Late Woodland Research Articles

Correlation of regional late woodland triangle projectile point variation and native American ethnic group territories in the central middle Atlantic

The shapes and sizes of 983 Late Woodland triangular projectile points from four indigenous Native American different ethnic groups of the central Middle Atlantic region (Unami Lenapi – Lower Delaware Valley, Munsee Lenape – Upper Delaware Valley, Susquehannock – Lower Susquehanna Valley, Nanticoke – Lower Delmarva Peninsula) and one archaeological complex (Shenks Ferry – Lower Susquehanna Valley) were compared using various univariate statistical analytics, including the difference-of-mean and difference-of proportion tests, to see if there were any statistically significant morphological differences among them. There were none, even though earlier studies of small samples with anecdotal observations and comparisons stated that there were observable differences among the projectile points of the various ethnic groups. This study's findings refute the axiomatic assumption of traditional normative culture approaches that there must be identifiable stylistic variation in projectile points among different ethnic groups. In the case of Late Woodland triangular projectile points in the central Middle Atlantic region, the technological prerequisites of shock hunting with bows and stone-tipped arrows limited inter-ethnic group variation in projectile point forms. However, use of poisons may have affected overall projectile point sizes.

Late Holocene radiocarbon dates for the Welling site (33CS441): A multi-component site in Coshocton County, Ohio

The Welling site is a multi-component site located along the Walhonding River in east-central Ohio. Excavations conducted by Kent State University (KSU) in 1960 produced evidence for an early Paleoindian Clovis component, which appeared to be stratigraphically separated from later Holocene occupations. A number of charred wood samples were collected from the Clovis level, but, likely due to their extremely small size, there was no attempt made to obtain radiocarbon dates at the time. The recent transfer of the collection from KSU to the Ohio History Connection (OHC) provided the opportunity to reassess this material. All the samples are from deciduous species, but given the documented presence of all of the species in Late Pleistocene forests and the possibility that the sample represented only those species brought to the site for use as firewood, we selected two samples for AMS radiocarbon dating. The resulting dates indicate the wood was burned in fires during the Late Woodland and Post-Contact periods. These results provide additional evidence for the difficulty in obtaining reliable dates for Paleoindian sites.

Late Woodland settlement ecology of the Appalachian Summit

ABSTRACT The Late Woodland (ca. AD 800–1500) was a time of socioeconomic and environmental change in the Appalachian Summit. Changing climatic conditions and the introduction of maize agriculture made permanent settlement in these high-elevation mountain landscapes possible for the first time. We adopt a settlement ecology approach to examine how Late Woodland communities situated themselves in the landscape. Drawing upon geospatial analyses of legacy datasets, we document how Late Woodland communities prioritized access to different socioeconomic resources in the New River Headwaters region of northwest North Carolina. The New River Headwaters was an important source of natural resources, including mica and copper, as well as an important corridor for the movement of people and resources throughout Eastern North America. Our analyses demonstrate that Late Woodland communities balanced access to arable land, copper sources, and long-distance trade routes when situating their settlements. Larger sites had access to more land suited for maize agriculture than smaller sites. The largest sites in the region were also well-positioned with nearby access to copper sources and trade routes along the New River. Regional approaches to Late Woodland occupation in the Appalachian Summit reveal the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment in mountain landscapes.

Archaeology and the Meanderings of the Annapolis River: A View from the Boswell Site

Boswell (BfDf-08) is the first precontact archaeological site to be excavated along the Annapolis River, in north-central Nova Scotia. Therefore, it is the baseline for our understanding of former Indigenous occupation for this entire drainage system. Thus far, the site has revealed a cultural sequence beginning with the Transitional (or Terminal) Archaic (ca. 4100–2700 BP), followed by Middle and Late Woodland (ca. 2500–1500 BP) occupations. Subsistence activities at the site included fishing, hunting of beaver and birds, and the collection of edible berries and nuts. The deeply stratified sediments at the site give an indication of why so few sites and private collections have been recorded along the Annapolis River. Based on the Boswell excavation, the authors recommend a new strategy for future archaeological work in this understudied part of the province.

