Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE) found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast. It is often characterized by the adoption and use of riverine (or more rarely marine) shell-tempering agents in the clay paste.The adoption of shell tempering is considered one of the hallmarks of the spread of Mississippian cultural practices. The local differences in pastes, forms, and design elements are one of the major ways archaeologists understand lifeways, religious practices, and trade and interaction amongst the various Mississippian peoples. The value of this pottery on the illegal antiquities market has led to extensive looting of sites.

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This webpage features North America before the Europeans, and during the ensuing four centuries (1500-1900) of European dispossession of the native populations by violence and deceit, euphemistically termed “the clash of cultures”, and with modern information on tribes and cultures. The collection of Google Maps contains about 15,000 feature-rich placemarks organized topically and usually with dates, and the Google Earth viewer allows seeing the entire collection at once. The overarching idea is to portray accurately and in detail the great change that swept the American landscape between 1500 and 1900, or the first three centuries 1500-1800 of native-European contact before the creation of the United States (1791) and the following century 1800-1900 of federal warfare against the remnant tribes in pursuit of Manifest Destiny.

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The first European expedition to the area was led by Hernando de Soto, who passed through the area in 1540. However, there were no permanent European settlements until the French founded Fort Maurepas at site which would later become Ocean Springs. The area passed through Spanish, British and French jurisdiction, but eventually was transfered to the United States following the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763).

The Mississippi Territory was organized in 1798 from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina. This territory was expanded with additional territory (that was disputed by Spain), and land purchased from Native American tribes. On December 10th 1817, the state of Mississippi was admitted to the Union.

Mississippi rapidy became an important cotton growing state, and consequently had a large slave population. When the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) broke out, Mississippi was the second state to secede from the Union. Because of the state’s strategic location on the Mississippi River, numerous battles were fought in the state during the war. Around 80,000 white men from Mississippi fought on the Confederate side during the war, however, around 500 white Mississippians, and more than 17,000 black Mississippians (freedmen and slaves) fought for the Union.

After a period of Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws were enacted in the state which kept blacks in an inferior position. However, following World War II, Mississippi became an important location during the Civil Rights struggle.

Mississippi was twice between hit by serious hurricanes in recent years (Hurricane Camille in 1969) and (Hurricane Katrina in 2005).