Great Plains Prehistoric Cultures Quiz
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Questions and Answers

What is the name of the culture that influenced the McKean, Pelican Lake, and Avonlea cultures?

Tunaxa Culture

What is the name of the climate that prevailed during the Middle-Later Prehistoric Period within the Great Plains?

Sub-Boreal Climate

What culture is associated with the modern Blackfoot people?

Napikiwan Tradition

What is the name of the culture that developed in-situ from either the Oxbow or McKean Cultures?

<p>Pelican Lake Complex</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two major groups that influenced the cultures of the Great Plains during the Pre-historic period?

<p>Eastern and Western Influences</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Pelican Lake Complex has a strong pottery tradition.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two types of points associated with the Pelican Lake Point Relations?

<p>Besant and Samantha points</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of habitations are associated with the Pelican Lake culture?

<p>Circular habitations</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Pelican Lake complex is only found in the Northern Plains.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the Middle Pre-historic period in the plains within the USA borders?

<p>This area developed differently than the cultures within the Northern Central Plains, mainly affected by the Hypsithermal.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the site that is associated with the first evidence of Tipi rings?

<p>Cactus Flower Site</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two major groups within the Plains Woodland Culture?

<p>Northern and Southern Traditions</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three major crops cultivated in the Eastern Agricultural Complex?

<p>Maize, Beans, and Squash</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the large-scale influence and trade that took place during the Middle Woodland Period?

<p>Hopewell interaction Sphere</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the major cultural development seen in the Late Woodland Period?

<p>Mississippian cultural development</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Early Woodland Period saw a decrease in the population of people on the Great Plains

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Middle Woodland Period is characterized by small, unstable settlements.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are two types of artifacts that are diagnostic for the Middle Woodland Period?

<p>Triangular bladed corner notched and contracting stemmed points</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Hopewell culture had no influence on the burial practices of the Middle Woodland Period.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Southern Plains Woodland is known for its lack of variation in artifacts.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Late Woodland Period saw the disappearance of the Bow and Arrow.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the projectile points associated with Northern Plains traditions?

<p>Besant and Sonota projectile points</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the major difference between the Besant and Sonota complexes?

<p>The Besant complex is associated with a larger area and higher levels of bison exploitation, while the Sonota complex is associated with a smaller area and less bison reliance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of stone is Knife River Flint made from?

<p>River Chert</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Besant complex has a more extensive association with Eastern Woodland influence than the Sonota complex.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the period in the Northern Plains that is associated with larger bison kill complexes?

<p>Besant Complex</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of pottery is associated with the Besant complex in the Northern Plains?

<p>Pottery is present in the Besant Complex, while the Pelican Lake Complex has no pottery.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of points are associated with the Sonota Complex?

<p>Side-notched points</p> Signup and view all the answers

From where did the Knife River Flint originate?

<p>North Dakota</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the main points of difference in burial practices between the Sonota and Besant Complexes?

<p>Sonota is known for having earthen mounds and communal pits, while Besant has boundary mounds with secondary burials.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the period that saw a significant population increase and the rise of sedentary villages on the Great Plains?

<p>Plains Village Period</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the culture that developed based on influences from the Great Basin and Eastern Woodlands?

<p>Southern Plains Village</p> Signup and view all the answers

The central Plains village period primarily focused on hunting and gathering.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the period that saw the rise of the Mississippian culture which had a large influence on the surrounding cultures?

<p>Late Woodland Period</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main phases of the Central Plains Village Period?

<p>Upper Republican, Nebraska, Smoky Hill</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Central Plains Village culture was not influenced by Eastern Agricultural Complex.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Southern Plains Village Period is known for having a highly organized social structure with clear social stratification.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Central Plains Village Period saw a decrease in the population of the Plains.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the major diagnostic artifacts associated with the Central Plains Village Period?

<p>Small triangular points with side notched or basal notched arrows, bison scapula hoes, split deer metapodial awls, un-barbed fish hooks, and some metal tools.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are two key aspects of the Central Plains Village Period social organization?

<p>The overall population increased drastically, and societies became more complex, with an increase in social stratification based on agricultural reliance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the phase associated with the Republican River, known for having isolated houses in small settlements?

<p>Upper Republican Phase</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Nebraska Phase is known for its small, ground-level houses.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What phase is associated with large villages around the Smoky Hill area, with large rectangular or square houses?

<p>Smoky Hill Phase</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the culture that had influences from Minnesota and Wisconsin and saw a westward migration of adjacent groups?