The Visibility of Sound: Acoustic Archaeology in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Waterfalls are documented among Indigenous peoples as settings for the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and locations sacred to life transitions. Eastern Woodlands ethnographic literature identifies waterfalls as places where life emerges in the presence of danger, requiring the acknowledgement of those who travel near them. In the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, ceramic-bearing Middle and Late Woodland sites near named waterfalls are associated with small sites located outside the topographic parameters of modeled site locations and containing non-local or unique objects. Sound mapping with calibrated decibel meters, survey-grade GPS, and inverse distance weighted interpolation demonstrate a correspondence between the location of the small sites and natural sound magnification. The small sites and the deposited objects may represent the offerings of travelers made aware of the sacred/dangerous place by the sound of the waterfall. Acoustic archaeology is introduced as a practice that takes into consideration sensory experience as central to place identity.

Chronology for Mississippian and Oneota Occupations at Aztalan and the Lake Koshkonong Locality

The Middle Mississippian component at Aztalan was a mixed, Late Woodland / Mississippian occupation sited within a heavily fortified habitation and mound center that is located on a tributary of the Rock River in Wisconsin. It represents the northernmost large Cahokian-related village recorded. The Oneota Lake Koshkonong Locality of the Rock River drainage is located approximately 20 km south of Aztalan, and it consists of a 25 km2 area along the northwest shore with a small cluster of habitation settlements. Sixty-eight radiocarbon measurements have been obtained from Aztalan, and 52 from Oneota settlements in the Lake Koshkonong Locality. We discuss how to best interpret this dataset, and we use Bayesian chronological modeling to analyze these dates. The results suggest that (1) Aztalan's Late Woodland (Kekoskee phase) occupation began in the AD 900s or early AD 1000s, (2) Aztalan's Mississippian occupation ceased in the AD 1200s, (3) Oneota occupations at Lake Koshkonong began after AD 1050 and were established by the AD 1200s, and (4) Oneota occupations at Lake Koshkonong continued after Aztalan's Mississippian abandonment until at least the late AD 1300s. Additionally, the results demonstrate that Aztalan was fortified with a palisade with bastions for much of the Mississippian occupation, suggesting a contested presence in a multiethnic landscape.

Patterns of Antemortem Tooth Loss in Late Prehistoric West-central Tennessee

The later prehistoric subsistence-settlement pattern in the Kentucky Lake Reservoir (KLR) of northern west-central Tennessee is of interest as human occupation inexplicably terminates by AD 1450 as part of a larger regional depopulation. Antemortem tooth loss (ATL) collectively and by tooth type was identified in four site samples from the KLR. These are a Late Woodland (AD 600-900) sample (Hobbs) and three Middle Mississippian period (AD 1100- 1400) hierarchically organized and presumptively maize agriculturalist samples (Link/Slayden, Gray Farm , Thompson Village). ATL prevalence in the Hobbs sample is consistent with a native crop and seasonal foraging economy. The ATL in the Link sample is more congruent with the pre-maize Late Woodland sample than the essentially contemporaneous Gray Farm site sample. Thompson Village, a later-dated satellite community of the Gray Farm polity, exhibits significantly fewer ATL than the Gray Farm sample. This may flag climate-influenced agricultural shortfall of dietary carbohydrates later in the occupation sequence. Additionally, males in the Gray Farm site sample have significantly more ATL than males in the other two Mississippian samples. The patterns suggest regional, possibly shortfall mitigated, differences in maize intensification with a polity-specific male-focused maize consumption in the Gray Site.

