Myths and Moundbuilders - Woodland Period

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==Key terms==

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ImportantInformationImportant Information

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  • ^^Cooper Site, OK^^
    • EarliestexampleofrepresentationalartinNativeAmericanexistenceEarliest example of representational art in Native American existence
    • 3200BC3200 BC
    • Archaeologists discovered a bison skull with zig zag markings painted on
    • Could be representative of a snake or lightning strike
  • Bison Skull artifact with zig zag patterns
  • Early Ceramics
    • Generally known as being in the ==Stallings Island Style==
    • Can be found from Jacksonville, FL to Savannah, GA
    • NoprecursorsfortheseceramicsinNorthAmerica,butthereareinSouthAmericaNo precursors for these ceramics in North America, but there are in South America
    • Artifacts of the same style can be tracked as diffusing from island to island up to North America
    • Fiber tempered pottery
    • Fired pottery with palm fronds that have been stripped and put in with the clay

Woodland Period (2000 BC - 100 AD)

  • Period of cultural change

  • BeginningofhorticulturalpracticesBeginning of horticultural practices

    • Domestication of plants
    • Particularly Marsh Elder, Goosefoot, sunflowers, pumpkins, and gourds

  • Hallmarks of the Woodland Period

    • %%Ceramics and Horticulture%%
    • Ceramics tended to be based on tetrapod feet and have water-bird imagery
    • Early Woodland Period Ceramic featuring water-bird imagery and tetrapod feet

Eastern/Middle Woodland Period (500 BC - 900 AD)

  • ==Adena Culture==

    • PredatesMississippianculturalcomplexPredates Mississippian cultural complex
    • Wasamound−buildingcultureWas a mound-building culture
      • AdenamoundsareburialmoundsAdena mounds are burial mounds, some of which are still being used for burials today in modern graveyards
    • Named after the ^^Adena Mansion in Ohio^^, where the first mound was excavated
      • Home belonged to the first governor of Ohio
      • The mound is no longer there and was replaced with suburbs
    • The dark orange area represents the main area where Adena culture was found. The yellow area represents the distribution of the overall Hopewellian culture as a whole, also known as the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. Hopewell culture lasted from 200 BC - 400 AD. Yellow points are Adena sites, and red points are Hopewell sites.

  • ^^Grave Creek Mound, Grave Creek, WV^^

    • BurialmoundBurial mound
    • No longer there, a park was built on top of it
    • Burialmoundsconsistsof:Burial mounds consists of:
      • Fromtoptobottom:From top to bottom:
      • SecondarymantlewithmorerecentburialsSecondary mantle with more recent burials
      • PrimarymoundmadefromdirtPrimary mound made from dirt
      • BurialchamberBurial chamber
      • BurialplatformBurial platform

  • %%Adena culture had a round architectural shape%%

    • ==Round Houses==
    • Stick walls covered with clay, a slab roof made from bark, open doorway, and a smoke hole
    • ==Log Tombs==
    • Tombs were accompanied by freshwater pearls
    • Elitesfoundintheseburialswerebetween6−7feettallElites found in these burials were between 6-7 feet tall
      • AnthropologistshypothesizethattheirEliteswerepartiallydenotedbytheirheightasastatussymbolAnthropologists hypothesize that their Elites were partially denoted by their height as a status symbol
    • EvidenceforcremationthroughtheprocessofopenairburialswherethebodywoulddryoutandthenbecrematedinaclaybasinEvidence for cremation through the process of open air burials where the body would dry out and then be cremated in a clay basin
    • Other burial types include extended, multi burials, skull burials with copper headplates, and flexed burials
      • Elites would usually be cremated or buried extended
      • Common people tended to be buried in multi or flexed burials

  ## Adena Style Objects

  • ==Anthropomorphic Pipes==
    • MostoftentubularpipesmadeofhardclayrepresentinghumanoranthropomorphicfiguresMost often tubular pipes made of hard clay representing human or anthropomorphic figures
    • The figure in this tubular pipe is pictured wearing a loincloth, ear flares, and a dance bustle in the back possibly representing turkey feathers. His throat appears to have symptoms of goiter. His eyes may have previously been inlaid with shells or pearls, and he has an anthropomorphic expression.
  • ==Engraved Tablets==
    • %%Major themes include birds and spiders%%
    • Could have been used as a template for tattooing or painting
    • Notable tablets include the ==Berlin Tablet, Wilmington Tablet, Waverly Tablet, and the Gaitskill Tablet==
    • Berlin Tablet
    • Gaitskill Tablet
  • ==Tubular pipes==
  • ==Reel-shaped gorgets==
  • ==Copper bracelets==
    • Copper ear flares
  • ==Well-made arrowheads==

