Mound Builders

As Indian groups started to settle in the Mississippi floodplain, their cultures and political systems began to intertwine, creating a complex sociopolitical structure (Page, 70). The largest polity to arise out of this area, known as the American Bottom, was Cahokia. At its height, it resembled a city, extending over five square miles, mounds and structures that towered over smaller dwellings, and a population, that some believe to have been the largest, north of Mexico, for its time (Page, 70). Estimates predict several thousand lived at the site of Cahokia, many of them elites, whose particular talents or skills, earned them the privileged title (Pauketat). Beyond its boundaries were smaller groups and

Dating to 1000 B.C., the Kolomoki complex near present-day Blakely is one of the best-known sites of these ancient civilizations. During the Mississippian Period (A.D. 800-1600), at least sixteen significant settlements dotted the Chattahoochee's banks south of the fall line. As these civilizations died because of exposure to European diseases, native survivors from other areas moved into the river valley below present-day Atlanta. (Lynn Willoughby)

a. Cahokia was a Mississippian settlement located in modern-day Illinois, which was home to around 25,000 people at its peak

The paleolithic civilizations the early period of human history from 2,500,00 through 10,000 B.C. Neolithic civilizations begun to

The Cahokia Indians were settled near modern-day St. Louis, Missouri close to the Mississippi River. Some archaeologist believe that the Cahokia once had 20,000 Natives and over 100 mounds in their village. The reason they believe in these outstanding growth in people was the land around them. Situated with land with great

Ceramic making is still a popular tradition today in the Americas, especially on Native Indian Reservations, like in Western, North Carolina. The use of ceramics, however, is quite different than the way it was used by the natives during the Middle Woodland Period. Today, pottery is mainly made for decoration or art purposes by modern day Americans, but according to Wallis (2011), about 3,000 years ago the use of pottery became a very common use and practiced tradition among the native people who lived during that time period. The Swift Creek culture and the Cherokee Indians had very similar methods in formulating ceramics. The archaeological findings of these artifacts states that one group had been more advanced designs on their vessels. This reason is most likely because of the materials that one group was able to access in their area that the other group did not have available. One group was also more traditional and spiritual in making their vessels, which caused them to create more complex designs and methods while designing their ceramics (Block 2005). By looking at the similarities of both groups pottery styles, archaeologists were able to determine the minor but very distinctive differences, that one group processed in their art, than the other. By comparing each group’s ceramics by looking at

The first time I heard about the Mound Builders, which was in this class, these people seemed like a very primitive group. What was so exciting about having the skill of piling up a bunch of dirt. Then I was able to see some of these mounds and the scale was nothing I had imagined. These mounds were huge and also contained distinct structural shapes. Tombs, houses, and religious structures were constructed in or on top of the mounds. What made the edifices even more amazing was the time period they were built. Constructed all the way back to 3000 B.C., the mounds rivaled the most advanced engineering techniques in the world.

However, with the remains of their pieces of tools and other goods across the lands in different villages it can be speculated that some groups of Native Americans had social relations with others, or had mobile groups spread across the lands. For example, the clovis was an instrument used for hunting by the Paleo-Indian groups. The Clovis and Folsom peoples, and has been found in animal and village remains across the land. Judging that their groups traveled a lot this means that they built social connections with other groups. Leaving behind many small villages of fewer people for archaeologists to excavate. Additionally, social constrictions are seen in the people who follow after the Paleo-Indian peoples who focused more on hunting and gathering, but relied heavily more on natural foods such as fruits and nuts. As a result of this gathering technique for food supply, more villages were formed beginning with the archaic peoples. I believe this had led to the evolution of larger populations in native villages as I had read throughout Plog’s book that the villages got bigger with the increased use farming agricultural goods such as maize and beans. Rather than small campsites, villages rose as a result such as the Shabik’eschee peoples in Chaco Canyon. The development of village life led to new cultural customs such as cremation of the dead and preserved

Regarding the Great Serpent mound in Ohio, this evidence suggests that a very complex and highly organized society was in place. The mounds themselves had to be created by following a complex method. It is the largest of its kind and likely required many people to construct. That would also require great organization. Inside these mounds, goods have been found that suggest a trade market. These are all traits of a complex society.

The Hopewell tradition was not a single cultural society, but a widely dispersed set of people. They worshiped a goddess by the name of spider-woman or moon goddess. Mounds were built as a ceremonial object. Which is where they buried members and worshiped. These mounds were actually made as lunar alignments and were an integral part of their highly developed social

In the book The Prehistory of Home Jerry Moore discusses the importance that home structures have had for humans over time in different places of the world. He says that “In addition to their basic and fundamental function of providing shelter from natural elements, dwellings are powerful and complex concentrates of human existence… our dwellings reflect and shape our lives” (Moore, 3). He believes that homes are representations of the existence of individual humans as well as their surroundings. Jerry Moore is successful in explaining the importance of home in archaeology throughout history with colorful examples as well as a comparison of the importance of the home in the past to the importance of the home in the future.

“The history of American Indians before European contact is broadly divided into three major periods: the Paleo-Indian period, the Archaic period (8000–1000 b.c.), and the Woodland period (1000 b.c.–1600 a.d.).”(DiNome) There is little known information about the Paleo-Indian period; however, the Paleo Indians are believed to be some of the first American Indians, not only in Florida, but in all of America. The Paleo Indians were believed to be nomads who fought and hunted with stone tools and clubs. During the Archaic period American Indians began to become more civilized. It was in the Archaic period that the American Indians began to establish a system of trading among their people. During this time the Indians also started developing migration routes to bring other Indians down to Florida from the Carolinas. Similarly to the Indians in the Paleo time period, the Indians in the Archaic period used stone tools for hunting and fighting, but they also began to utilize the use of bone tools during this time period. Another skill that the Indians started becoming more familiar with during this time period was basketry. The last period that we see in pre-contact Native American life is the Woodland period. It is called the Woodland period because during this time is when the Native Americans began farming. We see during this time the Indian settlements had begun moving closer to streams of water and rivers, because that is where the soil was good for successful

Also, for the mounds in these cities, wood and dirt was used. Unfortunately, the wood from the surrounding area was sometimes overused, which led to the eventual flooding of Cahokia. They built the mounds for many different reasons, as they served many different purposes, from functioning as burial grounds to the bases of temples and palaces. Other Native American cultures were not mound-builders, which is a very big difference. Also, the Cahokia people (as mentioned on the video) did not live in tepees, as typically thought that Native Americans did. The people of Moundville lived in “small houses composed of pole and thatch (according to the Moundville

civilization took course over thousands of years . There was a particularly interesting time when humans lived in what were referred to as ]pit dwellings]. During this time, humans were prone to eating only animals that were easily caught, with a general lack of complex grains or other vegetation in their diets. They used rudimentary tools, with sharp edges, for digging what would be their pit. These were typically 6=14 feet in diameter, and in later years were found to have elements of connection, forming make shift

In this essay I will be considering only but one of the many questions that archaeologists analyse when researching the human past. As the title suggests, did civilization, or, a term preferably used by scholars; social complexity, arise from a conflicted band of nomadic people or from a mutual consensus among them? As well as my own thought’s, I will be discussing the ideologies of a number of professionals, both in archaeology and social anthropology, focusing mainly on the early development of the archaic Mesopotamian and Mesoamerican civilisations.