The Susquehannocks: New Perspectives on Settlement and Cultural Identity

The Susquehannocks: New Perspectives on Settlement and Cultural Identity

Reconstructing the Coles Creek Settlement System: The View from the Hinterlands

Abstract Archaeological investigations in the Lower Mississippi Valley continue to demonstrate a penchant for studying mound-and-plaza sites at the expense of the less conspicuous villages and hamlets where the majority of the populace is presumed to have resided. Acknowledging this bias, this article contributes a comparative study of 10 nonmound Terminal Woodland period Coles Creek sites. Following a site-by-site discussion, a preliminary characterization of the complete Late Woodland settlement system is presented, focusing on site size, site layout, and immediate environment. The results underscore the importance of determining whether Coles Creek communities were organized as part of a settlement hierarchy or heterarchy, which has far-ranging implications that affect how we interpret everything from subsistence economics and sociopolitical organization to meanings, beliefs, and worldview of the residents of this region during late prehistory.

Let's start with something Small: An evaluation of social learning and scaling practices in Great Lakes potting communities during the Late Woodland

This paper analyses decorative data from Late Woodland ceramic assemblages to investigate scaling practices and its role in learning experiences. Ceramic samples from Middle Ontario Iroquoian and Late Ontario Iroquoian villages were divided into four size classes based on a neck diameter/thickness ratio: Very Small, Small, Medium, Large. A motif distribution analysis and a microstylistic study of element width were then conducted to evaluate the relationship between decorative practices and size dimensions. The results of the motif distribution indicate differences associated with decorating smaller and larger pots, as well as decorative similarities. The results from Student t and ANOVA statistics do not indicate statistical differences related to element width means for Very Small pots. Overall, the findings suggest that beginner potters began their pottery experience by focusing on making smaller vessels, which allowed them to establish a basis for achieving pottery proficiency later in their lives. This paper proposes a methodology to strengthen understanding of social learning traditions in the Great Lakes that is applicable across spatiotemporal contexts.

Effigy mounds and rock art of midcontinental North America: Shared iconography, shared stories

The effigy mounds of the Upper Midwest and the Ohio Valley long have been regarded as distinct and independent cultural developments. A review of effigy mound iconography in both regions reveals similarities suggesting that they are elements of a shared cultural tradition. Comparisons with rock art imagery from the Upper Midwest and Missouri, the inferred centers of this artistic and ceremonial florescence, reveal co-occurrences of specific motifs and provide additional evidence of cultural connections among the Late Woodland to early Late Precontact societies inhabiting the lower Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio river valleys. Oral traditions of Native American groups with documented connections to these regions allow this rich corpus of imagery to be understood as key episodes in their genesis stories.

Integrative analysis of DNA, macroscopic remains and stable isotopes of dog coprolites to reconstruct community diet

Paleofeces or coprolites are often used to reconstruct diet at archaeological sites, usually using macroscopic analyses or targeted DNA amplification and sequencing. Here we present an integrative analysis of dog coprolites, combining macroscopic analyses, stable isotope measurements, and DNA shotgun sequencing to examine diet and health status. Dog coprolites used in this study were recovered from the Janey B. Goode and East Saint Louis archaeological sites, both of which are located in the American Bottom, an extensive Mississippi River floodplain in Southwestern Illinois. Based on the context of recovery, coprolites are assigned to the Late Woodland and Terminal Late Woodland periods (ca. 600–1050 AD). Given the scarcity of human remains from this time period, these dog coprolites can be useful as a proxy for understanding human diet during the Late Woodland period. We find that the Late Woodland dogs consumed a variety of fish as well as bird and plant taxa, possibly including maize, and also harbored intestinal parasites and pathogenic bacteria. By sequencing the fecal microbiome of the coprolites, we find some similarities to modern dog microbiomes, as well as specific taxa that can be used to discriminate between modern and ancient microbiomes, excluding soil contaminants. As dogs are often used as a surrogate to assess human diet, humans living with these dogs likely had a similar diet and were affected by similar parasites. These analyses, when integrated, show a more comprehensive view of ancient dog and human diet and health in the region during the initial expansion of maize agriculture than any individual method could alone.

