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46-566: The complex marked a transition between the latter part of the Middle Woodland period and the early Late Woodland period . One date estimate places the time period of the Princess Point complex as lasting from around 500 CE to around 1000 CE. It later developed into the Glen Meyer culture . Named for its type site at Princess Point near modern-day Hamilton, Ontario , Canada, the complex

92-527: A 1973 list, these were: Grand River focus Point Pelee focus Ausable focus As well, the Forster site is a notable Princess Point site which also contained a Glen Meyer component. Middle Woodland period In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America , the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in

138-527: A few parts of Europe where the winters are relatively mild due to prevailing wind and ocean current patterns, subarctic regions were not explored until the 18th and 19th centuries. Even then, the difficulty of transportation ensured that few settlements (most of them are created for mining ) lasted long—such as the abandoned, once-thriving cities of the Yukon , Northwest Territories and increasingly Siberia illustrate this. The Trans-Siberian Railway , which skirts

184-559: A round body, and lines of decoration with cross-etching on rim. The Havana style found in Illinois had a decorated neck. One of the major tools unique to this era was Snyders Points. These were quite large and corner-notched. They were made by soft-hammering percussion, and finished by pressure flaking. Although many of the Middle Woodland cultures are called "Hopewellian", and groups shared ceremonial practices, archeologists have identified

230-415: A short time but instead having a continuous development in stone and bone tools , leather crafting , textile manufacture , cultivation , and shelter construction. Many Woodland peoples used spears and atlatls until the end of the period, when they were replaced by bows and arrows ; however, Southeastern Woodland peoples also used blowguns . The most cited technological distinction of this period

276-519: A variety of mortuary gifts, many of which were not local. Among the traded materials were copper from the Lake Superior deposits; silver from Lake Superior and especially Ontario; galena from Missouri and Illinois; mica from the southern Appalachians; chert from various places including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; pipestone from Ohio and Illinois; alligator teeth from the lower Mississippi Valley eastward to Florida; marine shells, especially whelks, from

322-435: A variety of other small and large mammals were hunted also, including beaver , raccoon , and bear . Shellfish formed an important part of the diet, attested to by numerous shell middens along the coast and interior rivers. Coastal peoples practiced seasonal mobility, moving to the coast during the summer to take advantage of numerous marine resources such as sea mammals and shellfish, then moved to interior locations during

368-724: Is believed to have been core to the Meadowood Interaction Sphere, in which cultures in the Great Lakes region, the St. Lawrence region, the Far Northeast, and the Atlantic region interacted. The large area of interaction is indicated by the presence of Adena-style mounds, the presence of exotic goods from other parts of the interaction spheres, and the participation in the "Early Woodland Burial Complex" defined by William Ritchie Pottery

414-454: Is especially true for the middle woodland period and perhaps beyond. C. Margaret Scarry states "in the Woodland periods, people diversified their use of plant foods ... [they] increased their consumption of starchy foods. They did so, however, by cultivating starchy seeds rather than by gathering more acorns." Smith and Yarnell refer to an "indigenous crop complex" as early as 3800 B.P. in parts of

460-572: Is now eastern Canada south of the Subarctic region, the Eastern United States , along to the Gulf of Mexico . This period is variously considered a developmental stage, a time period, a suite of technological adaptations or "traits", and a "family tree" of cultures related to earlier Archaic cultures. It can be characterized as a chronological and cultural manifestation without any massive changes in

506-484: The Grand Banks and Sea of Okhotsk are two of the richest fisheries in the world and provide support for many small towns. Except for those areas that are well-drained or adjacent to warm ocean currents , there is almost always continuous permafrost due to the very cold winters and short summers. This means that building in most subarctic regions is very difficult and expensive: cities are very few ( Murmansk being

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552-717: The Orange culture and in Georgia with the Stallings culture . Nevertheless, these early sites were typical Archaic settlements, differing only in the use of basic ceramic technology. As such, researchers are now redefining the period to begin with not only pottery, but the appearance of permanent settlements, elaborate burial practices, intensive collection and/or horticulture of starchy seed plants (see Eastern Agricultural Complex ), differentiation in social organization, and specialized activities, among other factors. Most of these are evident in

