The Search for Mabila: The Decisive Battle Between Hernando De Soto and Chief Tascalusa

Author:   Vernon James Knight ,  Kathryn E.Holland Braund ,  Lawrence A. Clayton ,  Douglas E. Jones
Publisher:   The University of Alabama Press
ISBN:  

9780817316594


Pages:   344
Publication Date:   30 June 2009
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
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The Search for Mabila: The Decisive Battle Between Hernando De Soto and Chief Tascalusa


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Overview

One of the most profound events in sixteenth-century North America was a ferocious battle between the Spanish army of Hernando de Soto and a larger force of Indian warriors under the leadership of a feared chieftain named Tascalusa. The site of this battle was a small fortified border town within an Indian province known as Mabila. Although the Indians were defeated, the battle was a decisive blow to Spanish plans for the conquest and settlement of what is now the southeastern United States. For in that battle, De Soto's army lost its baggage, including all proofs of the richness of the land - proofs that would be necessary to attract future colonists.Facing such a severe setback, De Soto led his army once more into the interior of the continent, where he was not to survive. The ragtag remnants of his once-mighty expedition limped into Mexico some three years later, thankful to be alive. The clear message of their ordeal was that this new land, then known as La Florida, could not be easily subjugated. But where, exactly, did this decisive battle of Mabila take place? The accounts left by the Spanish chroniclers provide clues, but they are vague, so lacking in corroboration that without additional supporting evidence, it is impossible to trace De Soto's trail on a modern map with any degree of certainty.Within this volume, 17 scholars - specialists in history, folklore, geography, geology, and archaeology - provide a new and encouragingly fresh perspective on the current status of the search for Mabila. Although there is a widespread consensus that the event took place in the southern part of what is now Alabama, the truth is that to this day, nobody knows where Mabila is - neither the contributors to this volume, nor any of the historians and archaeologists, amateur and professional, who have long sought it. One can rightfully say that the lost battle site of Mabila is the predominant historical mystery of the Deep South.

Full Product Details

Author:   Vernon James Knight ,  Kathryn E.Holland Braund ,  Lawrence A. Clayton ,  Douglas E. Jones
Publisher:   The University of Alabama Press
Imprint:   The University of Alabama Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.612kg
ISBN:  

9780817316594


ISBN 10:   0817316590
Pages:   344
Publication Date:   30 June 2009
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Reviews

This volume reports on ten years of concentrated effort to do a targeted Soto investigation, following up on centenary studies that established the major questions. It provides a model for such an interdisciplinary workshop, and honestly reveals remaining disagreements, the source of new questions. I found also some very solid new data, new analyses, and new reconstructions worthy of serious attention, plus strong evidence for the potential success of future collaborative research. --Patricia Galloway, Associate Professor of Archival Enterprise and Digital Asset Management, School of Information, University of Texas-Austin


If the allure of archaeology is not merely discovery but also the excitement of exploration, then this collection of essays is sure to draw greater attention to the archaeology of the South. . . . Although the search for Mabila has so far proved inconclusive, it has not been fruitless. This book is an exemplary exposition of the burgeoning methodologies of contact-era historical archaeology, with detailed coverage of the current thinking on Mabila and the available evidence for the brutal confrontation that transpired there. . . . Beyond mere curiosity, heritage tourism, and boosterism, the search for Mabila ultimately leads to a conjuncture in early American history, both colonial and indigenous, where a decisive, violent conflict between different peoples with radically dissimilar technologies and ways of life produced long-term, irrevocable consequences. More than the thrill of the chase, the expectation leads to important lessons on how history was and will be made. This book blazes a clear trail. --Journal of Southern History


Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 If the allure of archaeology is not merely discovery but also the excitement of exploration, then this collection of essays is sure to draw greater attention to the archaeology of the South. . . . Although the search for Mabila has so far proved inconclusive, it has not been fruitless. This book is an exemplary exposition of the burgeoning methodologies of contact-era historical archaeology, with detailed coverage of the current thinking on Mabila and the available evidence for the brutal confrontation that transpired there. . . . Beyond mere curiosity, heritage tourism, and boosterism, the search for Mabila ultimately leads to a conjuncture in early American history, both colonial and indigenous, where a decisive, violent conflict between different peoples with radically dissimilar technologies and ways of life produced long-term, irrevocable consequences. More than the thrill of the chase, the expectation leads to important lessons on how history was and will be made. This book blazes a clear trail. -- Journal of Southern History


If the allure of archaeology is not merely discovery but also the excitement of exploration, then this collection of essays is sure to draw greater attention to the archaeology of the South. . . . Although the search for Mabila has so far proved inconclusive, it has not been fruitless. This book is an exemplary exposition of the burgeoning methodologies of contact-era historical archaeology, with detailed coverage of the current thinking on Mabila and the available evidence for the brutal confrontation that transpired there. . . . Beyond mere curiosity, heritage tourism, and boosterism, the search for Mabila ultimately leads to a conjuncture in early American history, both colonial and indigenous, where a decisive, violent conflict between different peoples with radically dissimilar technologies and ways of life produced long-term, irrevocable consequences. More than the thrill of the chase, the expectation leads to important lessons on how history was and will be made. This book blazes a clear trail. Journal of Southern History


Author Information

Vernon James Knight Jr. is Professor of Anthropology at The University of Alabama.

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