Geophysical Detection and Assessment of Leveled Mounds: An Example from the Upper Mississippi Valley

Most earthen burial mounds of eastern North America have been destroyed—or have they? We review geophysical methods for assessing whether leveled mounds retain intact deposits or features. Magnetic survey holds promise for locating and evaluating leveled mounds because it is rapid and sensitive to magnetic variations associated with anticipated features such as pits and deposits of mound fill. As a case study, we discuss our magnetic survey of the Gast Farm site (13LA12) in eastern Iowa. The survey covered 8.64 ha, encompassing loci of one previously reported mound and possible geometric earthworks as well as Middle and Late Woodland habitation areas. Interpretation of survey results incorporated quantitative differentiation of magnetic anomaly types using GIS techniques, along with standard visual inspection. We found no evidence of geometric earthworks but identified at least six leveled mounds. Displaced mound fill appears to account for the earthwork-like features. We conclude that leveled mounds are detectable and may retain subsurface integrity. Their associated features, including burials, may be identifiable even when above-ground evidence has disappeared.

Interview with Professor Ashley Dumas – University of West Alabama

Interview with Professor Ashley Dumas – University of West Alabama Prof. Ashley Dumas has a rich career and a significant scientific repertory. A graduate of the University of South Alabama (1996), Prof. Dumas earned her Ph.D. from the University of Alabama in 2007 with the topic “The Role of Salt in the Late Woodland to Mississippian Transition in Southwest Alabama.” She later served as an assistant researcher at the Center for Archaeological Studies, and as an Assistant Instructor, at the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, University of South Alabama. Between 2009 and 2014 she was Assistant Director of the Black Belt Museum in the Division of Educational Outreach and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the Department of History and Social Sciences, University of West Alabama. Afterwards, until 2016, she held the position of Assistant Professor of Anthropology, at the Department of History and Social Sciences, Director of the Fort Tombecbe Archaeological Site, and Curator of Archeology with the Black Belt Museum, University of West Alabama. She is currently an Associate Professor of Anthropology, at the Department of History and Social Sciences, Director of the Fort Tombecbe Archaeological Site and Curator of Archeology with the Black Belt Museum, University of West Alabama.

Indicators for Interactions from Legacy Worked and Unworked Faunal Assemblages from the Quackenbush Site, a Late Woodland Site in the Kawartha Lakes Region, Ontario

The Quackenbush site (BdGm-l) is located in what is now Ontario, at the northeastern limit of the area known to have been occupied by the Huron-Wendat pre-dispersal and visited by the Anishinaabeg of the Canadian Shield. Excavations of portions of the site half a century ago uncovered parts of three longhouses and midden deposits. We generated the data presented here as part of a larger scholarly effort aimed at analyzing and writing up all of the material culture from the site. We investigate ways in which faunal remains can be used to inform on the nature of the activities conducted at the site and to trace past interactions between the site’s occupants and people living on the Canadian Shield and in the St. Lawrence Valley at that time, finding tentative evidence for the former and more conclusive evidence for the latter. We hypothesize that people originating from the St. Lawrence Valley were present at the Quackenbush site and making bone artifacts as a way of maintaining or negotiating identity.

Over the hills and far away: Middle to Late Woodland archaeology and toolstone conveyance at Hyre Mound (46RD1), West Virginia

The archaeology of the eastern West Virginia uplands remains significantly understudied compared to other areas of the Appalachian Plateau. Bettye Broyles’ excavations at the Hyre Mound site (46RD1) in 1963 recovered a variety of artifacts within and directly adjacent to a burial mound but the excavations remain largely unpublished. We provide a report of Broyles’ excavations, new radiocarbon dates, and an analysis of the lithic raw material frequencies at the site. Material culture and ceremonial practices suggest the initial mound construction dates to the Middle Woodland period. Radiocarbon dating of cultural features confirms that people also used the locality during the Late Woodland period. Lithic raw material frequencies indicate a preference for non-local, Hillsdale chert found ∼100 km from the site throughout both time periods. The directionality of toolstone conveyance supports existing models that emphasize the quality and location of raw material sources and the orientation of the region’s physiography.

