Lastly, it may be that agricultural technology became sophisticated enough that crop variation between clans lessened, thereby decreasing the need for trade. Wikipedia, Your email address will not be published. Houses, tools, clothing, and foods were similar. Seasonal foraging also characterized the strategies of many interior populations, with groups moving strategically among dense resource areas. The Center for American Archeology specializes in Middle Woodland culture. The earliest pottery included some that were made from plant fibers that were more typical of the Archaic period. We do not know what these people might have called themselves. This archaeological designation is often mistakenly conflated with the eco-cultural delineation of the continent’s eastern culture areas: the term Eastern Woodland cultures refers to the early … The Far Northeast, the Sub-Arctic, and the Northwest/Plains regions widely adopted pottery somewhat later, about 200 BCE. In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from 1000 CE to European contact as a separate period. Clan heads would then be buried along with goods received from their trading partners to symbolize the relationships they had established. Historic Occupation II. Each contribution explores neighboring areas to llustrate the complexity of North … (1992). Although pottery, horticulture, and earthen mounds were familiar to some people who lived during the Archaic period, after about 1000 BC such innovations became widespread across Eastern North America. And, in some regions, pottery predates the onset of Woodland cultures by over 1000 years. Pottery, which had been manufactured during the Archaic period in limited amounts, became widespread across the Eastern Interior, the Southeast, and the Northeast. Access to food or resources outside a clan's territory would be made possible through formal agreements with neighbors. ", PNAS, vol. 2000 B.C. In Paul E. Minnis, People and Plants in Ancient Eastern North America, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, Bruce D. Smith and Richard A. Yarnell (2009). Archaic Advances . Woodland collection in the Robbins Museum‎ (3 C) Media in category "Woodland period in North America" The following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. The Havana style found in Illinois had a decorated neck. People like the Pueblo people settled down more in permanent villages and towns. Early Woodland Period – 3000 BC to 200 BC. The Woodland period is divided into Early (3,000 to 2,200 years ago), Middle (2,200 to 1,800 years ago) and Late (1,800 to 1,250 years ago) sub-periods. A remarkable development of the Early Woodland was the widespread construction of earthen mounds. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Archaic and Woodland periods, the archaeological periods following the Paleo-Indian, are characterized by the development of plant domestication and the beginnings of organized agricultural activities. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Paleoindian Period: 12,000-10,000 BC. "Hopewell, Middle Woodland, and the Laurel Culture: A Problem in Archaeological Classification". Native American - Native American - Eastern Woodland cultures: Outside of the Southwest, Northern America’s early agriculturists are typically referred to as Woodland cultures. Compiled by Kathy Weiser-Alexander, March 2020. to 400 A.D., is perhaps best known in the Ohio River Valley as the era during which the Hopewell culture flourished. 106, no. Considered a developmental period, it involved tools made of bones and stone, making of textiles, shelter such as tents, and leather. Additionally, the mound centers expanded their functions from places of burial to places where civic and ceremonial functions occurred. People continued to make stemmed points with broad blades, but they were slightly smaller. The reasons for this are unknown, but it has been theorized that populations increased so much that trade alone could no longer support the communities and some clans resorted to raiding others for resources. This era is considered a developmental stage that was characterized by increasing cultural complexity and population growth. The most conclusive evidence suggests that native copper was utilized to produce a wide variety of tools beginning in the Middle Archaic period circa 4,000 BC. People continued to live in base camps, but their increased numbers led to competition for resources and an increase in warfare. There is evidence that many small groups occasionally gathered together to build mounds and maintain long-range ties. Coastal peoples practiced seasonal mobility, moving to the coast during the summer to take advantage of numerous marine resources such as sea mammals and shellfish, then moved to interior locations during the winter where access to deer, bear, and anadromous fish such as salmon could see them through the winter. Intensive agriculture characterizes the Mississippian period from c. 1000–1400 CE and may have continued up to European contact, around 500 years ago.[4]. "Seeking Our Past: An Introduction to North American Archaeology". The University of the State of New York, Albany. In the classification of Archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from AD 1000 to European contact as a separate period. Neusius, Sarah W. and G. Timothy Gross (2014). The elaborate tombs are especially important because they indicate that the person buried there had a higher and/or special status. Woodland. Middle Woodland Period - The Hopewell Culture The Middle Woodland period, which lasted from roughly 100 B.C. As communities became more isolated, they began to develop in their own unique ways, giving rise to small-scale cultures that were distinctive to their regional areas. in … The large area of interaction is indicated by the presence of Adena-style mounds, the presence of exotic goods from other parts of the interaction spheres, and the participation in the "Early Woodland Burial Complex" defined by William Ritchie [5], Pottery was widely manufactured and sometimes traded, particularly in the Eastern Interior region. As such, researchers are now redefining the period to begin with not only pottery, but the appearance of permanent settlements, elaborate burial practices, intensive collection and/or horticulture of starchy seed plants (see Eastern Agricultural Complex), differentiation in social organization, and specialized activities, among other factors. People began making stone projectile points that were shorter, thinner, and more triangular so they could be attached to arrows. The Woodland period is a label used by archaeologists