Archaic Era   

StudyBlue printing of Archaic Era    html, body, div, span, applet, object, iframe, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre, a, abbr, acronym, address, big, cite, code, del, dfn, em, font, img, ins, kbd, q, s, samp, small, strike, strong, sub, sup, tt, var, b, u, i, center, fieldset, form, label, legend, table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td { margin: 0; padding: 0; border: 0; outline: 0; font-size: 100%; background: transparent; } body { line-height: 1; } blockquote, q { quotes: none; } blockquote:before, blockquote:after, q:before, q:after { content: ''; content: none; } /* remember to define focus styles! */ :focus { outline: 0; } /* remember to highlight inserts somehow! */ ins { text-decoration: none; } del { text-decoration: line-through; } /* tables still need 'cellspacing="0"' in the markup */ table { border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0; } /* end RESET */ .header { min-width:800px; } .logo { padding:6px 20px 2px 20px; margin:0; font-size:25px; font-weight:bold; color:#808285; position:relative; border-bottom: 1px solid #c5c5c5; } .logo-blue { color:#70adc4; } .logo-desc { font-weight:normal; font-size:19px; color:#cccccc; margin-top:50px; position:absolute; display: none; } .back-button { position:absolute; top:20px; right:20px; font-size:13px; line-height:25px; color:rgb(0,175,225); font-weight:normal; } .back-button a { color:rgb(0,175,225); } .instructions { padding:0; margin:0; width:100%; position:relative; color:rgb(100,100,100); } .step-holder { border-left:1px solid #ededed; margin-left:20px; } .steps { padding:15px 0; float:left; width:24%; border-right:1px solid #ededed; text-align:center; } .steps-01 { } .steps-02 { } .steps-03 { } .steps-04 { } .label { padding:5px 10px; } .print-button { } .print-button a { background-color:rgb(0,175,225); color:white; line-height: 19px; padding:9px 8px 5px 30px; font-size:14px; text-decoration:none; background-image: url(images/printer.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: 7px 50%; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; } .print-button a:hover { background-color:black; } .theNote .content { width: 8.0in !important; margin: 5px auto; padding:20px; background-color:white; } .theNote .header { border-bottom: 1px dashed #C8C8C8; font-size: 17px; padding: 0 0 10px; line-height: 19px; color: #00ADE1; min-width:500px; } .theNote .body { font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 10px 0; } .theNote{ padding:6px 0; clear:both; background-color: rgb(200,200,200); } .theNote h3{ color: rgb(100,100,100); } .theNote h1, .theNote h3{ background-color:white; padding:2px 20px; width:8.0in !important; margin: 0 auto; font-size: 15px; } .theNote h1{ padding-top: 10px; font-size: 15px; } .theNote h1:first-child{ font-size: 20px; } .theNote h3 { font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; } #options { border: 3px double #ccc; padding: 5px 12px; margin: 10px 50px 10px 20px; float: left; } #info { border-top: 1px solid #ccc; padding-top: 5px; font-style: italic; } li { margin: 5px 10px 5px 25px; } ul li { list-style: disc; } ol li { list-style: decimal; } img { border: 0; } table { clear: both; width: 100%; border: 1px solid #c5c5c5; border-width: 1px 0; margin: 0; page-break-after: always; } table#page { page-break-after: auto; } td { text-align: center; font-size: 12px; border-bottom: 1px dashed #c5c5c5; height: 1.75in; width: 50%; padding-left: 15px; } .leftside { border-right: 1px solid #cccccc; padding: 0 15px 0 0; } .bottom td { border-bottom: none; } .clearfix { clear:both; line-height:1px; height:1px; } img { max-width:80%; max-height:150px; margin:20px; } @media print {.header { display: none; } .content .header{ display:inherit; } table { border: 1px dashed #bbb; border-width: 1px 0; } .theNote{ background-color:white; } } Archaic Period (10,000-3,000 B.P.) Climate shifts Pleistocene-Holocence-modern conditions Sea levels Gradual, constant rise until modern levels Plant & animal communities Shift to modern conditions Sociopolitical organization Bands to tribes Elman Service 1962: published typology of different forms of organization Social evolution , similar to biological Band Paleoindian Native Americans & some Archaic Relatively small groups (<100 people) Hunting/gathering/foraging economy Bands are mobile Discourages accumulation of wealth, sedentism, and great differences in status Mostly egalitarian Status is achieved by skill, experience, charisma, etc. Social organization Based on kinship and marriage Nuclear family and Band are two most significant social groups Kin networks can be biological or ficitive Kin networks are made and maintained through marriage, trade, visits, etc. Membership is fluid Decision making The group makes the rules Discussion within families or the band Some band leaders have