Eastern Agricultural Complex: Initial Domestication
2000-1000BC Upper South Lower Midwest (Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky,
Tennessee) Plant Species: Goosefoot,
Marsh Elder, Squash Sunflower, Maygrass, Knotweed, Little Barley. Goosefoot(Lambs Quarter): Seeds and edible
greens, domestication shown by changes in seed shape. Sunflower: oily seeds, marked by seed enlargement. Squash:
starchy seeds, rinds used as containers, marked by seed enlargement and changes
in rind structure. Marsh Elder: oily seeds, seed enlargement. Maygrass (canary
seed): starchy seeds, cultivation suggested by seeds found outside
natural-range. Knotweed: starchy seeds, cultivation from longer and smoother
seeds.
Eastern Woodlands: 1000BC 3 things: pottery
manufacture, cultivation of plants, internment under funerary mounds. Container revolution
Early Woodland burial mounds and Adena
culture: 1000BC-100AD central Ohio Valley, most marked
ceremonialism, burial mounds, buried with objects, tools, simple in early to
middle, late Adena got more elaborate, Robbins Mound(Kent) burial chamber more
than one body.
Charnel house burials.
Sometimes painted bodies.
Middle Woodland Ohio Hopewell Earthworks: 200BC-400AD Eastern North
America, stands out for flamboyant burial customs, complex exchange network.
Chillicothe (Ross County, Ohio) mounds in certain shapes. Hopewell mound here
after which culture is named. Mound
City (Ross County): north of
Chillicothe, charnel house indicated by post-holes, Great Mica Grave (a
high-status internment on charnel floor) found in charnel house under a
mound. Harness Mounds (Ross
County): southeast, large multiroom
charnel here. Seip Mounds: southwest,
dwellings with abundant evidence of craft activities like mica cutouts. Fort Ancient (Warren County, Ohio): hilltop enclosure, formally believed to be
defensive fortification, now ceremonial.
Helena Mounds (Helena Crossing, Arkansas): log tombs found inside, offerings buried with deceased. Pinson mound center (Tenn) largest of
Hopwellian centers. Marksville culture (lower miss valley) most important. Big Men enhanced power through
exchange.Newark(Ohio): earthworks and mounds, precise and aligned with moon.
Weeden Island Culture, AD200-900, house found where
presumably a leader lived on top of mound, buried and house dismantled covered
in earth. McKeithen Site (Columbia County, Florida) 200-700AD, platform mounds
to observe rising sun with buildings on top. One a residence, one Possible
charnel house.
Mississipian Culture: Distinctive social and religious
institutions set Mississippian apart from other cultures. 3 cults, chiefly
warfare cult (southern), earth/fertility, ancestor worship.
Late Woodland: combined with Mississippian to form
Oneota Complex, interaction with distant sites.
Mississippian Polities: Cahokia, Moundville
The Natchez Chiefdom: ca 1698-1730, “Great Sun”-
Principal chief, “feathered diadem”- symbol of his high office. Lower Miss. Le
Page de Pratz lived with, stratified led by chiefton. Coosa, Hernando de Soto