Complex Societies of North America:
Eastern Woodlands
Never reached level of state-level society, but did achieve chiefdom-level; no
civilizations compared to the rest of world at this time
Eastern woodlands
o North eastern culture area
o Cultural sequence
Woodland tradition – last 5000 years; rise of cultural complexity
Early woodland = Adena (2500 – 1900 BP)
o Central Ohio river valley
o Ceremonial complex: 300 – 500 burial mounds
o Small semi-sedentary farmsteads
12 houses, some cultivation
o early/middle Adena (centuries before AD)
artificial mounds
primary inhumations
shallow grave, bark cover
ocher or paint – sometimes referred as “red
paint people”
little status differentiation
o Late Adena (200 BC – 100 AD)
Charnel houses
Large chamber or log tomb enclosures
After buried, would burn
Would build continueously on top and
mounds would raise
Grave Creek Mound, Moundsville, WV
Largest
Elaborate burial goods – status differentiation
Copper bracelets, mica ornaments, effigy
pipes, atlatl weights
Utilitarian objects
Multiple channel houses
Painted people
Middle Woodland = Hopewell
o 2200 – 1600 BP) = mound builders
o two religious/political/economic centers – related
Illinois Hopewell – Mississippi and Illinois river
valley
Ohio Hopewell – Cincinati Ohio River valley
o Mounds from Adena
o Extensive trade networks – Hopewell interaction sphere
, o Local phenomenon with elaboration with Illinois and Ohio
o Hopewell Interaction Sphere (100 BC – 300/500 AD)
Massive trade network – SE US to SE Canada
Copper, silver – lake superior, N Michigan
Mica, quartz crystal – S. Appalachians
Marine shell, shark, alligator teeth – Florida
Atlantic and gulf coast
Galena, flint – Illinois, Indiana
Obsidian – Yellowstone national park
Effigy smoking pipes
o Hopewell Mortuary Customs
Massive mounds/earthworks
Bigger than Adena
1000+ burials – Ohio
elite – charnel houses (log structures that
were burned)
non-elite – often cremated
average – 30’ tall, 100’ wide, 500k ft^3 volume –
200k person/hours
o Serpent mound, Ohio
Art – symbolic representation of lineage?
Bodies
o Decline
Collapse 400 AD
Inter-regional art styles stopped, mound building
interrupted
Unsure why
Late Woodland = Mississippian tradition
o (1600 – 150 BP)
o fewer mortuary mounds, more farming
o subsistence – family level farmers
o villiages
o flood plain agriculture – productive bottom land, linear
flood plains
maize and beans – storage/increased population
local hunting – deer, flora, fish
o regional patterns
groups that developed
o still chiefdoms
never state-level
communities grouped into large units headed by
local chieftain
exotic items passed to loyal followers
, o power, graces
no indication that elite held strict economic control
– centralization based on religious ideology
symbolized by large ceremonial structures and
exchange of exotic goods
o massive trade network – southeastern ceremonial
complex (SECC) or Southern Cult
probably linked to shared mythology/cosmology
(symbols) – ancestor worship, fertility, warfare
maintenance of political power and elite
gift giving/bartering – not structured trade
between kin relations and reciprocal
obligation
engraved shell gorgets
o Cahokia
Low-lying river flood plain along Mississippi River
Diverse, rich environment
High population N. of Mexico
AD 1050 – 1250 height of power
5mi squared, 2,000 acres, 30k people
100+ earthen mounds
many houses/acres
pole/thatch construction
enclosed area for elite with monks mound
largest earthwork in N America
o 4 terraces, 100 ft high
o 16 acres, 21,700,000 ft^3 of dirt
o 370,000 work days to create
o 2k people 200 days
o built over time
focal point of Cahokia (2x size of others)
platform = elite residences/public buildings
round = burial
walled – log, 200 acres, possibly to isolate
commoners from elite
Chiefdom
o Rank-level society
o Chief has authority over multiple communities
o Chief redistributes resources
o Chief oversees labor parties (instead of having authority)
Much more hands-on, working with the population
Don’t have ability to tell people what to do
