Some Aspects of Eastern North American Prehistory: a Review 1975

Abstract

Eastern North American was the scene of significant and complex cultural developments which go back to man’s earliest penetration into mid-continent through the ice-free corridor from Alaska probably more than 30,000 years ago. The most extensive remains of Early Man’s culture in the New World are in the Southeast where several stages of development can be demonstrated. Following the Wisconsin Glacial period the descendants of the Early Lithic hunters-gatherers began the gradual adjustment to a variety of ecological environments that gave rise to distinctive regional or zonal Archaic complexes in the East. By late Archaic times burial ceremonialism was a prominent feature of several complexes scattered from the Northeast into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. The Woodland cultures of the East such as Adena and Hopewell developed upon a local Archaic base without new and different populations bringing exotic cultural ideas to the East. The major new traits of the Woodland period may be seen as developing internally or as the result of independent diffusion at various times from outside stimuli. The changes from Woodland cultures to those of the Mississipian Late Prehistoric reflect a reorientation of sociocultural institutions resulting from an improved economic base and an increased population. Recent studies document the former existence of extensive trade among various peoples over a long time but especially prominent during the Hopewellian or Middle Woodland period. Increased information on settlement patterns often indicates complex adaptations in habitation and living patterns to insure maximum utilization of natural resources. Clearly much remains to be done in eastern North American archaeology. We are far from knowing the answers to many complex problems in this highly important area. New methods and techniques now being used will greatly increase the efficiency of our data collecting and the inferences that may be drawn from these data.