1. Archaeology of North America
The Early and Middle Archaic
of the Eastern Woodlands

2. The Eastern Woodlands Introduction
Includes most of the eastern US east of the Mississippi. Also includes the Maritimes of Canada
This region is similar in terms of vegetation and animal populations but does have local variability
Earthworks and cemeteries distinguish this area from all others in NA

5. The Eastern Woodlands Introduction
Before BC the Paleo-Indians lived in the Eastern Woodlands, hunting big and small game, and foraging for plant foods
After BC the warming climate created diverse Eastern Woodlands environments
The population turned from extinct ice age mammals to forest creatures like the deer, nuts and other plant foods

6. The Eastern Woodlands Introduction
This way of life continued until 1000 BC when sedentary lifeways began to appear
The territory they hunted and gathered in shrunk, but trade relations developed and elaborate mortuary customs are seen
The Early & Middle Archaic periods date to:
c – 6000 BC (Early)
6000 – c BC (Middle)

7. The Eastern Woodlands The Early and Middle Archaic Periods
There is little evidence for Early and Middle Archaic periods
Plant remains are poorly preserved
There are few sites to give us an understanding of the groups that live here
What is clear is that the Archaic period is long and relatively similar
Their basic subsistence strategies remain the same
The population remains local
The only change that can be detected really is some minor alterations in the projectile points

8. The Eastern Woodlands The Environment
In the Early Holocene, the oak dominated deciduous forests gradually expanded northwards as the ice retreated
They replaced the spruce and pine that was in the north
The change may correspond with an adaptive shift to a more intensive exploitation of nuts and other plant foods
Also rockshelters were used for long term camps when the climate began to warm

9. The Eastern Woodlands The Environment
The Middle Holocene was marked with increasing aridity
As a result, prairie, oak savannah and oak hickory forests shifted eastward and the mixed hardwoods were reduced in extent
The boundary between prairie and forest reached its eastern extent by c BC
By 3000 BC sea levels reach their modern levels

10. Eastern Woodlands

11. The Eastern Woodlands The Environment
By the Late Holocene (c BC +) the climate and vegetation are similar to today
Overall the vegetation and animal populations remained the same, with some minor fluctuations in sensitive areas

12. The Eastern Woodlands The Environment: Animals
Animal subsistence throughout the Archaic period would have included:
White-tailed deer, black bear and others like elk, fox, opossum, raccoon, squirrel and rabbit
Turkeys and pigeons and turtles were also eaten
As well as fish (suckers that spawned in shallow waters in the spring, and catfish and drumfish)
Freshwater mussels and gastropods were also occasionally eaten

13. The Eastern Woodlands The Environment: Plants
Plants included:
Hickory nuts gathered in the fall (can be eaten without processing, or can be boiled into hickory milk), acorns (although more so in the later periods), and occasionally walnuts, chestnuts and hazelnuts
Other than the nuts, a variety of berries (black, straw and raspberries) were collected
Along with roots and shoots of green vegetables

14. The Eastern Woodlands The Environment: Plants and Animals
The nature of the Eastern Woodlands allowed scheduled hunting and gathering
Nuts would be gathered in fall for example, and deer hunted then
Winter saw river camp sites with the spring floods that buried the camps when they were abandoned
When the waters receded they would hunt fish in the shallow pools left behind
They may also have created networks, where bands got together (evidenced by the larger gathering sites)

15. The Eastern Woodlands The Early Archaic c. 10 500 – 6000 BC
Projectile points provide the best information on the Archaic period
Around 8500 BC Clovis points are replaced with new projectile points throughout the Eastern Woodlands
This was a local change from the fluted Clovis point, into a variety of local points

16. The Eastern Woodlands The Early Archaic c. 10 500 – 6000 BC
From the 1950s on, stratified sites have enabled archaeologists to get an understanding of the typological changes that took place in the Early Archaic
Then in 1974 Canadian archaeologist James Tuck proposed three Early Archaic horizons, established with radiocarbon dates, from 8500 – 6000 BC. Then Jefferson Chapman added the later fourth
Dalton
Big Sandy
Kirk
Bifurcate
These can be found throughout the Eastern Woodlands (although with some variety)