to designate pre-Columbian Native American occupations dating between roughly 500 BC and AD 1100 … Woodland trade networks distributed exotic raw materials and finished ceremonial artifacts all across eastern North America. The Early Woodland period continued many trends that began during the Late Archaic period, including extensive mound-building, regional distinctive burial complexes, the trade of exotic goods across a large area of North America, the reliance on both wild and domesticated plant foods, and a mobile subsistence strategy in which small groups took advantage of seasonally available resources such as nuts, fish, shellfish, and wild plants. But there were changes which definitely distinguish the Woodland era from the earlier period. [7] However, it has become evident that, in some areas of North America, prehistoric cultural groups with a clearly Archaic cultural assemblage were making pottery without any evidence of the cultivation of domesticated crops. The Middle Woodland period, lasting from about 200 BC to 600 AD, is marked by changes in settlement and subsistence patterns as populations increased and people began to spread into other areas to take advantage of diverse food resources. The people of this era lived in small bands of related families, who shared a base camp most of the year. 16, 6561–6566, Behm, Jeffrey (2007 March) Middle Woodland. Mound construction dates back to at least 3000 BC. Woodland period. Another result of people not moving around as much was that the various bands did not see each other and share ideas as often, so styles of making pottery and tools became very distinct from region to region. Early Woodland Period – 1000 BC to 200 BC. They were made by soft-hammering percussion, and finished by pressure flaking.[14]. These mounds, varying in size and shape, were generally were built on top of burial pits or tombs of important individuals. In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from 1000 CE to European contact as a separate period. Such similarities could also be the result of reciprocal trade, obligations, or both between local clans that controlled specific territories. Late Woodland Period – 500 to 1000 AD. Clay for pottery was typically tempered (mixed with non-clay additives) with grit (crushed rock) or limestone. Cambridge University Press. Stone was used from nearby sources for making tools and tubular stone pipes first appeared during his period that were likely used for ritual and ceremonial smoking. Your email address will not be published. As the Woodland period progressed, local and inter-regional trade of exotic materials greatly increased to the point where a trade network covered most of the Eastern Woodlands. The Middle Woodland period in eastern North America witnessed a florescence of monumental architecture and material exchange linked to widespread networks … Over most of this area these cultures were replaced by the Mississippian culture (q.v.) While full scale intensive agriculture did not begin until the following Mississippian period, the beginning of serious cultivation greatly supplemented the gathering of plants. However, they would leave as needed to hunt or fish in the surrounding areas. During the Altithermal, Archaic peoples dug wells to stay alive in the … – A.D. 1000)", List of archaeological periods (North America), Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital, Pawnee Mission and Burnt Village Archeological Site, Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve, University of Tennessee Agriculture Farm Mound, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Woodland_period&oldid=998230384, 10th-century disestablishments in North America, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 4 January 2021, at 11:49. (1955). In coastal regions, many settlements were near the coast, often near salt marshes, which were habitats rich in food resources. A variant of the Woodland tradition was found on the Great Plains. Ceramics during this time were thinner and better quality than earlier times. Unlike the people of the Late Archaic people, Early Woodland peoples generally did not travel long distances from their base camps. Oxford University Press. The Early Woodland lasted from about 3000 BC to 200 BC. Other items included projectile points, natural pigments like ocher, or a few special trade items. Within this era, the classification is further divided into three more periods based on changes in the way people lived, including their settlement patterns, trading activities, subsistence, the tools they used, and mortuary practices. However, it is now clear, that the beginnings of these developments lie deeper in the past by a thousand years or more. in eastern North America at 3800 B.P. One of the major tools unique to this era was Snyders Points. Examples include the Armstrong culture, Copena culture, Crab Orchard culture, Fourche Maline culture, the Goodall Focus, the Havana Hopewell culture, the Kansas City Hopewell, the Marksville culture, and the Swift Creek culture. The vast m… [10] Nuts were processed in large amounts, including hickory and acorns, and many wild berries, including palm berries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries, were eaten, as well as wild grapes and persimmon. Pottery first appears in Illinois during the Early Woodland. Woodland Periods in North America. Many aspects of daily life during this time were not much different from those of the preceding Archaic Period. Mississippian. Woodland Period by Dean Quigley, National Park Service. They did so, however, by cultivating starchy seeds rather than by gathering more acorns." As a result, the long-distance exchange networks that developed during the Late Archaic broke down. Fiedel, Stuart J. Early Woodland Period (1000–1 BCE) The archaeological record suggests that humans in the Eastern Woodlands of North America were collecting plants from the wild by 6,000 BCE and gradually modifying them by selective collection and cultivation. The Hopewell culture first developed in what is now the Ohio Valley and other parts of the Midwest and gradually spread southward. North America was a land of quite diversities from the east to the south. Many were decorated with stamped, punctuated, pinched, or brushed designs, and some were painted. Late Woodland settlements became more numerous, but the size of each one (with exceptions) was smaller than their middle Woodland counterparts. Among the traded materials were copper from the Lake Superior deposits; silver from Lake Superior and especially Ontario; galena from Missouri and Illinois; mica from the southern Appalachians; chert