598-772: The Southeastern Woodlands by 1000 BCE. In some areas, like South Carolina and coastal Georgia, Deptford culture pottery manufacture ceased after c.  700 CE . In coastal regions, many settlements were near the coast, often near salt marshes, which were habitats rich in food resources. People tended to settle along rivers and lakes in both coastal and interior regions for maximum access to food resources. Nuts were processed in large amounts, including hickory and acorns , and many wild berries, including palm berries, blueberries , raspberries , and strawberries , were eaten, as well as wild grapes and persimmon . Most groups relied heavily on white-tailed deer , but

644-582: The 1000 CE ending of the Late Woodland period is traditional, in practice many regions of the Eastern Woodlands adopted the full Mississippian culture much later than that. Some groups in the north and northeast of the current United States , such as the Iroquois , retained a way of life that was technologically identical to the Late Woodland until the arrival of Europeans. Despite the widespread adoption of

690-424: The 1950s and 1960s. Hydro-Quebec in particular has carried out many engineering works in regions of near-continuous permafrost, but these have never supported a significant population and have only mainly served densely populated southern Quebec . Tourism in recent years has become a major source of revenue for most countries of the subarctic due to the beautiful, generally glacial landscapes so characteristic of

736-505: The Mississippian period from c.  1000 –1400 CE and may have continued up to European contact, around 500 years ago. The Early Woodland period continued many trends begun during the Late and Terminal Archaic periods, including extensive mound-building, regional distinctive burial complexes, the trade of exotic goods across a large area of North America as part of interaction spheres,

782-493: The Northwest/Plains regions widely adopted pottery somewhat later, about 200 BCE. The Adena culture built conical mounds in which single- or multiple-event burials, often cremated, were interred along with rich grave goods including copper bracelets, beads, and gorgets , art objects made from mica, novaculite, hematite, banded slate, and other kinds of stone, shell beads and cups, and leaf-shaped "cache blades". This culture

828-683: The Princess Point complex should be more narrowly defined around the Grand River focus, with the Ausable focus being excluded as too poorly documented, and the Point Pelee focus assigned to the Riviere au Vase phase of the Western Basin tradition . The timescale was also narrowed to AD 650–900. Stothers divided the Princess Point complex into a set of three regional foci composed of clusters of similar sites. In

874-466: The appearance of palisaded agricultural villages containing proto- longhouses . Maize cultivation as a supplement to foraged foods began at least as early as 500 CE. James V. Wright linked the Princess Point culture with the introduction of maize agriculture into Ontario. There was a general westward geographic shift in focus during this period, with the appearance of sites such as the Glass site ( AgHb-5 ) on

920-603: The bow and arrow during this time, the peoples of a few areas appear never to have made the change. During Hernando de Soto 's travels through the Southeastern Woodlands around 1543, for instance, his expedition noted the groups living at the mouth of the Mississippi river who still preferentially used the spear. Subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of

966-632: The communities and some clans resorted to raiding others for resources. Alternatively, the efficiency of bows and arrows in hunting may have decimated the large game animals, forcing the tribes to break apart into smaller clans to better use local resources, thus limiting the trade potential of each group. A third possibility is a colder climate may have affected food yields, possibly affected by Northern Hemisphere extreme weather events of 535–536 , also limiting trade possibilities. Lastly, it may be that agricultural technology became sophisticated enough that crop variation between clans lessened, thereby decreasing

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1012-603: The cultivation of domesticated crops. In fact, it appears that hunting and gathering continued as the basic subsistence economy and that subsistence horticulture/agriculture did not occur in much of the Southeast for a couple of thousand years after the introduction of pottery, and in parts of the Northeast, horticulture was never practiced. This research indicated that a fiber-tempered horizon of ceramics greatly predates 1000 BCE, first appearing about 2500 BCE in parts of Florida with

1058-765: The development of distinctly separate cultures during the Middle Woodland period. Examples include the Armstrong culture , Copena culture , Crab Orchard culture , Fourche Maline culture , the Goodall Focus , the Havana Hopewell culture , the Kansas City Hopewell , the Marksville culture , and the Swift Creek culture . The Center for American Archeology specializes in Middle Woodland culture. The late Woodland period

1104-456: The eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from 1000 CE to European contact as a separate period. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic term for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the agriculturalist Mississippian cultures . The Eastern Woodlands cultural region covers what