<p>Upper Mississippian (Oneota)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are three key elements of the Upper Mississippian (Oneota) subsistence strategies?

<p>Bison, elk, deer hunting, and full-blown horticulture of squash, corn, and beans.</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Upper Mississippian (Oneota) is known for its lack of pottery.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are two features of the settlement patterns of the Upper Mississippian (Oneota) culture?

<p>Small fortified villages along river terraces and semi-subterranean rectangular structures with long entrances and cache pits.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the key elements of the Upper Mississippian burial complexes?

<p>Cemeteries in elevated terrane with compound ossuaries and flexed burials, often including primary and secondary burials, as well as cremations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Middle Missouri Tradition is known for its lack of organization and complex society.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the defining features of the settlement patterns of the Middle Missouri Tradition?

<p>Semi-permanent, sometimes fortified, subterranean houses, thick middens, storage caches, and settlements located along major streams and high terraces in defensible positions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are some of the key technological aspects of the Middle Missouri Tradition?

<p>Small stone points with 2-3 notches, manos with engraved metates, celts, pipes, and horticultural tools, along with globular jars with straight, outward flaring rims and cord-marked decorations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What were the major changes seen during the Extended Variant of the Middle Missouri Tradition?

<p>Population extension, intensification of settlement areas, rapid population growth, the emergence of larger settlements with communal structures and ceremonial centers, and non-domestic longhouses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the defining feature of the Initial Variant of the Middle Missouri Tradition?

<p>Settlements established on both sides of the Missouri River, with a focus on the west side in the northern area, including fortified settlements with 15-50 houses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the major characteristic of the Terminal Variant of the Middle Missouri Tradition?

<p>A rapid population growth with the extension of the culture upstream, a higher level of village organization and specialization, and a subsequent population collapse due to disease.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the major characteristics of the Late Prehistoric Period on the Great Plains?

<p>The establishment of the bow and arrow technology, the persistence of bison hunting, and the impact of the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three periods of the Avonlea Phase?

<p>Early, Middle, and Late</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the distinctive feature of Avonlea points?

<p>Fine and delicate construction with precise parallel flaking and small, narrow, side notches near the base.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is another name for Rock Lake Net Pottery?

<p>Fabric Impresses Wares</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of the Truman Mound Site?

<p>It contains pottery that is spread throughout the Avonlea cultural area, but not usually seen in the Eastern areas, while the projectile points are not present in the West.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are some key features of the Avonlea site organization?

<p>Extensive use of bison jumps and pounds, associated processing sites, ritual bone disposal, pit features, repeatedly occupied sites with large gatherings of tipi rings and hearths, and no evidence of cultigens or horticulture.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What were the major points of difference in the two Avonlea burial sites mentioned (Burial 1 and Burial 1(a))?

<p>Burial 1 is a secondary burial covered in a stone cairn, located in the Alberta Sand Dunes, while Burial 1(a) is a flexed burial with bundle internments, located in Saskatchewan.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the period that includes the Old Woman's Phase, Mortlach Phase, Vickers's Focus, One Gun Phase, and Middle Missouri Phase?

<p>Terminal Late Period</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two main variants of the Old Woman's Phase projectile points?

<p>Prairie Side Notched and Plains Side Notched</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of ware is Ethridge Ware, and what phases is it linked to?

<p>Grit-tempered ware; Old Woman's and Avonlea</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two major regional variations of the Old Woman's Phase points?

<p>Caley and Samantha points</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the creator god depicted in the large stone figures known as Napi figures, associated with Old Woman's People?

<p>Napi</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the culture associated with Napi Figures, Medicine Wheels, and Rock Art?

<p>Old Woman's Phase</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are some possible interpretations of Medicine Wheels?

<p>Navigational aids, tombs for dead chiefs, and monuments for important events</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two major forms of rock art associated with the Old Woman's Phase?

<p>Historic and Proto-Historic</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the special form of rock art associated with the Columbia Plateau Site?

<p>Grotto Canyon Rock Art</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Iniskim Stones, and what purpose do they serve?

<p>Ammonite remains that are used in bison calling rituals; they are used to bargain with the bison, emphasizing the importance of ceremony in hunting.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Where are Pebble Chert Quarries located, and what is their significance?

<p>Linear Hill System, within the Neutral Hill Uplands; they are rich in pebble chert and mark a boundary between the Blackfoot and Cree territories, showcasing both rivalry and cooperation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between the Old Woman's Phase and the Mortlach Phase?

<p>Mortlach has slightly different pottery and projectile points, along with a greater degree of bone processing, potentially linked to the pemmican trade.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the defining characteristic of the One Gun Phase?

