An Archaeological Correlate of War

1993 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Peregrine
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Critical Variable ◽  
Mississippian Period ◽  
Ethnographic Data

War is a critical variable in a large number of theoretical models used in archaeology, yet there has been little research to date on archaeological correlates of war. An archaeological correlate of war based on patterns of community organization is developed and tested using ethnographic data. This correlate is applied to the archaeological record of Mississippian societies in eastern North America, and the presence of warfare during the Mississippian period is confirmed. In addition, it is suggested that the pattern of warfare made evident through Mississippian community organization appears to be one focused solely on riverine centers and not affecting more rural Mississippian communities.

Evidence for Stepped Pyramids of Shell in the Woodland Period of Eastern North America

2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Pluckhahn ◽  
Victor D. Thompson ◽  
W. Jack Rink
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Alternative Form ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Woodland Period ◽  
Mississippian Period

AbstractAntiquarians of the nineteenth century referred to the largest monumental constructions in eastern North America as pyramids, but this usage faded among archaeologists by the mid-twentieth century. Pauketat (2007) has reintroduced the term pyramid to describe the larger, Mississippian-period (A.D. 1050 to 1550) mounds of the interior of the continent, recognizing recent studies that demonstrate the complexity of their construction. Such recognition is lacking for earlier mounds and for those constructed of shell. We describe the recent identification of stepped pyramids of shell from the Roberts Island Complex, located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida and dating to the terminal Late Woodland period, A.D. 800 to 1050, thus recognizing the sophistication of monument construction in an earlier time frame, using a different construction material, and taking an alternative form.

scholarly journals The Distribution of Negative Painted Pottery in the Caddo Area

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Ohio River ◽  
Ohio River Valley ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Mississippian Period ◽  
Painting Technique ◽  
Middle Mississippian ◽  
Production Areas ◽  
Painted Pottery

Negative painted pottery (NPP) is one of the most distinctive kinds of pottery made by Mississippian peoples during the Middle Mississippian period (ca. A.D. 1200-1500) in eastern North America. This pottery is decorated with a “resist painting technique, which creates a lighter-colored design outlined by a black pigment” over an underlying slip/wash. Principal production areas for NPP include the lower Ohio River valley, the Nashville Basin, and the Bootheel of southeast Missouri, and there are four main types: Kincaid Negative Painted, Nashville Negative Painted, Sikeston Negative Painted, and Angel Negative Painted. This NPP has been found in several sites in the southern and northern Caddo areas, and its occurrence in Caddo sites constitutes compelling evidence for some form of contact and interaction between Caddo peoples and peoples from various Mississippian polities, most particularly Mississippian polities in the Nashville basin.

On the Inferred Age and Origin of Lithic Bi-Points from the Eastern Seaboard and their Relevance to the Pleistocene Peopling of North America

2015 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Boulanger ◽  
Metin I. Eren
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Early Woodland ◽  
Definitive Evidence ◽  
Middle Atlantic ◽  
Eastern Seaboard

AbstractRecently, advocates of an “older -than- Clovis” occupation of eastern North America have suggested that bi-pointed leaf-shaped lanceolate stone bifaces provide definitive evidence of human culture on the eastern seaboard prior to the Late Glacial Maximum. This argument hinges on two suppositions : first, that points of this form are exceedingly rare in the East and second, that all known occurrences of these point forms are from landforms or depositionaI environments dating to some time before the late Pleistocene. Neither of these suppositions is supported by the archaeological record. Bi-pointed leaf shaped blades have been recoveredfrom throughout the Middle Atlantic and Northeast, where they have been repeatedly dated, either radiometrically or by association with diagnostic artifacts, to between the Late Archaic and the Early Woodland. Statistical analysis of supposed “older-than-Clovis” leaf-shaped blades demonstrates that there are no significant differences in morphology between them and unequivocally Middle Holocene leaf-shaped blades. Until such time as evidence demonstrates otherwise, there is no reason to accept that these leaf-shaped bifaces are diagnostic of a Pleistocene, much less pre-Late Glacial Maximum, occupation in eastern North America.

Modified Teeth, Cultural Diversity, and Community Building at Cahokia (AD 900–1400)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin M. Hedman ◽  
Julie A. Bukowski ◽  
Dawn E. Cobb ◽  
Andrew R. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
North America ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Cultural Center ◽  
Mississippian Period ◽  
Cultural Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Intentionally modified teeth provide lasting evidence of cultural behavior and, when combined with archaeological, demographic, morphological and biochemical information, can provide significant insight into patterns of human behavior and interaction in prehistory. This chapter explores the origin and social context of modified teeth during the Mississippian period (AD 900–1400) in North America. The majority of examples are from sites associated with Cahokia, the preeminent Mississippian cultural center in eastern North America. New examples have increased the number of known cases of dental modification and the number of recognized modification styles. More important, they provide critical contextual and demographic information for the practice of dental modification and confirm a strong association of modified teeth with women. When considered in light of strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) data and evidence for biological relatedness, this chapter considers the movement of women and their role in creating biological and social relationships across regions during this period.

Spears, Darts, and Arrows: Late Woodland Hunting Techniques in the Upper Ohio Valley

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Shott
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Ohio Valley ◽  
Target Species ◽  
Bow And Arrow ◽  
Technological Transition ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Classification Function

The belief that the bow and arrow replaced the spear and/or dart as hunting weapons in eastern North America between 1500 and 1200 B.P. is tested using a classification function that identifies bifaces as either spear/dart or arrow points. Results and their alternative interpretations bear important implications for the timing and nature of the technological transition. Moreover, the economic consequences of the transition are at once subtler and less profound than often supposed. Ethnographic data do not support simple notions of a uniform increase in acquisition efficiency across target species with the adoption of the bow and arrow.

The Identification and Study of Indian Shell Middens in Eastern North America: 1643–1861

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L. Christenson
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Civil War ◽  
North America ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Shell Midden ◽  
Shell Middens ◽  
Work Done

Although the interest in shell middens in North America is often traced to reports of the discoveries in Danish kjoekkenmoeddings in the mid-nineteenth century, extensive shell midden studies were already occurring on the East Coast by that time. This article reviews selected examples of this early work done by geologists and naturalists, which served as a foundation for shell midden studies by archaeologists after the Civil War.

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