River was long and slow. After the 1370s-1380s era of conflict with neighboring polities, though not necessarily Cofitachequi, the first wave of people that left in 1400 went north to form Joara (Burke phase chiefdom)Beck, Robin A., David G. Moore, and Christopher B. Rodning. "Joara in Time and Space." Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire: Colonialism and Household Practice at the Berry Site, edited by Robin A. Beck, Christopher B. Rodning, and David G. Moore (2016): 31-57. and possibly the Quinahaqui (Low phase) polities. After 1400, political consolidation and military fortifications (like palisades and moats) began to increase in towns subordinate to Rembert, and another wave of people would leave before 1450 to found Tacoru (Tugalo phase chiefdom) and the site was finally abandoned. Considering Rembert's longevity compared to the Middle Savannah Chiefdom, it's possible that Rembert played a role in its demise in collaboration with Cofitachequi. Rembert's principal descendants, Tacoru, Quinahaqui and Joara, went on to become players in the politics between Ocute and Cofitachequi, with Joara and Quinahaqui joining the Cofitachequi regional order while Tacoru likely joined Ocute's.Hudson, Charles. "The Social Context of the Chiefdom of Ichisi." In Ocmulgee Archaeology 1936-1986, pp. 175-180. (1994).
Fall of the Irene phase Chiefdom (c. 1390–1450) After accepting refugees from the Middle Savannah Chiefdom, it seemed like the Irene phase Chiefdom was the next target of Cofitachequi aggression. After 1375, a buffer zone was created on the South Carolina Coast between the Irene phase Orista and the likely Cofitachequi-allied groups on Winyah Bay. The tense situation was heightened after the late 14th century with the Irene acceptance of the remaining Middle Savannah population. Conflict between 1400 and 1450 would spell the end of the Irene phase Chiefdom, possibly involving a switch in allegiance of the Orista on Saint Helena's Island, who were still in a fairly prestigious position in the region by Spanish contact compared to the fate of Irene itself, which was abandoned and the entire area around it abandoned. The remnant of Irene, the Guale Micoship, seems to have aligned itself with Ocute against Cofitachequi, the two later forming the Yamasee Confederation.
References