from various places including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; pipestone from Ohio and Illinois; alligator teeth from the lower Mississippi Valley eastward to Florida; marine shells, especially whelks, from the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts; Knife River chalcedony from North Dakota; and obsidian from Yellowstone in Wyoming. The Early Woodland period began in the southern and midwestern part of North America about 1200 BC. At the same time, bow and arrow technology gradually overtook the use of the spear and atlatl, and agricultural production of the "Three Sisters" (maize, beans, and squash) was introduced. and cooking containers. Archaeologists have defined several cultures within the Woodland Period. United States Department of Agriculture Small amounts of exotic items still occurred in Late Woodland graves, but they seemed not to have been part of an elaborate mortuary complex. Under this scenario, permanent settlements would be likely to develop, leading to increased agricultural production and a population increase. Some of these artifacts and materials were not local to the people such as copper from the Great Lakes area, mica from the southern Appalachians, and shells from the Gulf coast. Though this practice seems to have originated in the Archaic Period in what is now, Louisiana, by about 1000 BC the tradition was adopted by people all over eastern North America. During this time, populations increased and settlements filled up the landscape, spreading northward up small streams. Hopewell Culture – 100 BC – 500 AD. The term “Woodland Period” was introduced in the 1930s as a generic term for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the agriculturalist Mississippian cultures. One style was the Trempealeau phase which could have been seen by the Hopewell in Indiana. Pots were coiled and paddled entirely by hand without the use of fast rotation such as a pottery wheel. This was followed two thousand years later by North America's first sedentary town, at Poverty Point, Louisiana, unmatched in scale or integration even by most subsequent Woodland-period places (500 BC-AD 1050). The beginning of the Middle Woodland saw a shift of settlement to the Interior. Like the Archaic Period, each Woodland sub-period represents a slightly different way of life. The Early Woodland period continued many trends begun during the Late and Terminal Archaic periods, including extensive mound-building, regional distinctive burial complexes, the trade of exotic goods across a large area of North America as part of interaction spheres, the reliance on both wild and domesticated plant foods, and a mobile subsistence strategy in which small groups took advantage of seasonally available resources such as nuts, fish, shellfish, and wild plants. And these changes set the stage for the developments that would take place in the Mississippian period. The Far Northeast, the Sub-Arctic, and the Northwest/Plains regions widely adopted pottery somewhat later, about 200 BCE. [9] Nevertheless, these early sites were typical Archaic settlements, differing only in the use of basic ceramic technology. They divided the archaeological record in the Americas into 5 phases, only three of which applied to North America. Middle Woodland people in central and western Iowa retained the pattern of small, temporary settlements that had developed during the Archaic period. The pottery was sometimes traded with other groups. Pottery, which had been manufactured during the Archaic period in limited amounts, was now widespread across the Eastern Interior, the Southeast, and the Northeast. The bow and arrow made hunting less of a communal activity than it had been in the past, and individual families became more self-sufficient. Early Woodland Period (1000–1 BCE) The archaeological record suggests that humans in the Eastern Woodlands of North America were collecting plants from the wild by 6,000 BCE and gradually modifying them by selective collection and cultivation. Many Woodland peoples used spears and atlatls until the end of the period, when they were replaced by bows and arrows; however, Southeastern Woodland peoples also used blowguns. One of the most enduring classifications of archaeological periods and cultures was established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology. Middle Woodland Period – 200 BC to 500 AD. Likely as a result of these regional gatherings, pottery from different places developed widespread similarities in form and decoration. [11] Smith and Yarnell refer to an "indigenous crop complex" as early as 3800 B.P. In addition, the pace of cultural change began to quicken. The name we use comes from Mordecai Hopewell, a Chillicothe landowner on whose property mounds were excavated in the 1800s. Although the 1000 CE ending of the Late Woodland period is traditional, in practice many regions of the Eastern Woodlands adopted the full Mississippian culture much later than that. [1] The term "Woodland Period… These have come to be known as the Hopewell tradition. This is especially true for the middle woodland period and perhaps beyond. Stage classification. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic term for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-g… Many of the graves included rich goods such as copper bracelets, beads, art objects made from mica, hematite, banded slate, and other kinds of stone. The Woodland Period -- an archaeologically-designated period -- generally marks the appearance of pottery, cultivated plants, settled village life and mound building on the North American Continent. Although many of the Middle Woodland cultures are called "Hopewellian", and groups shared ceremonial practices, archeologists have identified the development of distinctly separate cultures during the Middle Woodland period. Throughout the Southeast and north of the Ohio River, burial mounds of important people were very elaborate and contained a variety of mortuary gifts, many of which were not local. Period of North American pre-Columbian cultures, Middle Woodland period (200 BCE – 500 CE). Oshkosh, WI, List of archaeological periods (Mesoamerica), "The Woodland Period (ca. The Paleoindian Period refers to a time approximately 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age when humans first … The most cited technological distinction of this period was the widespread use of pottery (although pottery manufacture had arisen during the Archaic period in some places), and the diversification of pottery forms, decorations, and manufacturing practices. 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