Archaeology of the Southeastern United States

Paleoindian to World War I

Judith A Bense

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781315433790
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Scienze sociali
• Categoría: Archeologia

A chronological summary of major stages in Southeastern United States' development, this unique textbook overviews the region's archaeology from 20, 000 years ago to World War I. Early chapters review the history and development of archaeology as a discipline. The following chapters, organized in chronological order, highlight the archaeological characteristics of each featured period. The book's final chapters discuss new directions in Southeastern archaeology, including trends in teaching, research, the business of archaeology, and the public's growing interest. This versatile text perfectly suits undergraduates or anyone requiring a hands-on guide for self-exploration of the fascinating region. This is the first-of-its kind book to summarize Southeastern archaeology. It includes both prehistoric and historic archaeology. Its easy-to-read format is filled with valuable research information. Each chapter is chronologically organized and fully referenced. It has broad audience appeal.

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INTRODUCTION

2Most of the archaeology in the Southeast is not obvious to the nonarchaeologist living in or visiting the region. Most of the archaeological sites are hidden under dense vegetation or buried under layers of sediment that have washed into the river valleys. Unlike in the southwestern United States where many sites, such as pueblos, can be seen from miles away, and artifacts have laid on the ground in plain view for centuries, in the Southeast, one must usually dig to find archaeological sites. For the last 15,000 yr, this region of the United States has generally had abundant rainfall and moderate temperatures, which have fostered not only human populations, but animals and plants that consequently have covered human artifacts. Forty-feet tall mounds often cannot be seen from 100 ft away in the dense flood plain forest, and archaeologists regularly have to dig just to look for sites. Many archaeological sites have been reduced in height and size from repeated clearing and plowing. Due to these factors, the archaeology in the Southeast has been one of the better-kept secrets of the region.

Archaeologists of the Southeast realize that archaeological sites are abundant and hold important information about the people who have lived there for at least the last 12,000 yr. A wide range of archaeological sites and artifacts lie in the dense forests, in plowed fields, or under city parking lots. I have vivid memories of placing small test units on low knolls in the Tombigbee River flood plain, surrounded by swamps for miles, and finding they were mounds of human garbage 6 ft thick that had been accumulating for more than 6000 yr with deposits extending several feet into the modern water table. I also have walked to a complex of 13 mounds, some of which were 30 ft high, on an island in the delta of the Mobile River with vegetation so thick that I did not see these great mounds until we started walking uphill. I have watched backhoes pull up asphalt on the streets of Pensacola, Florida, and expose pristine British and Spanish Colonial cannons, building foundations, and 250-yr-old wells. Glen Doran found a 6,000-yr-old Indian cemetery at the bottom of a pond being drained for a development in central Florida. Many of the burials had preserved brain matter within. Biologists have cloned the DNA from these sources, the oldest human DNA ever recovered. Over and over archaeologists document the richness of southeastern archaeology.

The archaeological record in the Southeast contains many clues to how humans operate and learn to deal with the changing times. Unfortunately, the archaeological sites in the Southeast are being damaged at an unprecedented rate, partially due to the camouflage of vegetation and sediment, but also because most people do not know that archaeological sites are in their midst, or that they are important. As you read this book, or even look at the pictures, I think you will be surprised at the quality and information value of the archaeology in the Southeast. Two of my main purposes in writing this book are to describe the archaeology in the Southeast and what archaeologists have learned from studying it.

3Another important purpose of this book is to describe the environmental changes that have occurred in the southeastern United States while humans have been living there. Significant environmental changes have influenced the development of Indian culture. The current natural environment and weather patterns of the Southeast have existed for only about 2000 to 3000 yr. When Indian people first arrived at least 2,000 yr ago, the Southeast was a much different place. Their ancestors had crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia during the last glacial period, walked down the corridor between the Canadian ice sheets, and followed the Mississippi and other river valleys into the Southeast. At that time, sea level was at least 300 ft lower than today, hardwood forests covered most of the region, and south Florida was a desert with sand dunes. Animals that are now extinct, such as the giant mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, and giant sloths, roamed the forests and savannahs. The change in climate from glacial conditions to the interglacial conditions of today caused many changes in the weather, plants, animals, and resources that are important to humans. Chapter 2 is devoted to explaining the evolution of the modern southeastern environment and landscape to provide a background for understanding the changes in the ways of life of people living there.

