Toward a Processual Understanding of the Initial Variant of the Middle Missouri Tradition: The Case of the Mill Creek Culture of Iowa

Abstract

If research on the Initial Variant of the Middle Missouri tradition is to progress, more attention must be given to the development of a processual understanding of the groups represented. This article provides a discussion of the Mill Creek culture as it has been formulated through the culture-history approach. The background information is provided as a means of gaining insights into factors of processual significance that can be investigated deductively. The paper then presents a model of Mill Creek culture process and suggests hypotheses that are believed to have broad implications for understanding the causes of change and interaction within the Initial Variant.