Southeastern Archaeology Exam II

The late archaic period and the woodland period

Soapstone Vessels at Poverty Point in Louisiana were probably imported from ?

The Southeastern Appalachian Region

Middle Archaic period ritual exchange networks included all of the following EXCEPT?

Quarts and quartzite morrow mountain projectile points

The first evidence for earthen mound construction dates to the?

Middle archaic period

The Poverty Point mounds complex in northeastern Louisiana was established during the ?

Late Archaic period

Societal connections in Middle Archaic period mound construction are most evident in:

Construction using similar geometric principles and units of measure

Are Shell Mound Archaic Sites are located in the?

Interior Lowlands of the Midsouth

At the Iddins site, hundreds of notched cobbles are thought to have been:

net weights for fishing

The earliest dated pottery in the Southeast, Stallings fiber-tempered ware, first appears on the South Atlantic coasts about:

4800 Years bp

Which of the following statements is true for the Poverty Point site?

None of the above

Claassen (2010) has hypothesized that the large Shell Mound Archaic sites are:

Ritual Sites for dispersed groups

According to Anderson and Sassaman, pottery became widespread in the Southeast by:

2700 years bp(700 B.C)

During the Early Woodland period, which of the following is important to Southeastern native subsistence?

The eastern agricultural complex

According to Anderson and Sassaman, the first maize is documented in the Southeast at approximately:

1800 years bp

A defining feature of the southeastern Middle Woodland period is:

spread of Hopewellian ceremonialism

Bow and arrow technology becomes important and widespread in the Southeast during the:

late woodland period

Maize first becomes common in the Southeastern United States about:

Ad 900(1100 years bp)

Anderson and Sassaman suggest that Woodland period worldviews regarded land as the ___________ of labor.

Subject

Which area of the Southeast appears to have been most heavily involved in the domestication and cultivation of native seed crops (Eastern Agricultural Complex)?

the MidSouth (north of the lower Mississippi Valley and West of the Appalachians)

Biltmore Mound is identified as a ______________________

Hopewellian platform mound

Kimball, et al., argue that the the variously colored mound stages, the ditch, the mound structure, and the central ritual post at Biltmore represent:

the “axis” Mundi

Societies with central communities, temple mounds with plazas, and reliance on maize agriculture first appear in the Southeast about __________ .

AD 900 (1100 yrs bp)

Corn (maize) production is first documented in the American Bottom during the ______________ period:

middle woodland

The Medieval Warm Period, a climatic span that favored the spread of agriculture, spanned approximately ____________________.

AD 800-AD 1200 (1200 yrs bp-800 yr bp)

At its peak around AD 1100, Cahokia was home to about __________________ people.

15,000

Archaeologists infer personal status in Mississippian societies through:

all of these

• 5800 - 3000 Cal yr. Bp

• the first pottery in North America → continued trend of increasing population and sedentism

• Roughly modern environmental conditions

• broad spectrum hunting and gathering

• projectile points with broad blades and stems

• fiber-tempered pottery(ca. 5000 cal yr bp)

• soapstone bowls post-date pottery(400 cal yr bp)

• expanded mound building in some places, possible cultural diversification

• continued and expanded long distance exchange

• more evidence for status difference in burials

The Late Archaic Period

At the height of the Mississippian period, Southeastern indigenous populations were probably totaled around:

a. 250,000

b. 10,000,000

c. 1,000,000

d. 75,000

1,000,000

The span of the Woodland period is approximately:

a. 2200 B.C- A.D. 100

b. 200 B.C- A.D 800

c. 1000-A.D 1500

d. 1200 B.C- A.D. 1000

1200 B.C.-A.D. 1000

Eating acorns, particularly as a staple food, is called ______________.

balanophagy

Pits filled with stones, and used for cooking are called _______________.

Earth ovens

Poverty Point “objects” (those little clay cubes/balls/other shapes) were most likely used for _______________.

Cooking

The term “Adena” describes a ritual/mortuary complex that dates to the _________ _________ period.

early woodland

The jumbling or overlaying of archaeological contexts from different times on a single surface is called a _______________. The same term is used for overwritten manuscripts, where messages from different times are superimposed.

palimpsest

Bow and arrow technology shows up in the Southeast during the _____ ___________ period.

woodland

The _____ axe form shows up during the Early Woodland period, and persists through European contact. It was a significant technology that allowed actual chopping of trees.

grooved

Pigeon pottery Stamped vessels with podes (legs/feet) were probably specialized containers for ______________.

storage or cooking

The first domesticated EAC crop was _____________.