People of two distinct cultural traditions have lived in the Southeast: American Indian and European-American. This book contains a summary of the archaeology of the prehistoric (pre-Columbian) and historic (post-Columbian) societies that have lived in what is now called the southeastern United States. Because Indians have lived in this region for much longer than European-Americans (about 10,000 yr versus 400 yr) and, historically, archaeologists have studied prehistoric Indian cultures longer that European-American cultures, more is known about prehistoric than historic archaeology. Consequently, about 60% of this book is devoted to the archaeology of prehistoric Indian societies in the southeastern United States. Reflecting the shorter time span and research attention, only about 25% of the book is allocated to historic period archaeology. The remainder of the book is dedicated primarily to background information and references.

This book is a chronological summary of the archaeology in the southeastern United States. It begins with the earliest and least complex cultural stage, the Paleoindian (about 13,000–8000 B.C.), and ends with the latest and most complex cultural stage, the American (A.D. 1865–1917). As shown in the chronological chart in Fig. 1.1, there are four prehistoric Indian cultural stages. They are defined by changes in technology, material culture, and sociopolitical organization. The prehistoric cultural stages are the Paleoindian (13,000?–8000 B.C.), the Archaic (8000–1000 B.C.), the Woodland (1000 B.C.–A.D. 1000), and the Mississippian (A.D. 1000–1500). Each cultural stage is divided into two or three internal periods. During these 15 millennia, Indian culture evolved from small, mobile bands of hunters and gatherers to large groups of relatively sedentary agricultural societies with a chiefdom or “pre-state” level of sociopolitical organization.

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FIGURE 1.1 Chronology of the Southeast.

Paleoindian is the first recognized cultural stage in North America, as well as in the Southeast, and it is characterized by well-made lanceolate-shaped stone spear points that were used to hunt many animals, including some large Pleistocene animals such as elephants and bison, which are now extinct. The weather was cooler than at present, hardwoods covered the region, and sea level was rising relatively rapidly from 300 to 90 ft below the modern level. While there is a scarcity of firmly dated Paleoindian sites in the Southeast, there is no lack of sites, as they number in the hundreds. For most of the Paleoindian stage, people appear to have practiced a conservative, hunting-based, mobile way of life in a few major river valleys in the northern part of the Southeast. During the last 1000 yr of the Paleoindian stage, the population expanded outward and the first internal cultural distinctions developed. Societies adapted to different local conditions and became more isolated. Late Paleoindians had a generalized, flexible economy that enabled them to move around the region and take advantage of the scattered and diverse resources of the Southeast.

5The next stage of cultural development in the Southeast was the Archaic stage, which lasted from 8000 to 1000 B.C. It was the longest stage of cultural development in the Southeast. During the middle of the Archaic stage, postglacial warming peaked and southeastern climate has been generally cooler ever since. Sea level rose about 90 ft to near its present position, and there was a change in weather patterns that changed the forests of the southern portion of the region from hardwoods to the fire-maintained pine forests of today. Key Archaic cultural developments included the use of notched and stemmed triangular stone spear points, containers of stone and pottery, and ground and polished stone artifacts. During this stage, the first mounds and earthworks were constructed and long-distance trade was established. People fully adapted to the different geographical areas of the Southeast, developing not only a distinctive southeastern way of life, but distinctive regional cultures in different environmental zones. The Archaic stage is important to archaeologists because of the increased number of archaeological sites and amount of materials.