o Burial differentiation
Eastern Woodlands
Never reached level of state-level society, but did achieve chiefdom-level; no
civilizations compared to the rest of world at this time
Eastern woodlands
o North eastern culture area
o Cultural sequence
Woodland tradition – last 5000 years; rise of cultural complexity
Early woodland = Adena (2500 – 1900 BP)
o Central Ohio river valley
o Ceremonial complex: 300 – 500 burial mounds
o Small semi-sedentary farmsteads
12 houses, some cultivation
o early/middle Adena (centuries before AD)
artificial mounds
primary inhumations
shallow grave, bark cover
ocher or paint – sometimes referred as “red
paint people”
little status differentiation
o Late Adena (200 BC – 100 AD)
Charnel houses
Large chamber or log tomb enclosures
After buried, would burn
Would build continueously on top and
mounds would raise
Grave Creek Mound, Moundsville, WV
Largest
Elaborate burial goods – status differentiation
Copper bracelets, mica ornaments, effigy
pipes, atlatl weights
Utilitarian objects
Multiple channel houses
Painted people
Middle Woodland = Hopewell
o 2200 – 1600 BP) = mound builders
o two religious/political/economic centers – related
Illinois Hopewell – Mississippi and Illinois river
valley
Ohio Hopewell – Cincinati Ohio River valley
o Mounds from Adena
o Extensive trade networks – Hopewell interaction sphere
, o Local phenomenon with elaboration with Illinois and Ohio
o Hopewell Interaction Sphere (100 BC – 300/500 AD)
Massive trade network – SE US to SE Canada
Copper, silver – lake superior, N Michigan
Mica, quartz crystal – S. Appalachians
Marine shell, shark, alligator teeth – Florida
Atlantic and gulf coast
Galena, flint – Illinois, Indiana
Obsidian – Yellowstone national park
Effigy smoking pipes
o Hopewell Mortuary Customs
Massive mounds/earthworks
Bigger than Adena
1000+ burials – Ohio
elite – charnel houses (log structures that
were burned)
non-elite – often cremated
average – 30’ tall, 100’ wide, 500k ft^3 volume –
200k person/hours
o Serpent mound, Ohio
Art – symbolic representation of lineage?
Bodies
o Decline
Collapse 400 AD
Inter-regional art styles stopped, mound building
interrupted
Unsure why
Late Woodland = Mississippian tradition
o (1600 – 150 BP)
o fewer mortuary mounds, more farming
o subsistence – family level farmers
o villiages
o flood plain agriculture – productive bottom land, linear
flood plains
maize and beans – storage/increased population
local hunting – deer, flora, fish
o regional patterns
groups that developed
o still chiefdoms
never state-level
communities grouped into large units headed by
local chieftain
exotic items passed to loyal followers
, o power, graces
no indication that elite held strict economic control
– centralization based on religious ideology
symbolized by large ceremonial structures and
exchange of exotic goods
o massive trade network – southeastern ceremonial
complex (SECC) or Southern Cult
probably linked to shared mythology/cosmology
(symbols) – ancestor worship, fertility, warfare
maintenance of political power and elite
gift giving/bartering – not structured trade
between kin relations and reciprocal
obligation
engraved shell gorgets
o Cahokia
Low-lying river flood plain along Mississippi River
Diverse, rich environment
High population N. of Mexico
AD 1050 – 1250 height of power
5mi squared, 2,000 acres, 30k people
100+ earthen mounds
many houses/acres
pole/thatch construction
enclosed area for elite with monks mound
largest earthwork in N America
o 4 terraces, 100 ft high
o 16 acres, 21,700,000 ft^3 of dirt
o 370,000 work days to create
o 2k people 200 days
o built over time
focal point of Cahokia (2x size of others)
platform = elite residences/public buildings
round = burial
walled – log, 200 acres, possibly to isolate
commoners from elite
Chiefdom
o Rank-level society
o Chief has authority over multiple communities
o Chief redistributes resources
o Chief oversees labor parties (instead of having authority)
Much more hands-on, working with the population
Don’t have ability to tell people what to do
o Burial differentiation
