|
|
|
|
Hopewell culture
|
| |
|
| |
The Hopewell tradition (also incorrectly called the "Hopewell culture") is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BC to 500 AD. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related populations, which were connected by a common network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell Exchange System.
At its greatest extent, the Hopewell exchange system ran from the Southeastern United States into the southeastern Canadian shores of Lake Ontario.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Hopewell culture' Start a new discussion about 'Hopewell culture' Answer questions from other users |
Recent Posts
Encyclopedia
The Hopewell tradition (also incorrectly called the "Hopewell culture") is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BC to 500 AD. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related populations, which were connected by a common network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell Exchange System.
At its greatest extent, the Hopewell exchange system ran from the Southeastern United States into the southeastern Canadian shores of Lake Ontario. Within this area societies participated in a high degree of exchange with the highest amount of activity along waterways. The Hopewell exchange system received materials from all over the United States. Most of the items traded were exotic materials and were received by people living in the major trading and manufacturing areas. These people then converted the materials into products and exported them through local and regional exchange networks. The objects created by the Hopewell exchange system spread far and wide and have been seen in many burials outside the Midwest.
Origins
Although the origins of the Hopewell are still under discussion, the Hopewell culture can also be considered a cultural climax. Hopewell populations originated in western New York and moved south into Ohio where they built upon the local Adena mortuary tradition. Or Hopewell was said to have originated in western Illinois and spread by diffusion ... to southern Ohio. Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition was thought to have spread up the Illinois River and into southwestern Michigan, spawning Goodall Hopewell. (Dancey 114)
Politics and hierarchy
The Hopewell inherited from their Adena forbearers an incipient social stratification, a social system for promoting inter-group relationships and adjusting to food shortages. This increased social stability and reinforced sedentism, social stratification, specialized use of resources and probably, population growth. Hopewell societies cremated most of their deceased and reserved burial for only the most important people. In some sites it appears that hunters received a higher status in the community because their graves were more elaborate and contained more status goods.
The Hopewell culture had leaders, but they were not like powerful rulers who could command armies of slaves and soldiers. It is likely these cultures accorded certain families a special place of privilege. Some scholars suggest that these societies were marked by the emergence of “big-men”. These leaders acquired their position because of their ability to persuade others to agree with them on important matters such as trade and religion. They also perhaps were able to develop influence by the creation of reciprocal obligations with other important members of the community. Whatever the source of their status and power, the emergence of “big-men” was another step toward the development of the highly structured and stratified sociopolitical organization called the chiefdom.
Mounds
Today, the best-surviving features of the Hopewell culture era are mounds built for uncertain purposes. Great geometric earthworks are one of the most impressive Native American monuments throughout American prehistory. Eastern Woodlands mounds have various geometric shapes and rise to impressive heights. The function of the mounds is still under debate. Due to considerable evidence and surveys, plus the good survival condition of the largest mounds, more information can be obtained.
Several scientists, including Dr. Bradley T. Lepper, Curator of Archaeology, Ohio Historical Society, hypothesize that the Octagon earthwork at Newark, Ohio, was a lunar observatory oriented to the 18.6 year cycle of minimum and maximum lunar risings and settings on the local horizon. Dr. John Eddy completed an unpublished survey in 1978, and proposed a lunar major alignment for the Octagon. Ray Hively and Robert Horn of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana were the first researchers to analyze numerous lunar sightlines at the Newark Octagon (1982) and the High Bank earthworks (1984) in Chillicothe, Ohio. Christopher Turner noted that the Fairground Circle in Newark, Ohio aligns to the sunrise on May 4, i.e. that it marked the May cross quarter sunrise. In 1983, Christopher Turner demonstrated that the Hopeton Earthworks encode various sunrise and moonrise patterns, including the winter and summer solstices, the equinoxes, the cross quarter dates, the lunar maximum events, and the lunar minimum events.
William F. Romain has written a book on the subject of "astronomers, geometers, and magicians" at the earthworks.
Artwork
The Hopewell created some of the finest craftwork and artwork of the Americas. Most of their works had some religious significance, and their graves were filled with necklaces, ornate carvings made from bone or wood, decorated ceremonial pottery, ear plugs, and pendants. Some graves were lined with woven mats, mica (a flaky clear mineral), or stones. The Hopewell produced artwork in a greater variety and with more exotic materials than their predecessors the Adena. Grizzly bear teeth, fresh water pearls, sea shells, sharks' teeth, copper and even small quantities of silver were turned into beautifully crafted pieces. The Hopewell artisans were expert carvers of pipestone, and many of the mortuary mounds are full of exquisitely carved statues and pipes. The Mound of Pipes at Mound City produced over 200 stone smoking pipes depicting animals and birds in well-realized three-dimensional form. Some artwork went beyond the ordinary exotic, as Hopewell artists were expert carvers of human bone. A rare mask from Mound City was created using a human skull as a face plate.
