The Mississippian Culture of Chieftains

The burials of bodies give us a lot of clues about the social hierarchies of mississippiand culture. The common man was granted a very local, familiar and simple burial compared to the lavish, large scale and ceremonial burial of the chiefs. This has led to historians referring to the mississippians as a culture of chieftains. And it is likely that the highest class of individuals would have been the military and spiritual leaders of the society as well.