ETHNOHISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND CHICKASAW BURIAL MODE DURING THE 18TH-CENTURY

After reviewing Chickasaw history and archaeology, this paper proposes that bundle burials during the eighteenth century are the result of d eath away from the village and that the proportion of bundle burials r ecorded at a Chickasaw village can be related to the amount of externa l conflict during the time of occupation. An evaluation of data from t wo archaeological sites and several documentary sources leads to the c onclusion that the Chickasaw were at their weakest militarily by the m iddle part of the eighteenth century.