Adena Ritual Practices

  • ==Wolf mask==
    • The wolf mask consisted of a wolf’s pallet and wolfskin headdress
    • The wearer would’ve had their front teeth knocked out to make room for the pallet
    • Couldsignalawolf−basedcultCould signal a wolf-based cult
    • A wolf pallet including fangs meant to be inserted into the mouth
  • ==Death mask==
    • Found in ^^Mound City^^
    • Made from skull fragments and leather
    • May have been used in funeral ceremonies
    • PossibleDeathmaskcultPossible Death mask cult

^^Hopewell Site, OH^^

  • Excavated by @@Warren K. Morehead@@ in 1893

  • Primary excavation located in Mound 25.

  • The Hopewell Site is located on a farm that was originally owned by @@Mordecai Cloud Hopewell,@@ its namesake

  • PrimaryHopewellculturesitesarelocatedinsouthernOhioalongtheSciotoRiverwhereitintersectswithPaintCreekPrimary Hopewell culture sites are located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River where it intersects with Paint Creek

    • Sites along Paint Creek have many examples of ==geometric earthworks==
    • There are more geometric earthworks in southern Ohio than anywhere else in the world
    • There are then a few scattered sites around the area
    • Hopewellians would also gather their flint supplies from Flint Ridge

  • @@Dr. Frank Reilly@@ believesthatthereissomethingsignificantlysacredaboutthisareaduetothefactthatNativeAmericansfromalloverNorthAmericawouldcometoHopewellandthenproceedtobringobjectsbackfromHopewelltosignifythattheyhadbeentherebelieves that there is something significantly sacred about this area due to the fact that Native Americans from all over North America would come to Hopewell and then proceed to bring objects back from Hopewell to signify that they had been there

    • Similar to a pilgrimage or Hajj

  • ==Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, 1848== ==by== @@Ephraim George Squier and Dr. Edwin Hamilton Davis@@

    • Squier and Davis spent time mapping earthworks and mounds at many different sites
    • Many of those mounds are now gone
    • They excavated %%many zoomorphic pipes in%% ^^Mound City^^
    • They attempted to get the Smithsonian to take the pipes from them, but the Smithsonian wasn’t interested. Instead, they sold them to a private buyer, who eventually ended up selling them to the British Museum, where they are today.
    • Squier and Davis's map showing many Hopewellian sites that are now gone.

  • @@Dr. William C. Mills@@

    • Data sorted artifacts in order to position Woodland Period cultures in time
    • Adena Culture - 300 BC - 200 AD
    • Hopewell Culture - 1 AD - 400 AD
    • ==Fort Ancient Culture== - 400 AD - 1300 CE

  • ^^Mound City^^

    • ManyburialmoundssurroundedbyanearthenwallwithatombmadeofmicaMany burial mounds surrounded by an earthen wall with a tomb made of mica
    • You can only tour a recreation today because the mounds were all flattened to build a fort during WWI

  • ^^Hopeton Earthworks^^

    • Located across the Scioto River from Mound City
    • Now only has the outlines of once present earthworks

  • ==Tomb of the Kings of Virginia== by @@John White@@

    • Described finding of 2 story Hopewellian shrines

  • ==Copper deer headdress==

    • Finding comes from Yellowstone, excavated by @@Warren K. Morehead@@
    • Warren K. Morehead excavated a Hopewell skeleton found wearing a headdress of copper and faux deer antlers, which would have been decorated with pearl beads and copper.

  • ^^Newark Works^^

    • @@Dr. Brad Lepper@@ was one of the main excavators of ^^Great Circle Earthworks^^
    • A notable figurine, the ==Shaman of Newark Figurine (also known as the Wray Figurine)==, was found during the original excavations and then lost for many years.
    • It was later found in the attic of someone in New York wrapped in a newspaper that detailed its’ excavation.
    • Shaman of Newark/Wray Figurine features a human or anthropomorphic figure wearing a wolf or bear headdress
    • A golf course was built on top of the site
    • EvidenceofaLunarCalendaratNewarkEvidence of a Lunar Calendar at Newark
    • BasedontheMetonicCyclewhichlasts18.6yearsBased on the Metonic Cycle which lasts 18.6 years
    • The full moon at its northernmost rising point in the Metonic Cycle from the Newark site