The Walls phase is an

archaeological phase In archaeology, a phase refers to the logical reduction of contexts recorded during excavation to nearly contemporary archaeological horizons that represent a distinct "phase" of previous land use. These often but not always will be a representa ...

in southwestern

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to t ...

and northwestern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Missis ...

of the Late

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building large, earth ...

. Chucalissa is a Walls phase mound and plaza complex located on a bluff overlooking the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. Other contemporaneous groups in the area include the

Parkin phase Parkin Archeological State Park, also known as Parkin Indian Mound, is an archeological site and state park in Parkin, Cross County, Arkansas. Around 1350–1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed at the site, at the confluence of ...

Tipton phase The Tipton phase is an archaeological phase in southwestern Tennessee of the Late Mississippian culture. Other contemporaneous groups in the area include the Parkin phase, Walls phase, Menard phase, and the Nodena phase. The Tipton phase is th ...

, Menard phase, and the

Nodena phase The Nodena phase is an archaeological phase in eastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri of the Late Mississippian culture which dates from about 1400–1650 CE. The Nodena phase is known from a collection of villages along the Mississippi Ri ...

. The Walls phase is the last prehistoric people to inhabit the Memphis area before the arrival of Europeans. During the early 1540s the

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...

Expedition passed through the area, stopping at many villages along the way. It is thought that the Walls phase may be the Province of Quizquiz, a Tunican people encountered by de Soto on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Culture

Settlement pattern

The Walls phase settlements consist of one large site, located at De Soto Park in Memphis, nine single

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ele ...

sites, and six smaller moundless villages scattered along the natural

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlin ...

s and bluffs of

De Soto County, Mississippi DeSoto County is a county located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 161,252, making it the third-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Hernando. DeSoto Co ...

and

Shelby County, Tennessee Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's 95 counties, both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memp ...

. Included among the secondary sites are Chucalissa, the

Lake Cormorant site A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, the

Irby site Irby may refer to: * Irby (surname), a list of people * Irby, Merseyside, England, a village * Irby, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Irby, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community * Irby in the Marsh, Linc ...

, the

Cheatham site Cheatham may refer to: ;Places * Cheatham County, Tennessee, a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee * Cheatham House (disambiguation) * Cheatham Lock and Dam, a dam in Ashland City, Tennessee, USA. * Cheatham Middle School, a middle sc ...

, and the

Woodlyn site Woodlyn may refer to: * Woodlyn, Ohio * Woodlyn, Pennsylvania See also * Woodlynne, New Jersey {{geodis ...

. Although only a few of those sites have surviving mounds. The phase itself is named for a site near the small town of

Walls, Mississippi Walls is a town located in northern DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River, part of the larger region known as " The Delta", and known for its rich, dark soil. As it is in the upper northwest corner of Mississipp ...

. The

Belle Meade phase Belle may refer to: * Belle (''Beauty and the Beast'') * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people Brands and enterprises * Belle Air, a former airline with headquarters in Tirana, Albania ...

is located across the Mississippi River from the Walls phase on its western bank, and the

is located directly north, also on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River.

Burial

Pottery

Walls ceramics consist mainly of large globular jars, short necked water bottles and many different bowl forms. The pottery was usually decorated by incising and engraving lines, punctated patterns and the application of handles and appendages to the vessel form. The frequency of different vessel types and pastes have helped to define the phase from surrounding phases. Like at most Mississippian sites, ''Mississippi Plain'' and ''Bell Plain'' are the most common types. Other types include ''Parkin Punctated'', ''Barton Incised'', ''Old Town Red Filmed'', ''Walls Engraved'', ''Rhodes Incised'', ''Ranch Incised'', and ''Hull Engraved''.

Stone Industry

Chronological position

References

Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Middle Mississippian culture {{NorthAm-native-stub