Hopewell artists created both wonderfully abstract and realistic portrayals of the human form. One tubular pipe is so realistically portrayed that we can tell the model was an achondroplastic (chondrodystropic) dwarf. Many other figurines give us details of dress, ornamentation, and even hairstyles. An example of their abstract human forms is the "Mica Hand" from the Hopewell Site in Ross Co., Ohio. Delicately cut from a piece of mica, more than 11 inches long and 6 inches wide, the hand piece was likely worn or carried for public viewing.
Local expressions of Hopewellian traditions
Aside from the more famous Ohio Hopewell, a number of other Middle Woodland period cultures are known to the Hopewell Tradition and participated in the Hopewell Exchange Network.
Ohio Hopewell culture
The greatest concentration of Hopewell ceremonial sites are in the Scioto River Valley (from Columbus to Portsmouth, Ohio) and adjacent Paint Creek, centered on Chillicothe, Ohio. These cultural centers typically contain a burial mound and a geometric earthwork complex that covers ten to hundreds of acres and sparse settlements; evidence of large resident populations is lacking at the monument complexes. The Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, encompassing mounds for which the culture is named, is in the Paint Creek Valley just a few miles from Chillicothe, Ohio. Other earthworks in the Chillicothe area include Hopeton, Mound City, Seip Mound and Earthworks, High Bank, Liberty, Cedar Bank, Anderson, Frankfort, Dunlap, Spruce Hill and Story Mound.
The Portsmouth Earthworks were constructed from 100 B.C. to 500 A.D. It is a large ceremonial center located at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio rivers. Part of this earthwork complex extends across the Ohio River into Kentucky. The earthworks included a northern section consisting of a number of circular enclosures, two large horseshoe-shaped enclosures, and three sets of parallel-walled roads leading away from this location. One set of walls went to the southwest and may have linked to a large square enclosure located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. Another set went to the southeast where it crossed the Ohio River and continued to the Biggs site, a complicated circular enclosure. The third set of walls went to the northwest for an undetermined distance.
Marksville culture
The Marksville culture was a Hopewellian culture in the Lower Mississippi valley, Yazoo valley, and Tensas valley areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas. It evolved into the Baytown culture and later the Coles Creek and Plum Bayou cultures. It is named for the Marksville Mound Site in Marksville, Louisiana.
Swift Creek culture
The Swift Creek culture was a Middle Woodland period archaeological culture in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee dating to around 100-800 AD.
Copena culture
The Copena culture was a Hopewellian culture in northern Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee as well as in other sections of the surrounding region including Kentucky. The Copena name is derived from the first three letter of copper and the last three letters of the mineral galena. Copper and galena artifacts are often associated with Copena burials.
Crab Orchard culture
During the Middle Woodland period, the Crab Orchard culture population increased from a dispersed and sparsely settled Early Woodland pattern to one consisting of small and large base camps. These were concentrated on terrace and floodplain landforms associated with the Ohio River channel in southern Indiana, southern Illinois and northwestern and western Kentucky. In the far western limits of Crab Orchard culture is the O'byams Fort site, a large tuning-fork-shaped earthwork reminiscent of Ohio Hopewellian enclosures.
Havana culture
A Hopewellian people in the Illinois River and Mississippi River valleys in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. They are ancestral to the groups which eventually became the Mississippian Culture of Cahokia and its hinterlands.
The Toolesboro Site is a group of seven burial mounds on a bluff overlooking the Iowa River near where it joins the Mississippi River. The conical mounds were constructed between 100 BC and AD 200. At one time, there may have been as many as twelve mounds. Mound 2, the largest remaining, measures 100 feet in diameter and 8 feet in height. This mound was possibly the largest Hopewell mound in Iowa.
Kansas City Hopewell
At the western edge of the Hopewell interaction sphere are the Kansas City Hopewell. The Renner site in Riverview, Kansas City, Missouri is one of several sites near the junction of Line Creek and the Missouri River. The site contains Hopewell and Middle Mississippian remains. The Trowbridge site near Kansas City is close to the western limit of the Hopewell, "Hopewell" style pottery and stone tools, typical of the Illinois and Ohio River Valleys, are abundant at the Trowbridge site and decorated Hopewell style pottery rarely appears further west. The Cloverdale site is situated at the mouth of a small valley that opens into the Missouri River Valley, near St.Joseph, Missouri. It is a multi-component site with Kansas City Hopewell (ca. AD 100 to 500) and Steed Kisker (ca. AD 1200) occupation.
Cultural decline
Around AD 500 the Hopewell Exchange system seems to cease, moundbuilding stops, art forms were no longer produced. War is unlikely, and there is no evidence of fighting (even during the era). Colder climatic conditions could have driven animals north or west, as weather would have a detrimental effect on plant-life, drastically cutting the subsistence base for these foods. It's also possible the introduction of the bow and arrow caused stress on already depleted populations. The breakdown in societal organization could have been a result of full-scale agriculture. Scholars Dunnell and Greenlee suggest an idea of waste behavior. "They argue that energy was diverted from biological reproduction during a period when climate irregularities favored small families. As climate became predictable from year to year, energy was turned from waste behavior to food production" (Dancey 131). Still, the true reasoning of their evident dispersal is yet to be discovered, and much more knowledge is needed.
External links
|
| |
|
|