slightly higher status, but no power or authority to enforce decisions Conflict resolution "Social leveling" mechanisms Verbal chiding/guilting/insulting Social pressure Blood feuds "Vote with your feet" - leave Early Archaic (~10-8ka) Environment Sea level 90 feet lower than today Rivers developing floodplains, meandering systems Global warming trend Towards end of E.A., drier, arid conditions Increased instance of lightning fires Most of Southeast covered in mixed oak/hickory forests (deciduous), with some pines mixed in the southerly reaches Sociopolitical organization Small mobile bands (10's of people) Possible " macro-bands " at certain seasons/times of year made of related family bands and neighboring bands 100-150 people Congregated near Fall Line/Shoals areas, favorable floodplain habitat (in Fall?) Food, trade, information, ceremony, mates, etc. Relatively egalitarian Achieved status Subsistence Hunting, gathering, foraging economy Wild plant and animal foods Dog is only domesticated animal at this time "Broad Spectrum Revolution" In 1968 Lewis Binford noticed changes in human diet across parts of Europe (12-10ka) "Diet breadth" grew with more nutrient rich seeds and nuts added More plants - processing tools are found: grinding stones, etc. Food storage pits increase in use More small animals are being eaten instead of just large mammals 1969 Kent Flannery hypothesized the "Broad Spectrum Revolution" 12-10ka in Western Asia , hunter and gather societies increase dietary breadth This change in diet is accompanied by changes in tools and artifacts Settlement Similar to late Paleoindian Base camp/satellite camp pattern Larger base camp in river floodplains Satellite camps in adjacent uplands Some situated near lithic resources Base camps Prepared clay hearths, storage and refuse pits "Work areas" for stone tool making, butchering, hide processing, etc. Technology Stone tools PPKs become smaller, more triangular than lanceolate Shift from no notches to side-notched to corner-notched Dalton - Big Snady - Kirk Adaptation to smaller game Invention of atlatl (spear throwing device- increases by 10-fold how powerfully you can throw a spear)***major technological advancement Other stone tools Knives End-scrapers Adzes Bifaces/blades Flake tools Nutting stones Ground and chipped celts Addition to wood working tool kit Textiles Basketry Netting Mats Bags Evidence is mostly from impression in clay Wooden artifacts Mortars Throwing sticks Spear shafts Atlatl ** Brought example into class Can be used effectively with or without a tip (wood will splinter) Points Middle Archaic (~8-6ka) Environment Altithermal/Hysithermal/"Climatic Optimum" Hot, dry weather Tropical weather from Caribbean shifts north First common summer thunderstorms Lightning storms Coastal plain forests burned, hardwoods destroyed, pines take over (nut producing trees destroyed) Hardwoods remain in marshes Pines also move into hardwood stands further north Fluvial Systems (rivers, streams) Rainfall lowered, less runoff This is when meandering streams are highly present Streams slowed Channels stabilized Formation, expansion of wetland areas, lakes, swamps At Fall Line Zone, streams shallow - many shoals and rapids forms (human occupation, lots of resources) Settlement and Subsistence Practices similar to Early Archaic but increasing dependence/focus on wetland resources Uplands drier, less habitable Still provide some resources - stone, animals Floodplains, rivers, lakes, swamps, estuaries richest habitats Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, shellfish, many plants - weedy, seedy varieties, etc. The only domesticated plant: bottle gourd (container crop), seeds could be viable for 100s of days Neolithic Revolution - hallmark of sedentism; when plants start to become domesticated by humans Base camps/large sites at Fall Line, shoals, favorable floodplains or very nearby Sedentism Year round or multi-seasonal settlement on coast, islands ~7.5-7ka Trends towards this in some interior sites Satellite camps/procurement sites in adjacent uplands Some slightly different patterns in: Upper Tombigbee valley Lower Tennessee River Valley Easter Florida Peninsula Large densely occupied sites with thick midden (earth, shell) Smelly, like mulch, "Black Earth Sites" Midden often 8-15 feet thick Hundreds of features (pits, hearths, burials) Shell middens more common (~7.5ka) Mortuary Treatment and Health More preserved burials in Early Archaic, Paleoindian Most human burials in no identified pattern in sties, often found in midden, or "garbage" areas Burial patterns in some areas Some row burials, with multiple individuals in pits Formal cemeteries in Florida, isolated from settlements Dry land cemeteries and pond cemeteries, with people in clusters (kin?) Formalizing territories? Most buried in small round or oval pits, fetal