17. Bifurcates
Kirk / Corner-Notched
Stemmed
Big Sandy Side-Notched
Dalton
Clovis

18. The Eastern Woodlands The Early Archaic c. 10 500 – 6000 BC
Now scholars agree that the entire Archaic period of the Eastern Woodlands from 8000 – 700 BC, is marked with wide-spread changes in the projectile points, with local adaptations
The points begin with highly varied Early Archaic side-notched points that develop into the Kirk point and then the bifurcate-base points and lastly several stemmed forms
Other tools remain very similar, except maybe the scrapers which become more varied

19. The Eastern Woodlands The Dalton Tradition: 8500 – 7900 BC
Dalton points appear in the southeast around 8500 BC, and spread northward (with some variety)
The have concave bases, and flared ‘ears’
They were used also as knives and saws, when re-sharpened
The people of the Dalton tradition were highly mobile
Each band would have had a base camp and a number of other sites used repeatedly

20. The Eastern Woodlands The Dalton Tradition: 8500 – 7900 BC
The Brand, Lace and Sloan sites reflect different aspects of Dalton life
The Brand site contained artefact knapping clusters and activity zones connected with processing
The Lace site was located near a river, shallow lakes and swamps. It was a base camp
The Sloan site is thought to be a cemetery (only a few bone fragments survived, but the soil is rich in calcium) The Dalton points are grave goods. If this site really is a burial site then it is the oldest cemetery in the Americas

21. The Eastern Woodlands The Dalton Tradition: 8500 – 7900 BC
Icehouse Bottom: Early Archaic levels
Several households positioned along a riverside terrace
A base camp next to a number of resources: game and vegetal foods, rock outcrops of chert they knapped into a number of tools back at camp
Shelters made from skin, bark or matting
29 of the hearths had traces of basketry and netting preserved in the hardened clay
A variety of plants and animals were processed here

23. The Eastern Woodlands Corner-notched and Bifurcate Traditions
c – 6000 BC (end of the Early Archaic)
The change from the side-notched to the corner-notched projectile points likely corresponds with the adoption of the atlatl
The corner-notched points are found throughout the Eastern Woodlands, with local varieties, such as the Krik, found in the southeast and beyond

24. The Eastern Woodlands Corner-notched and Bifurcate Traditions
Eventually the corner-notch points give way to the Bifurcate points with bases created to possibly increase the strength of the hafted point when cutting and scraping
It may also be a hunting technique change as these points are found in a deciduous forest environment so could be connected with hunting certain forest species

25. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: Restricted Mobility
By the Middle Holocene (6000 BC) the people were relying more on small game, fishing and seasonal plants (like the hickory nut)
The population was still low, with the larger populations living in resource rich and diverse areas
As populations begin to rise in places the groups become more restricted in their movements
In the south Atlantic region some scholars call this “adaptive flexibility”

26. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: Restricted Mobility
Middle Archaic lasts from 6000 – 3600 BC
At this time, the Mid-South is engaged in long-distance trade, warfare, and mound-midden construction
In the Midwest sites like Koster attest the success of the people in the region
In general this area is marked with a shift from a generalized hunting and gathering subsistence to a narrower range of foods

27. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: Koster
The Koster site, located on the Illinois River, has 14 stratified occupation levels from 8500 BC – AD1200
They collected nuts and hunted white-tailed deer and small mammals, ate fish and mussels
Fish scales suggest a late Spring through summer site and the nuts and mussels for the fall
They seem to have practiced an optimal foraging strategy (hunting and gathering a narrow spectrum of resources) within 5 km of their site

30. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: Koster
By 5600 BC to 5000 BC the occupants built substantial settlements occupied for up to a century
These houses were around 7m x 4m, built with wooden posts set in trenches, and lined with branches and clay
They had grinding stones to process the vegetal foods
There are also several graves, with burials goods and three dog burials

31. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: Restricted Mobility
The Modoc site (southern Illinois) was first used as a short-term camp and then in the Middle Archaic it narrowed its food selection and became a base camp
This change throughout the Eastern Woodlands may be related to climate shifts and thus changes in the environment, requiring the groups to maximize on the resources available

32. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: The Southeast
In the southeast the Middle Archaic is marked with local adjustments due to changes in the local resources
When sea level rose during the Hypsithermal 9000 – 5000 BP (Altithermal in the west) many of the rivers became sluggish
Oxbow lakes formed along with many shallow water habitats

33. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: The Southeast
There is a profound increase in the use of riverine aquatic resources eventually becoming a major component of their diet
Hundreds of mollusk species, and bottom fish are harvested at a number of sites
Icehouse Bottom and other sites in the southeast document this shift
They used aquatic resources but still hunted mammals and gathered (seen by the charred nuts and grinding stones)
Stones used on lines for fishing were found (connected with net fishing)

34. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: The Southeast
Some suggest a population increase due to this new focus on aquatic resources but there is little evidence for this
By 4000 BC pollen shows a slight increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall, which may have resulted in lower river levels etc.
Fewer sites are documented from 5000 – 3000 BC perhaps as a result

35. The Eastern Woodlands Middle Archaic: The Southeast
The Windover Site c – 5000 BC
Located in Florida near a pond
The site is a burial site where human remains (at least 160 individuals, from newborns to 70s) and artefacts
The dead were buried within 48 hours and preserved in the peat environment (in the pond)
Textiles of the clothing, bags, matting and blankets were preserved
Awls and projectile points were also found
The people subsisted on a broad range of resources:
hunting deer and collecting plants, even using gourds as containers (earliest gourd container in NA)

37. The Eastern Woodlands Sedentism in the Early & Middle Archaic
Very little data for sedentism in the Early Archaic
Limited data for the Middle as well, however sites like Koster do show some structures
In the Middle Archaic earthworks begin to appear, which are likely connected with year round sites or at least semi-permanent summer to fall sites
Many of the sites with earthworks are located next to rivers, especially those that flood
It may be that they would move to the higher terraces when the rivers flooded

38. The Eastern Woodlands Sedentism in the Early & Middle Archaic
Before 4500 BC groups were mobile, occupying seasonal camps scattered along floodplains and terraces
After 4500 BC groups tended to return to the same sites and after years of occupation middens would build up
As a result they seem to have decided to build more permanent structures (of which there are a few sites evidencing this – Koster is one)

39. The Eastern Woodlands Sedentism in the Early & Middle Archaic
And cemeteries appear, making the transition to more sedentary lifestyles
The cemeteries tend to have shallow individual graves with no particular spacing
They were sometimes built into bluffs and other times mounds of earth were built up for the cemetery
The artefacts seem to be connected with the site in general rather than to particular individuals
Kin connections rather than to the individual?
And some sites only have a few artefacts
Black Earth and Carrier Mills are sites with burials

40. The Eastern Woodlands Burials and Cemeteries
Charles and Buikstra suggest that when people start passing vital resources from one generation to the next they tend to bury their dead in cemeteries
A cemetery could show rights to local land resources etc.
This also implies that they are becoming sedentary, as they want to show their connection to a local resource next to the cemetery
Therefore they could be a form of territorial marking

41. The Eastern Woodlands Early & Middle Archaic: The Northeast
The same general trends in the Archaic are also seen in the northeast although difficult to detect as there are very few stratified sites
Many of the coastal sites pre 3000 BC are now underwater making it difficult to study this period
The people of the northeast likely subsided off of shellfish (there are many large shell middens), sea mammals and caribou

43. The Eastern Woodlands Early & Middle Archaic: The Northeast
Neville, New Hampshire is a riverside site visited for more than 8000 years
The first inhabitants lived in a pine-oak forest close to the river where salmon and other fish could be caught (no fish bones have been preserved – but mercury levels in the soil are high)
The Early Archaic levels contained projectile points (similar to those at L’Anse Amour), knives, scrapers, borers and rough choppers out of quartzite
The later occupations lacking terrestrial hunting tools and grinding stones, suggesting that this site was later used as a base camp for spring fishing

44. The Eastern Woodlands Early & Middle Archaic: The Northeast
L’Anse Amour, Labrador is a Middle Archaic site
A child of 12 was found face down in a deep pit, and dates to c BC
With the burial was an antler harpoon head, a line holder, walrus tusk, caribou antler pestle, bone whistle, 3 quartzite knives, bone points, 6 lithic projectile points, and various other artefacts
The grave was covered with earth and stone, and is the oldest burial in NA

45. The Eastern Woodlands Early & Middle Archaic: The Northeast
In general the Early Archaic period is marked with mobile groups
By the Middle Archaic fishing and shellfish collecting became more important and, as part of the seasonal round, perhaps nut collecting in the fall, and deer hunting in the winter
This may be similar to the south with the scheduling of resources and raw material collection as there are limited high quality chert locations here

46. The Eastern Woodlands Early & Middle Archaic: Conclusions
The Early Archaic groups were highly mobile
As climate changed the groups tended to be more restricted and as a result focused on specific resources
Eventually groups became at least semi-sedentary
Overall the Middle Archaic of the Eastern Woodlands set the stage for the explosion of human culture and would follow