Woodland period

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The Woodland period ( Engl. Woodland period ) is an archaeological period in the eastern United States and Canada . It begins with the transition from the Archaic Period between 1000 and 500 BC, depending on the region. BC, with the beginnings on the southern Atlantic coast to the west of today's Florida at the earliest and the latest on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River . In the Great Plains , the beginning is sometimes even dated to the New Age and, depending on the region, ends between the years 1000 and around 1200. In the southeastern United States, it was replaced by the Mississippi culture .

Typical of the Woodland period are artificial mounds called mounds, which began as small burial mounds , but were later built for cult purposes and finally passed over in parts of the area to the so-called temple mounds, large mounds on which cult activities took place or were built .

Periodization

The Woodland period differs from the previous archaic period in the widespread use of ceramics and the increasing use of agriculture, although the focus of the period is still on the nomadic way of life of hunters and gatherers .

The Early Woodland Period was characterized by life in families or small groups, following the available food sources according to the season. Summers were spent by the water, where mussels and fish made up a large part of the diet, along with the beginning of the cultivation of pumpkins and sunflowers as well as the collection of seeds of wild water rice and other useful plants. In autumn and winter the people formed larger groups and, depending on the region, moved to the hills, where they ate by hunting and collecting acorns and other fruits. The main weapon was the spear in conjunction with the spear thrower , the projectile tips of the early Woodland stage were straight. The ceramic was simple and thick-walled. The mounds of the time were small, round and often still reddish in color , as in the previous Archaic period, through interspersed hematite . The early epoch ended between 300 and 100 BC. Chr.

In the Middle Woodland period, the Hopewell culture emerged in what is now Illinois. It spread quickly over the Ohio River valley and had a center near present-day Kansas City . It is characterized by intensive long-distance trade, the network of which stretched through the entire east of the North American continent. Obsidian from the Rocky Mountains , copper from the Great Lakes , mica , galena mussel shells, and high quality flint from particular sites such as the Alibates area were spread between Florida and the prairies. The spearheads of the time were flat and wide with sharp edges, the ceramic remains thick-walled and is decorated with the imprints of tools and textiles. The mounds have become somewhat larger and are characterized by carefully crafted curves.

The transition to the late Woodland period is roughly between the years 300 and 700. Long-distance trade had been in crisis since around 200, after which most tools were made from local materials. Land use changed towards more intensive agriculture, maize was spread throughout the area, and tobacco cultivation also increased. The spear was largely displaced by bow hunting . The cause is a significant increase in the population and the subsequent shortage of traditional food sources. New ceramic styles were characterized by the addition of shell fragments to the clay to compensate for temperature stresses during firing, the thinner walls possible with this and the decoration with the imprints of cords and ribbons. The mounds in the south are getting bigger, on the upper Mississippi figurative mounds, the so-called effigy mounds in animal form, are emerging in the transition zone between the prairies and the Great Lakes . Birds, bears, panthers and reptiles such as lizards and snakes are typical, and human figures have also been found here and there.

In parts of the distribution area, the Mississippi culture emerged around the year 1000 , in the north the settlement collapsed a little later, only a few villages held out, around 1200 the oneota arose there under not exactly clarified circumstances .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Haberland: American Archeology. History, theory, cultural development. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1991, ISBN 3-534-07839-X , p. 133.