1150-487: The edge of the region, provided a major boost to Russian settlement in the subarctic, as did the intensive industrialization under Joseph Stalin that relied on the enormous mineral resources of the Central Siberian Plateau . Today, many towns in subarctic Russia are declining precipitously as mines close. In Canada, after the early minerals ran out, development stalled until hydroelectric development occurred in

1196-429: The entire region (referred to as the "Hopewellian Interaction Sphere"). Such similarities could also be the result of reciprocal trade, obligations, or both between local clans that controlled specific territories. Access to food or resources outside a clan's territory would be made possible through formal agreements with neighbors. Clan heads would be buried along with goods received from their trading partners to symbolize

1242-412: The following Mississippian period, the beginning of serious cultivation greatly supplemented the traditional gathering of plants. Late Woodland settlements became more numerous, but the size of each one (with exceptions) was smaller than their Middle Woodland counterparts. The reasons for this are unknown, but it has been theorized that populations increased so much that trade alone could no longer support

1288-739: The largest) and generally small, whilst roads are also few. Subarctic rail transport only exists in Europe (lines to Narvik and Murmansk) and the Norilsk – Dudinka line in northern Siberia , as well as the Alaska Railroad in Alaska and short sections of rail lines in Canada reaching northward into the lower subarctic. An important consequence is that transportation usually tends to be restricted to "bush" planes , helicopters and, in summer, riverboats . Except for

1334-500: The lowest elevations. Soils of the subarctic are in which leaching of nutrients takes place even in the most heavily glaciated regions. The dominant soil orders are podsols and, further north, gelisols . Subarctic regions are often characterized by taiga forest vegetation as deciduous trees can't withstand the long winters, though where winters are relatively mild, as in northern Norway , broadleaf forest may occur—though in some cases soils remain too saturated almost throughout

1380-646: The mid-1990s on samples from the Grand Banks site (AfGx-3) returned a calibrated radiocarbon date of AD 540. David Marvyn Stothers developed the Princess Point complex as an archaeological framework in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His definition of it as a complex was rooted in an understanding of "Princess Point" as being widely distributed; therefore, it was divided into three regional foci (the Point Pelee, Ausable, and Grand River) and three phases falling within an original date range of AD 600 to AD 900. William Fox later revised this framework, proposing instead that

1426-554: The need for trade. As communities became more isolated, they began to develop in their own unique ways, giving rise to small-scale cultures that were distinctive to their regional areas. Examples include the Baytown , Troyville and Coles Creek cultures of Louisiana ; the Alachua and Weeden Island cultures of Florida ; and the Plum Bayou culture of Arkansas and Missouri . Although

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1472-614: The region. The beginning of the Middle Woodland saw a shift of settlement to the Interior. As the Woodland period progressed, local and inter-regional trade of exotic materials greatly increased to the point where a trade network covered most of the Eastern Woodlands . Throughout the Southeast and north of the Ohio River , burial mounds of important people were very elaborate and contained

1518-595: The relationships they had established. Under this scenario, permanent settlements would be likely to develop, leading to increased agricultural production and a population increase. Ceramics during this time were thinner and better quality than earlier times. Examples show pottery also was more decorated than Early Woodland. One style was the Trempealeau phase, which could have been seen by the Hopewell in Indiana. This type included

1564-575: The reliance on both wild and domesticated plant foods, and a mobile subsistence strategy in which small groups took advantage of seasonally available resources such as nuts, fish, shellfish, and wild plants. Pottery, which had been manufactured during the Archaic period in limited amounts, was now widespread across the Eastern Interior, the Southeast, and the Northeast. The Far Northeast, the Sub-Arctic, and

1610-587: The south Atlantic and Gulf coasts; Knife River chalcedony from North Dakota; and obsidian from Yellowstone in Wyoming. The most archaeologically certifiable sites of burial during this time were in Illinois and Ohio . These have come to be known as the Hopewell tradition . Due to the similarity of earthworks and burial goods, researchers assume a common body of religious practice and cultural interaction existed throughout

1656-423: The summer solstice for instance, subarctic regions can experience an all-night period of either civil, nautical, or astronomical twilight (or in the northern reaches full daylight), since the sun never dips more than 18 degrees below the horizon. Noctilucent clouds are best observed within this range of latitude. Subarctic temperatures are above 10 °C (50 °F) for at least one and at most three months of