<p>Fortified villages with Kaylee Points, Grinding Stones, corn, beans, squash, both local and exotic plants and cultigens, and pottery resembling Mississippian and Woodland styles, reflecting a blend of influences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the major feature of the Proto-Historic Period on the Great Plains?

<p>The presence of European influence without direct contact.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How were horses introduced to the Great Plains?

<p>Horses were introduced by the Spanish and spread north through interactions with the Snake People, who used them for incursions onto the Plains.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did the introduction of firearms impact the Great Plains?

<p>Firearms were introduced through trade with French and English traders, leading to a change in alliances and conflict, and revolutionizing bison hunting.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What were some of the significant trade goods that were introduced to the Great Plains during the Proto-Historic Period?

<p>Metal artifacts, fur trade goods, blankets, cloth, kettles, tobacco, shot powder, beads, alcohol, knives, axe heads, and metal points.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Iron Confederacy, and what was its purpose?

<p>An alliance of the Cree, Assiniboine, and Blackfoot to control the trade of metal goods and bison meat between Europeans and Northern Plains cultures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are some common diseases that were introduced to the Great Plains during the Proto-Historic Period?

<p>Influenza, Smallpox, Tuberculosis, Cholera, Measles, and Whooping Cough.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two competing theories regarding social complexity in the Proto-Historic Plains?

<p>Previous Complexity Theory and European Assisted Complexity Theory.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the major sign of wealth that emerged during the Proto-Historic Period in the Great Plains?

<p>Horses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two major trade goods that were exchanged during the Proto-Historic Period on the Great Plains?

<p>Bison meat and pemmican.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Warfare decreased during the Proto-Historic Period due to increased cooperation between groups.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the major focus of the debate about the development of complexity in the Proto-Historic Plains?

<p>Whether indigenous people were moving towards complex societies on their own, or if European influence is what pushed them into this stage.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Sub-boreal Climate

  • Climate during the Middle-Later Prehistoric Period in the Great Plains
  • Less harsh than preceding climates
  • Led to the formation of modern ecosystems and boundaries
  • Modern plant communities and climate patterns developed after the Hypsithermal period (within 1000 years)

Eastern Influences

  • One of two major groups influencing Great Plains cultures
  • Influenced Oxbow, Besant, and Old Woman's cultures
  • Known as the Napikiwan Culture

Western Influences

  • One of two major groups influencing Great Plains cultures
  • Influenced McKean, Pelican Lake, and Avonlea cultures
  • Known as the Tunaxa Culture

Tunaxa Tradition

  • (~3500BP)
  • Loose group of phases developed in-situ in the northwestern plains
  • Associated with the mountain fringe areas of the plains

Napikiwan Tradition

  • (~3500BP)
  • Loose group of phases and sub-phases developed in-situ and migrated southeast
  • Origin of the modern Blackfoot people
  • Associated with the Eastern Woodland areas

Southern Plains Archaic

  • Term for the Middle Prehistoric period in the US Plains
  • Developed differently than Northern Central Plains cultures
  • Primarily affected by the Hypsithermal period
  • Influenced surrounding cultures

Pelican Lake Complex

  • (3300-1850yBP)
  • Type Site: Long Creek, S. Saskatchewan
  • Indeterminate origins, possibly developed in-situ from Oxbow or McKean cultures
  • Diagnostic triangular point tradition (medium sized, variable length, corner notched)
  • No pottery

Pelican Lake Point Relations

  • Points divide into groups (Besant, Samantha)
  • Besant found higher in transition, Samantha transitional from dart points to arrowheads
  • Possible relation between Pelican Lake and Avonlea points due to similarities with Besant

Plains Woodland Culture

  • Originated in the Eastern Woodlands
  • Two major groups: Northern and Southern traditions
  • Northern tradition influenced Besant culture, first with pottery; migrated across the plains

Pelican Lake Distribution

  • Likely originated in the Northern Plains and South Platte River
  • Range extended to Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Manitoba, BC, Saskatchewan
  • McKean points often found at same sites, indicating a progression

Pelican Lake Subsistence

  • Increased use of bison traps (pounds, jumps)
  • Stronger affiliation with kill sites (Besant)
  • Shows a progression of increased bison reliance, culminating in occupation of kill sites by the Old Woman Phase

Pelican Lake Habitation

  • Associated with circular habitations (interpreted as tipis)
  • Only known structure type
  • Stone circles (Alberta, Wyoming, Montana)
  • Small, transitory, task-specific campsites
  • Cactus Flower Site: first evidence of tipi rings