Squash(Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera

Kimball’s microwear analyses of Flint Ridge chalcedony bladelets shows that they were used to cut _______.

meat or fresh hide

Kimball suggests that sharpened bone needles/awls found at Biltmore were used for ____________.

tattoos

Mica found in Hopewellian contexts in Ohio likely came from the ____________________ region.

blue-ridge region

what is number 1.?

Pinson Mounds

what is number 2.?

Tunnacunhee mounds

what is number 3.?

Magic waters site

what is number 4.?

Judaculla Rock

what is number 5.?

Garden creek mound

what is number 6.?

Ashe ferry site

what is number 7.?

poverty point world heritage site

what is number 8.?

Feltus Mounds

what is number 9.?

Tchefuncte

what is number 10.?

Kolomoki Mounds

what is number 11.?

Crystal river

What is number 12.?

hopewell mounds national historical park

What is Number 1.?

Magic waters site

what is number 2.?

long branch site

what is number 3.?

Judaculla rock

what is number 4.?

garden creek mound

what is number 5.?

warren wilson site

what is number 1.?

Ozark Plateau

what is number 2.?

cumberland river

what is number 3.?

cumberland plateau

what is number 4.?

Appalachian plateau

what is number 5.?

ridge and valley

what is number 6.?

blue ridge

what is number 7.?

peidmont

what is number 8.?

great pee dee river

what is number 9.?

savannah river

what is number 10.?

oconee river

what is number 11.?

chattahoochie river

what is number 12.?

tennessee river

what is number 13.?

13 should be near 2 &3 representing the interior low plateau

what is number 14.?

cape fear river

what is number 15.?

coastal plain

what is number 16.?

tombigbee river

what is number 17.?

Mississippi river

what is number 18.?

arkansas river

what is number 19.?

red river

pottery quiz(extra credit)

Cape fear Fabric impressed

pottery quiz(extra credit)

pigeon check stamped

pottery quiz(extra credit)

swift creek complicated stamped

pottery quiz(extra credit)

weeden island plain, embellished

pottery quiz(extra credit)

swannanoa fabric impressed

Essay question one:

What changes distinguish the early, middle, and late woodland periods?

Changes in

• subsistence strategies

• settlement patterns

• tools

• social organization

Early woodland:

• communities small and mobile relying on seasonally available recources

• Early horticulture, along with hunting and gathering, was practiced

• Pottery became widespread → Thick and crude

• mound-building with conical mounds used for burials

middle woodland

• populations grew → more permanent villages '

• Long-distance trade networks flourished

• pottery improved( thinner and fired more effectively than earlier types)

• burial mounds became more elaborate. → Rituals were more complex

late woodland

• populations dispersed into smaller settlements, creating more isolation and distinct regional cultures

• agriculture was introducing maize, beans, and squash( the three sisters)

• The bow and arrow replaced prior hunting tools

• Long-distance trade declined compared to the middle period

essay question two:

What is the timing, impact, and significance of maize agriculture in the Southeast?

timing:

• maize was introduced to the southeast remaining limited until large scale adoption began

• maize becoming a staple crop created a decline in freshwater mussels indicating some sort of environmental changes( also an impact)

impact:

• reduced biodiversity

• along with beans and squash, these three make a balanced diet which enabled populations growth and more sedentary lifestyles

• increased agricultural productivity → rise of hierarchical societies → complex chiefdoms and ceremonial centers

significance:

• developed a trade networks and created a surplus storage

• environmental adaptability

• gradual integration of Mesoamerican knowledge( sharing of culture)

• technological and cultivation techniques advancements

essay question three:

What is the significance of the widespread adoption of corn/maize in the southeast? What technologies made this possible?

significance:

• economic growth → increased faming activity supported by regional economies → livestock feed

• adaptation to climate → adaptable in varying conditions throughout the Southeast → irrigation mitigating and drought sensitivity

• diversification → diversity agricultural output in the south

Technologies:

• genetically engineered seeds → the adaptation of the seeds to pest- resistant, herbicide-tolerant, and drought- tolerant allow the seeds to cultivate maize in regions that were previously unsustainable for its growth

• precision farming systems

• improved farming practices

essay question four:

what is the Hopewell interaction sphere and what does it represent?

• refers to a widespread network of trade, cultural exchange, and ceremonial interactions.

• represents a complex system of social, economic, and ceremonial connections

• facilitation of trade networks

• cohesion while allowing for regional diversity

• not a centralized empire, but more of a loose network of regional societies that shared certain cultural traits

• spiritual significance

  • social stratification

    This phenomenon also provides insight into how ancient peoples balanced local traditions with broader cultural connections—a theme still relevant in understanding human societies today.