Ohio Hopewell Trophy-Skull Artifacts as Evidence for Competition in Middle Woodland Societies Circa 50 B.C.. A.D. 350

1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark F. Seeman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Ohio Hopewell ◽  
Human Skulls

During the Middle Woodland period in eastern North America, modified human skulls are interjected into a broader pattern of "trophy"-artifact manufacture. Interpretations of these human trophies have resulted in a polarity of opinion-that they are the remains of (1) revered ancestors, or (2) defeated enemies. Both previous investigations of the problem support exclusively the "revered-ancestor" interpretation. Results of the present study, which makes use of a six-site Ohio Hopewell sample and stylistic and biological analyses, do not support this position, and are seen as reflecting a competitive component in Hopewell society.

The Temporal and Social Implications of Ohio Hopewell Copper Ear Spool Design

1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine C. Ruhl ◽  
Mark F. Seeman
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Ohio Hopewell ◽  
Over Time

In a recent synthesis of style theory, Carr (1995) proposed a model based on attribute hierarchies, which reveal social patterns. The present study applies Carr's model of style to a large sample of bicymbal copper ear spools, a diagnostic “Hopewell” artifact class of the Middle Woodland period (ca. 150 B.C.—A.D. 400) in eastern North America. After ear spool attributes are defined and ranked for their visibility, a seriation of the ear spools is developed and tested for time and space correlations. Results are consistent with the interpretation that the size of social groups participating in ritual events increased over time, while the technical requirements for ear spool durability decreased. The “visibility” of ear spool attributes relates to patterns of group interaction at the level of the site, sub-region and region, thus supporting Carr's model. The model has limitations when bridging from archaeological data to ethnographic interpretations, although our results indicate that exchange of finished goods and technology was less important within the context of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere than the construction of Hopewell ideologies.

scholarly journals New Dates and Carbon Isotope Assays of Purported Middle Woodland Maize from the Icehouse Bottom and Edwin Harness Sites

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Mary L. Simon ◽  
Kandace D. Hollenbach ◽  
Brian G. Redmond
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
North America ◽  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Macrobotanical Remains ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Isotope Analyses ◽  
Ams Dates

Accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) and carbon isotope analyses provide strong tandem methodologies used by archaeologists to evaluate and reevaluate the histories of maize use in the Midwest. In this article, we present newly obtained AMS dates and carbon isotope assays of alleged maize samples from the Icehouse Bottom (40MR23) and Edwin Harness sites (22RO33). Based on original studies, samples were thought to date to the Middle Woodland period (ca. 300 BC–AD 400). The results show that samples either were not maize or date to post-AD 900. As of this finding, there are no longer any securely dated Middle Woodland macrobotanical remains of maize from the Eastern Woodlands of North America.

Hopewell on the Sandusky: Analysis and Description of an Inundated Ohio Hopewell Mortuary-Ceremonial Site in North-Central Ohio

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian G. Redmond
Keyword(s):  
Woodland Period ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
North Central ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Ohio Hopewell ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cluster Points ◽  
Northern Ohio

Northern Ohio has traditionally been placed at the “periphery” of Ohio Hopewell interaction. The recent discovery of an inundated mortuary-ceremonial site in Sandusky Bay with characteristic Hopewell artifacts, burial treatments, and deposits has stimulated a reexamination of the relationship between northern Ohio Middle Woodland societies and the Ohio Hopewell core. From this locality, known as the Pumpkin site, amateur archaeologists salvaged burials; Flint Ridge chert bifaces, Lowe cluster points and bladelets; a copper celt and beads; and other distinctive Hopewell funerary and ceremonial objects. Pumpkin site burial treatments and artifact forms also show considerable similarities to the Esch Mounds component located just to the east. A single AMS radiocarbon determination of 1840 ± 40 BP (Beta-221575) on human bone collagen places the Pumpkin component securely within the Middle Woodland period. Information from this unique site indicates that local Middle Woodland ties to the Ohio Hopewell heartland were more significant than previously perceived.

Variation in Ohio Hopewell Political Economies

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Coon
Keyword(s):  
Woodland Period ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Political Strategies ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
South Central ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Fort Ancient ◽  
Ohio Hopewell ◽  
Political Economies

I examine mortuary, artifactual, symbolic, and proxemic data from Hopewell sites in southwestern and south-central Ohio to suggest that people associated with south-central Ohio sites such as Hopewell and Seip implemented more exclusionary political strategies, while people at southwestern sites such as Turner and Fort Ancient maintained a more corporate orientation through much of the Middle Woodland period. The recognition of this dimension of variation among Ohio Hopewell peoples has important implications for the study of the evolution of middle-range societies.

The Evolution and Persistence of Ceramic Motifs in Northern Georgia

1950 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Wauchope
Keyword(s):  
Woodland Period ◽  
Previous Article ◽  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Early Woodland ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Frequency Peak

Stamped or impressed designs on pottery from a group of relatively early sites in northern Georgia provide new data on the origin of several well known motifs of later times, and add to the evidence for a considerable cultural continuity between the archaeological phases of this area.In a previous article for american antiquity (Vol. XIV, pp. 201-9), I summarized the general ceramic sequence in the Etowah Drainage. Fabric impressed pottery seems to be the first majority ware in this area. It gradually decreased in popularity as Mossy Oak Simple Stamped increased and Deptford Bold and Linear Check Stamped appeared. The last named, together with Deptford Simple Stamped, became majority types during Late Archaic or Early Woodland times. In the meantime Woodstock Stamped and Woodstock Incised pottery appeared, but did not reach their frequency peak until Early Swift Creek had presumably degenerated into its later form near the end of the Middle Woodland period. Napier Stamped appeared at this time. Napier and Woodstock pottery strongly influenced the Early Mississippi "Etowah" wares, both stamped and incised. In the latter part of this period, Savannah Stamped intruded briefly, but the Etowah types persisted and finally deteriorated in carefulness of execution, thus evolving into the Lamar pottery of Late Mississippi time.

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.

Phytolith Evidence for the Early Presence of Maize in Southern Quebec

2015 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Gates St-Pierre ◽  
Robert G. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Late Woodland Period ◽  
Middle Woodland Period ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
New Crop ◽  
St Lawrence River

It has long been believed that maize (Zea maysspp.mays) was introduced in Quebec at around A.D. 1000, at the very beginning of the Late Woodland period. The identification and dating of maize phytoliths extracted from the carbonized encrustations on the interior surfaces of Native American ceramic vessels from three sites located in the St. Lawrence River valley, namely the Hector-Trudel, Station-4, and Place-Royale sites, indicate that this cultigen was rather introduced in that area during the Early Middle Woodland period, ca.400 to 200 B.C. These sites provide the northernmost and possibly the oldest evidence of maize consumption in northeastern North America. More samples of maize phytoliths from the same two sites were dated to the late Middle Woodland period, between A.D. 600 and 800, suggesting an increase in the ubiquity and importance of this new crop in the subsistence strategies. Moreover, the identification of an unknown variety of maize points toward the possibility that a new local variety of maize appeared during the process. This process might have been accompanied by a more intensive and complementary collecting of wild rice. Finally, the results support the hypothesis of an in situ origin of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians.

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