Woodstock Culture and the Question of Mississippian Emergence

North American archaeologists see the study of the Emergent Mississippian period (ca. A.D. 800—1000) as critical for understanding the development of the Mississippian chiefdoms (ca. A.D. 1000—1500) of the American Southeast. Past research has frequently sought to explain that development in terms of generalized explanations, whose key variables become evident during the Emergent Mississippian period. Through an example in northwest Georgia, we argue that the Emergent Mississippian phenomenon is best understood by focusing on regional histories and multiscalar processes.