position Some extended burials Some cremations Some buried on mats or litters (in wet sites) Grave goods/offerings Shell beads, pendants Bone pins Stone points Atlatl weights Red ochre Baskets Tools Plants (1 bottle gourd - 7,340ya Domestication!) Some sites show gendered burial goods "Male" vs. "Female" goods Division of labor? - probably Artifacts found indicate division of labor Hunting goods - only found with young adult males Women buried with pendants, bone pins, bone awls Burial goods indicate achieved status, appreciation of current contribution to community More goods with young adults Few, no goods with infants, children, elderly Most died naturally, some evidence of violence Fractures, points lodged in bone Age: infants to elderly (over 65) Most adults lived into 30s (on average) Healthy populations, little chronic disease Males: 5'7", muscular build Females: 5' 3", slighter build Some DNA preserved, currently studied Common aliments Arthritis (general arthritis from normal wear - not because they were unhealthy) Worn teeth - but almost no cavities (low sugar) Broken arms, legs Iron-deficiency, anemia (low enough levels so that it would not have effected everyday health) Spina bifida Technology PPK styles change slightly Trending towards stemmed points without notches Morrow Mountain most common type Points extensively resharpened, recycled into drills, scrapers, etc. Widespread heat-treating/altering Response to lower quality stone in some locales Makes rock flakable, stronger Changes color sometimes Advances in ground/polished stone tools Grooved axes - feeling trees, woodworking - indication of sedentism? Atlatl weights - increased power, velocity Some are almost "art", buried with individuals Increased ornamentation Shell, bone, stone beads, pendants, gorgets Tubular, bar, effigy styles Long-distance trade of materials and finished goods increases (100s-1000s of miles) Macro-bands trading? Shell midden sites preserve bone, antler, teeth artifacts Flakers, hammers/billets Shaft straighteners Atlatl hooks Points Awls, pins, needles Gouges, chisels Harpoons Fish/turtle hooks Rodent, shark, dog teeth for carving, some drilled for pendants Wet sites preserve plant material, wood, etc Wood Stakes Tool handles Points Shafts (atlatl, spear) Pestle and mortar Bowls Spring trap/snare Textiles Garments (tunic-like, 25 strands per inch) Bags Blankets Cordage (for tying things) Late Archaic Environment Peak of Altithermal/Hyposthermal/C.O. at transition from Mid-Late Archaic Shift to moister, cooler conditions Sea level stabilized ~5000ya Modern Atlantic Coast barrier islands developed Modern coastal ecosystems (estuaries, mud flats, marshes, etc.) ~3ka Modern weather, plant, and animal communities ~4ka Settlement and Subsistence Same trends Focus on wetlands Increase in use of wild plant foods Wild fruit Weedy seeds Early evidence of plant domestication for food Hard-rind squash ~6ka Some plants chosen for domestication/artificial selection Beginning of "Southeastern Horticultural Complex" Hard rind squash ~4ka Goosefoot Marsh elder Sunflower Mounds First earthen mounds appear in Lower Mississippi River Valley (~7ka) - now destroyed Associated with settlements (some close by, others more distant) Usually dome or conical in shape Most 80-120 feet in diameter at base, 4-15 feet tall (are some larger found in SE) Associated with burial activities Covered cremation areas, platforms Processing of human remains Very few artifacts included in mounds Earthworks Lower Mississippi River Valley, Georgia and South Carolina coasts Begin at ~7-5ka Rings, crescents, horseshoes Sometimes in association with mounds, sometimes alone Built from midden, earth, shell Was mistaken for domestic garbage Technology PPKs are triangular, broader than Middle Archaic ppks but range from large to small Stemmed bases Savannah River type most common Other flaked stone assemblage same as Early Archaic and Middle Archaic Ground and polished stone "Boatstone" atlatl form "Plummets" Many carved, polished ornaments Beads, animal effigies Lapidary "industry" in LMV (especially Poverty Point Site) "Container Revolution" Soapstone bowls Soapstone heating rocks Clay pottery ~4500 B.P. Use spread slowly over next1200 years Fiber tempered Large bowls and pans Some with designs Technology Clay cooking balls Baking/cooking food in earth ovens Mostly in Lower Mississippi Valley Eccentric, geometric, effigy designs Clay figurines Usually female Found in Lower Mississippi Valley Increase in long-distance trade Raw materials, finished goods Often small, portable objects Beads, effigies Copper, greenstone (amphibolite), colorful chert Marine shell Soapstone bowls, slabs Some evidence for increased violence Skeletons with trauma Broken bones Decapitation Points lodged in bone Earliest evidence of scalping Careless group burial (rare)