THE EASTERN WOODLANDS: 
NORTHEASTERN ARCHAIC CULTURES 
(MODULE 12A)
	
Read:	Fagan (2000:352-402)

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	A.	Thus far we have made reference to the Woodland Tradition in relation to cultural developments in the Great Plains
        and the Oneota.
	B.	What follows is a geographic sortie into the heartland of the Woodland Tradition—the Eastern Woodlands—beginning 
	    with the archaeological Northeast and concentrating on cultural developments after the Paleoindian period.
	C.	There exists a clear physiographic and ecological distinction between what we have seen in the Plains and the 
		Eastern Woodlands, i.e.:
		1.	Grassland prairies
		2.	Deciduous forests
	D.	There also exists considerable variation in the Eastern Woodlands, both in terms of space and in time:

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	E.	Characteristics of the area:
		1.	Location:
			a.	Will begin by concentrating on the northern half of the Eastern Woodlands
			b.	Northeast United States
			c.	Southeast Canada:
				(1)	Ontario
				(2)	Southern Quebec
				(3)	Canadian Maritimes
			d.	Southern boundary is Kentucky and Illinois to prairie ecotone
			e.	Roughly we are speaking of the area to the
				(1)	North of the Appalachian Mountains
				(2)	South of the Eastern Subarctic

		2.	Hydrologic systems:
			a.	Ohio River Valley
			b.	The Great Lakes, and
			c.	The St. Lawrence system
		3.	Ecology of the Eastern Woodlands:
			a.	Again, we should note that while the following indicates broad characteristics, there exists 
				considerable ecological variety.
			b.	Predominantly deciduous broadleaf forests
				(1)	Maple
				(2)	Hickory
				(3)	Oak
				(4)	Chestnut
			c.	Upland areas also had some conifers
			d.	Lowland riverine resources:
				(1)	Fish
				(2)	Mollusks
				(3)	Birds
			e.	Western margins were interspersed with savanna parkland

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	F.	Paleoindian Period in the Eastern Woodlands:
		1.	While Pleistocene big-game hunters may have been gorging themselves on mammoth and later Bison antiquus 
			in the west, their eastern cousins were consuming mastodons.
		2.	As the Pleistocene megafauna began to be replaced by more recognizable Holocene forms, people in the 
			Eastern Woodlands began to focus their subsistence strategies upon the smaller species of animals as
            well as upon locally available plant resources.
		3.	This transition in subsistence focus heralds the emergence of locally characteristic lifeways and what archaeologically 
			is called the Woodland Archaic Tradition.

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	G.	Prehistoric sequence for the Eastern Woodlands:
		1.	Following the Paleoindian period the main Eastern Woodland periods we will be talking about consist of:
			a.	ca. 8000-1000 B.C.:
				(1)	Woodland Archaic—can be further broken down into:
					(a)	Early Archaic (ca. 10/8000-6000 B.C.)
					(b)	Middle Archaic (ca. 6000-4000 B.C.)
					(c)	Late Archaic (ca. 4000-1000 B.C.)
			b.	ca. 1000-300 B.C.:
				(1)	Early Woodland
				(2)	Burial Mound I
			c.	ca. 300 B.C.-A.D. 700:
				(1)	Middle Woodland
				(2)	Burial Mound II
			d.	ca. A.D. 700-1200:
				(1)	Late Woodland (in the north and Northeast)
				(2)	Temple Mound I and/or Mississippian (in the southern area and in the Southeast)
			e.	ca. A.D. 1200-1700:
				(1)	Late Woodland (in the north and Northeast)
				(2)	Temple Mound II and/or Mississippian (in the southern area and in the Southeast)

		2.	Note that the sequence terminology depends in large part upon the area we are talking about and the 
            levels of sociocultural complexity that occurred in those areas.

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	H.	Woodland Archaic Tradition:
		1.	Dates roughly from 8000-1000 B.C.
		2.	Subsistence came to involve a broad-spectrum approach:
			a.	Hunting
			b.	Fishing
			c.	Shell fishing
			d.	Plant collecting
			e.	Some refer to the Eastern Archaic in terms of their being "professional-hunter/gatherers-in-forests"
		3.	Technology based upon:
			a.	Large, broad-blade dart points
			b.	Ground-and-polished stone (and beaten copper) tools and ornaments
		4.	As we shall see, even though the term "Archaic" has a popular connotation equating it with "primitive," there is 
			much about the Archaic that warrants praise.

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	I.	Eastern Woodlands Early Archaic:
		1.	Dates: ca. 10/8000-6000 B.C.
		2.	Generally great similarity in material culture throughout the area
		3.	Heavy woodworking tools in the Northeast
			a.	The ancestors of the Red Paint People?
			b.	Remember discussions of woodworking in the Maritime Archaic (Eastern Subarctic)
			c.	Archaeological implications of heavy woodworking tools in that area?
		4.	Milling tools found in Louisville, Kentucky
			a.	Archaeological implications of milling tools at this early period?

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	J.	Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic:
		1.	Dates: ca. 6000-4000 B.C.
		2.	Regional cultural diversity became apparent during this period of global warming
		3.	Extensive use of broad-spectrum of food sources
		4.	Ground-and-polished stone artifacts appear
		5.	Burials start showing status differentiation
		6.	Last big-game (Plano) points disappeared
		7.	Spring fishing camps found on the seacoast

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K.	Eastern Woodlands Late Archaic:
		1.	Dates: ca. 4000-1000 B.C.
		2.	Late Hypsithermal Period (still quite warm)
		3.	Late Archaic subsistence:
			a.	Evidence exists of intensive multi-focus or broad-spectrum subsistence
			b.	Period of maximum hunting-and-gathering human population in the ancient East
			c.	Intensive foraging evidence exists in the form of fish weirs (such as the Boylston Street 
				Fishweir Site)

			d.	"Primary Forest Efficiency" has been applied to the subsistence and lifeway of this time.
				(1)	Concept developed by J. R. Caldwell (1958)
				(2)	Trend and Tradition in the Prehistory of the Eastern United States (article spelling this 
					out that appeared in American Anthropological Association Memoir 88 in 1958)
				(3)	Essentially a developed form of broad-spectrum exploitation
				(4)	Late Archaic peoples were able to focus on seasonally productive aspects of their 
					forest ecosystem
				(5)	About 3000 B.C. there existed optimum Archaic situation with relatively high populations
					(a)	Able to reap more calories than they put into the food quest
					(b)	Thus, we may have a situation analogueous to that found in other "optimum habitats" 
						such as among the cultures of the Northwest Coast.
				(6)	Essentially involves a highly developed exploitative strategy employing the mast system 
					(food chain involving nut-producing trees)
				(7)	The "mast system" (not to be confused with Two Years Before the Mast) essentially entails a 
					neat "fit" within a complex food chain that enables maximum exploitation of natural 
					resources (seen in the following figure)

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	L.	Terms related to discussion of THE EASTERN WOODLANDS: NORTHEASTERN ARCHAIC CULTURES:
		1.	Eastern Woodlands: location? ecological considerations?
		2.	Woodland Archaic (ca. 8000-1000 B.C.): general characteristics?
		3.	"Professional hunter/gatherers in forests": meaning?
		4.	"Primary forest efficiency": meaning? significance?
		5.	Hypsithermal
		6.	"Bannerstones": description? possible functions?
		7.	Boyleston Street Fish Weir Site: significance?
		8.	"Mast" utilization: meaning? significance?
		9.	J. R. Caldwell: significance?
		10.	"Red Paint People": who are they? possible significance?

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