The Woodland stage existed between 1000 B.C. and A.D. 1000. People concentrated in river valleys and along the coastal strip, pottery diffused throughout the region, earth mounds were built and used for burial at an unprecedented rate, elaborate mortuary rituals developed, long-distance trade increased, and many plants were cultivated and stored. While all of these characteristics originated in the Archaic stage, they were more common during the Woodland. In the early Woodland period, pottery technology rapidly advanced and spread throughout the Southeast. The technological improvements allowed pottery containers to be made in a variety of shapes and sizes that could be used for direct heat cooking, storing, and serving food. By the middle Woodland period, ornamental pottery vessels were made and ceramic art had reached a high level of development. Mound building first flourished during the middle Woodland in association with the spread of a ceremonial complex called Hopewellian. Some mounds were for human burials, often the local elite, while others were platforms for special activities. The tradition of placing personal items with special high-status burials was practiced in all periods.

During the late Woodland in the Mississippi Valley, the functions of mound centers in some areas expanded as they became sociopolitical centers for local societies. Platform mounds became the dominant type. The elite resided on many, and others were used for special activities. Platform mound centers in this region became the hub of social, political, and religious events, while the general population was dispersed in the countryside in relatively small settlements.

Sociopolitical organization of the middle and late Woodland periods was characterized by relatively equal, unranked kin groups that could rise to power through the ambitions of self-made leaders called Big Men and Big Women. This triggered sociopolitical advancement from the band to the tribal level of complexity. The high status earned by specific extended families was 6temporary, however, and power could shift when the leader died. In the Mississippi Valley during the late Woodland, it appears that the leaders of the ruling families had begun to centralize power and were able to pass social rank to descendant generations.

The Mississippian stage (A.D. 1000–1500) was the last prehistoric Indian stage of cultural development. Its hallmarks are the development and spread of the chiefdom level of sociopolitical organization, the florescence of a belief system called the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, and the expansion of platform mound centers. During the Mississippian stage, agriculture was practiced in areas with good soil, especially in river valleys. Mississippian agricultural societies were composed of small family farms. Maize, beans, squash, sunflower, marsh elder, and gourd were grown in fields using crop rotation. Agricultural Mississippians were relatively sedentary, but also relied heavily on wild foods from flood plains near their farms. Along the coasts, farming played a much smaller role, if any, and hunting, gathering, and fishing continued to support the growing population. Cultivation was limited to scattered small plots that could be used for only a few seasons. People spent most of the year in small groups tending the scattered farm plots and harvesting wild marine and terrestrial foods.

During the Mississippian stage, most southeastern societies evolved to the chiefdom level of sociopolitical organization. A chiefdom is a political organization of several communities controlled by one extended family with centralized power. The most distinct characteristic of chiefdoms is the pervasive inequality of people. The most powerful positions are held by a small group of related people. People had to be born into the chiefly family to obtain the most powerful positions; this is one of the main differences between the tribal and chiefdom levels of sociopolitical organization. The mechanics of the spread of Mississippian culture are not well understood, but it is thought that defense, imitation, and migration were important.

The main themes of the Mississippian Southeastern Ceremonial Complex were ancestor worship, war, and fertility; these themes were expressed in a myriad of symbols and objects. This complex flourished in the middle Mississippian, between about A.D. 1200 and 1400, when rituals and mound building reached their peak. The roots of this belief system can be traced back to the Archaic and Woodland stages of southeastern Indian cultural development, and elements still survive today. It was during the middle Mississippian that more complex chiefdoms formed in many areas and the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex reached its peak. Sociopolitical centers of complex chiefdoms usually underwent a rapid expansion, and platform mound building reached its highest level in Southeastern prehistory, as did the use of the rituals and paraphernalia of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex to establish power and authority. There were many similarities between the mound centers of complex chiefdoms across the Southeast, but there were also local differences in mounds, preferred iconography, and specific mortuary 7practices. Warfare began to replace ceremonialism as the primary means of political control during this period. The late Mississippian period was characterized in many areas by political turmoil and population relocations.

The next stage of culture in the Southeast began abruptly with the arrival in A.D. 1500 of Europeans, and it ended in 1821 with a change of ownership from European countries to the United States of America. The archaeological features of the European stage are the introduction of European and African materials and settlements, the incorporation of European items into Indian material culture, and Indian sociopolitical reorganization. Spain claimed all of the Southeast during the first portion of the European stage. There were several early Spanish explorations of the region in the 1500s, but because nothing as valuable as the gold and silver of Mexico and South America was discovered, the Southeast was used as a buffer zone to protect the rich area to the south. Despite several attempts, only one successful Spanish settlement was established in the Contact period. This was St. Augustine, founded in 1565. Archaeological research at Spanish exploration sites and the early settlements indicates that the Spaniards tried to establish a Spanish way of life in the Southeast, and that Indians were an important part of their households and community support.