1702-517: The true Arctic , north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska , Canada , Iceland , the north of Fennoscandia , Northwestern Russia , Siberia , and the Cairngorms . Generally, subarctic regions fall between 50°N and 70°N latitude , depending on local climates. Precipitation is usually low, and vegetation is characteristic of the taiga . Daylight at these latitudes is quite extreme between summer and winter due to its high latitude. Near

1748-416: The use of fast rotation such as a pottery wheel. Some were slipped or brushed with red ochre. Pottery, agriculture, and permanent settlements have often been thought of the three defining characteristics of the Woodland period. However, it has become evident that, in some areas of North America, prehistoric cultural groups with a clearly Archaic cultural assemblage were making pottery without any evidence of

1794-539: The western bank of the Grand River . By the end phase of this Grand River focus, however, occupation had shifted away from river-adjacent floodplains to well-drained sandy hills and plains in modern-day Norfolk County , which were more suitable for maize agriculture. The Princess Point culture is linked to the introduction of maize to Ontario. This was initially believed in the 1970s to have occurred around AD 650. Later accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) testing done in

1840-434: The winter where access to deer, bear, and anadromous fish such as salmon could see them through the winter. Seasonal foraging also characterized the strategies of many interior populations, with groups moving strategically among dense resource areas. Recently evidence has accumulated a greater reliance on woodland peoples on cultivation in this period, at least in some localities, than has historically been recognized. This

1886-612: The year to sustain any tree growth and the dominant vegetation is a peaty herbland dominated by grasses and sedges . Typically, there are only a few species of large terrestrial mammals in the subarctic regions, the most important being elk, moose ( Alces alces ), bears , reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ), and wolves ( Canis lupus ). Agriculture is mainly limited to animal husbandry as many crops can't be grown here, though in some areas barley can be grown. Canada and Siberia are very rich in minerals, notably nickel , molybdenum , cobalt , lead , zinc and uranium , whilst

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1932-605: The year. Precipitation tends to be low due to the low moisture content of the cold air but isn't to the point to semiarid regions. Precipitation is typically greater in warmer months, with a summer maximum ranging from moderate in North America to extreme in the Russian Far East . Except in the wettest areas glaciers are not large because of the lack of winter precipitation; in the wettest areas, however, glaciers tend to be very abundant and Pleistocene glaciation covered even

1978-464: Was a time of apparent population dispersal, although populations do not appear to have decreased. In most areas construction of burial mounds decreased markedly, as did long-distance trade in exotic materials. At the same time, bow and arrow technology gradually overtook the use of the spear and atlatl . Agricultural production of the " Three Sisters " ( maize , beans , and squash ) was introduced. While full-scale intensive agriculture did not begin until

2024-551: Was present in the area between the Grand River and the Niagara Peninsula . It is characterized by a horticultural economy, including the cultivation of maize , as well as aspects of sedentism . It was originally conceptualized by the archaeologist David Marvyn Stothers. The Princess Point marked a transition to early maize -based agriculture and an increasingly sedentary way of life. Stothers describes Princess Point maize cultivation as "developmental-experimental", and notes

2070-606: Was the widespread use of pottery (although pottery manufacture had arisen during the Archaic period in some places), and the diversification of pottery forms, decorations, and manufacturing practices. The increasing use of horticulture and the development of the Eastern Agricultural Complex , consisting of weedy seed plants as well as gourd cultivation, also meant that groups became less mobile over time and, in some times and places, people lived in permanently occupied villages and cities. Intensive agriculture characterizes

2116-702: Was widely manufactured and sometimes traded, particularly in the Eastern Interior region. Clay for pottery was typically tempered (mixed with non-clay additives) with grit (crushed rock) or limestone. Pots were usually made in a conoidal or conical jar with rounded shoulders, slightly constricted necks, and flaring rims. Pottery was most often decorated with a variety of linear or paddle stamps that created "dentate" (tooth-like) impressions, wavy line impressions, checked surfaces, or fabric-impressed surfaces, but some pots were incised with herringbone and other geometric patterns or, more rarely, with pictorial imagery such as faces. Pots were coiled and paddled entirely by hand without

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