Isotopic Evidence for Garden Hunting and Resource Depression in the Late Woodland of Northeastern North America

Resource depression and garden hunting are major topics of archaeological interest, with important implications for understanding cultural and environmental change. Garden hunting is difficult to study using traditional zooarchaeological approaches, but isotopic analyses of animals may provide a marker for where and when people exploited nondomesticated animals that fed on agricultural resources. To realize the full potential of isotopic approaches for reconstructing garden hunting practices—and the impacts of agriculture on past nondomesticated animal populations more broadly—a wider range of species, encompassing many “ecological perspectives,” is needed. We use bone-collagen isotopic compositions of animals (n= 643, 23 taxa, 39 sites) associated with the Late Woodland (~AD 900−1650) in what is now southern Ontario to test hypotheses about the extent to which animals used maize, an isotopically distinctive plant central to subsistence practices of Iroquoian-speaking peoples across the region. Results show that although some taxa—particularly those that may have been hard to control—had substantial access to maize, most did not, regardless of the animal resource requirements of local populations. Our findings suggest that this isotopic approach to detecting garden hunting will be more successful when applied to smaller-scale societies.

Colluvial deposition of anthropogenic soils at the Ripley site, Ripley, New York

The Ripley site is a Late Woodland through Historic period Iroquoian site located on a bluff overlooking the southern shore of Lake Erie in Western New York in the town of Ripley. Numerous authors have mentioned the presence of a midden along the eastern slope of the site, where prehistoric inhabitants cast refuse down the slope toward Young’s Run. The primary focus of this research is to examine the soils along the eastern slope to determine the origins of those deposits. This research will further reconstruct the depositional processes along the backslope, footslope, and toeslope of the eastern bluff, as well as determine if cultural refuse disposal from the prehistoric occupation of the Ripley site occurred along the eastern slope.

Learning from Each Other: a Communities of Practice Approach to Decorative Traditions of Northern Iroquoian Communities in the Late Woodland

In this paper, we employ a communities of practice approach to investigate precontact childhood social learning and pottery production in the Lower Great Lakes. Until recently, there has been an implicit assumption that childhood learning involved primarily parent-child interactions. Building on current research that has begun to improve understanding of Indigenous socialization strategies, we apply a multi-scalar decorative analysis to investigate traditions of learning among potting communities in Southern Ontario and upstate New York, from ca. 900–1650 CE. Through a series of statistical analyses, we demonstrate a remarkable continuity in motif practices by child potters that is not evident among skilled potters, who were more impacted by social, demographic, and economic changes in their communities. The multi-generational tradition spanning at least 750 years leads us to suggest that child potters learned primarily in child groups through peer-to-peer learning. Although peer-to-peer learning has been observed ethnographically, this practice has often been overlooked in archaeology and warrants further inquiry.

A Partial Charred Wooden Bowl From Aztalan (47JE1), Wisconsin

Abstract Fragments of a charred wooden bowl were recovered from Aztalan during excavations by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (SHSW) in 1964. Recent advances in analytical methods facilitated a multidimensional study of these fragments. Radiocarbon-dated to cal AD 994–1154 and found in association with Late Woodland, Mississippian, and hybrid forms of ceramics, the bowl augments our understanding of perishable technologies in these cultural contexts. 3-D models of the fragments allow for a virtual reconstruction of a portion of the bowl, which was carved from a solid piece of ash. Strontium isotope analysis of the wood indicates that the bowl was manufactured from wood locally available to the people at Aztalan.