One result of the early Spanish explorations and settlement attempts was a severe reduction in Indian population as a result of European and African diseases. Catholic missions became an important part of Spain’s hold on the Southeast in the 1600s. After a series of mission failures, Indian groups along the Atlantic coast and north central Florida began to accept missionaries into their communities. Franciscan missions to the Apalachee in north Florida were particularly successful, and mission archaeology has shown that, at least on some Apalachee missions, a high standard of living in the Spanish style was maintained.

In 1670, England encroached on Spain’s claim to the Southeast and established Charles Town and the Carolina colony on the Atlantic coast. The English Colonial economy in the Southeast thrived on the private deerskin trade and slave-labor plantations. The French established the colony of Louisiana. They also developed a deerskin trade business, but it was run by the government. The Spanish hold on the Southeast was limited to Florida during the end of the European stage, and it became a refuge for Creeks and Africans. The Seminole emerged from these immigrants.

The last stage of cultural development in the Southeast is the American stage (A.D. 1821–1917). The key archaeological features of this period are a severe reduction of Indian materials and sites, industrial mass production of European-American materials, and an increase in urban archaeological deposits. Most of the Indian population in the Southeast was forcibly removed from the Southeast between 1828 and 1835 and relocated on reservations west of the Mississippi River. Immediately afterward, European-Americans spread rapidly into the interior of the Southeast, establishing agricultural plantations 8and small farms. The Civil War resulted in serious social and economic changes and saw the destruction of most infrastructure in the region and the abolition of slavery. Most plantations were converted to tenancy or broken into small farms. African-American culture developed as their societies became more consolidated after emancipation.

Historical archaeology is beginning to unravel the cultural realities of the Antebellum period (pre-Civil War) of the American stage. The most frequent entity studied has been the plantation. Studies of African-American culture before the Civil War have focused on plantations, although a few studies of African-American urban communities, both free and slave, have been conducted. There has been growing archaeological interest in Indian culture during the Antebellum period, especially the Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee, and this research is beginning to document how these groups coped with the increasing European-American pressure of this period.

Archaeologists studying the Victorian period (Civil War to World War I) have focused on the development of rural European-American or “southern” culture. Studies of small farms are revealing how European-American farming families adapted to the effects of the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. A few archaeological studies of small towns and cities also have been conducted. Industrial archaeology is revealing how towns and cities grew around railroad yards, steam-driven factories, and wharfs. Archaeological studies of African-American urban neighborhoods and segregated towns during the Victorian period reflect not only their social and economic conditions, but the coalescence of African and European influences into modern African-American culture. There is a significant gap in the documentary record of this culture, and historical archaeology is making an important contribution to filling the void.

The volume of archaeological sites and materials takes a great leap during the Victorian period, especially in towns and cities. The Industrial Revolution facilitated mass production of consumer goods, and there was a dramatic increase in the amount of materials in all but the poorest households. People purchased and used thousands of items of glass, pottery, and metal during this time, much of which went into the archaeological record of their individual house sites.

Over 15,000 yr of human residence in the southeastern United States has resulted in a tremendous archaeological record in the region, and much of it has been revealed and interpreted by archaeologists. The chapters that follow detail the sites and artifacts that have been studied and the theories that have been constructed to explain them. Remember that new information is constantly being produced. Undoubtedly most of the explanations given here will be modified in the future. Stay tuned!

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GEOGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION

KEY GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES
Sandy Coastal Plain
Rocky Interior Highlands
Forest Belts

KEY LANDSCAPE CHANGES IN LAST 20,000 YEARS
Shift from Glacial to Interglacial Conditions
Sea Level Rose 300–390 ft
Warming Peak 6000–4000 B.C.
Modern Climate Established 1000–2000 B.C.

10INTRODUCTION AN...