Pelican Lake Burials

  • Combination of Oxbow and McKean burials
  • Burials on high, prominent spots overlooking water
  • Small, shallow, secondary burials (multiple individuals)
  • Use of red ochre, grave goods
  • Highwood Burial and Bracken Cairn: notable locations with varied burials

Highwood Burial

  • Heavily looted site (mounded burial and cairn)
  • Pelican Lake burial: shallow ocher-stained pit, cairn likely present
  • Two individuals (infant, ~10 years old)
  • Secondary bundle burial with ocher, grave goods (points, teeth, shells, copper)
  • Connection to both eastern and western influences

Bracken Carin

  • Disturbed Pelican Lake site, looted and excavated
  • Two bundle burials coated with ocher, shallow graves
  • Male, female, additional male femur, two young individuals
  • Grave goods: beads, pestles, pendants, teeth, shells, copper

Eastern Woodland Developments

  • (5000-3000 BP)
  • Middle Prehistoric period center of civilization (Oxbow-Pelican Lake)
  • High social stratification
  • Influenced Canadian Plains
  • Developments include Poverty Point, Watson Break, Eastern Agricultural Complex (domesticated plants)

Woodland Horticulture

  • Less intensive cultivation of wild seed plants and squashes
  • Lacks maize, beans, and squash (three sisters of crops)

Early Woodland Period

  • (2800-1900 BP)
  • One of three Woodland periods
  • Adence Culture organization, mound building and burials

Middle Woodland Period

  • (2100-1250 BP)
  • One of three Woodland periods
  • Development of the Hopewell interaction sphere, large-scale influence and trade

Late Woodland Period

  • (1300-500 BP)
  • One of three Woodland periods
  • Mississippian cultural development (social complexity)
  • Introduction of pottery, horticulture, sedentism, earthen mounds

Subsistence Strategies (Early Woodland Period)

  • Intensification of food production (coevolution of plants and diets)
  • Increased population
  • Pottery development, storage pits and facilities

Settlement Patterns (Early Woodland Period)

  • Circular, rectangular, and oval structures
  • Permanent or semi-permanent
  • Buttressed mounds, wooden buildings
  • Geometric earthen works (conical burial mounds)
  • Increased attachment to territories

Technology (Early Woodland Period)

  • Continuity of archaic technologies (flaked, ground stone tools)
  • Bone, metal, and shell tools
  • Bows and arrows became primary weapon
  • Pottery with regional variation (preservation bias)

Social Organization (Early Woodland Period)

  • Larger co-residential groups (extended families)
  • Earthen works connected people to land (burial mounds)
  • Conical/dome-shaped burial mounds with primary/secondary burials, cremations

Southern Plains Woodland

  • (2600-2000yBP)
  • Diagnostic artifacts: triangular bladed corner notched, contracting stemmed points
  • Greater variation in the South compared to the North
  • Sand, grog or rock-tempered ceramics with cord-marked or textured designs

Settlement Patterns (Middle Woodland Period)

  • Sites vary in size, along Mississippian river and tributaries
  • Thick middens, overlapping storage pits (sedentism)
  • Camps on terraces, with tributaries
  • Hopewell culture influence, peripheral communities
  • Hunting deer, turkey, and gathering; Eastern Agricultural Complex crops

Technology (Middle Woodland Period)

  • Diagnostic artifacts (triangular bladed corner notched and contracting stemmed points, similar to older forms)
  • Grit-tempered ceramics (no ground shell temper)
  • Comparable to Havana Hopewell sub-tradition (Illinois)

Valley Hopewell Site

  • Probable houses, shallow oval basins (~5.5 meters)
  • Larger houses = larger extended families
  • Seasonal sedentism due to horticulture

Cooper Hopewell Site

  • 4-meter square houses with internal roof structures
  • Oval house with long axis, hearth, storage pits
  • Likely wattle and daub construction
  • Periphery site to Hopewell tradition

Burial Practices (Hopewell Influences)

  • Middle Woodland adopted burial mounds with central stone chambers
  • Vaults built on bluffs near settlements, primary/secondary burials with goods
  • Possible presence of chiefdom (hereditary status)

Burial Practices (Non-Hopewell Influences)

  • Semi-flexed interments with burial pits, ossuaries, burial mounds
  • Communal pits
  • Minimal grave goods, possibly tribal level organization

Social Organization (Late Woodlands Period)

  • Large sedentary settlements, permanent structures, small groups
  • Hunting, fishing, gathering, horticulture
  • Maize introduction

Northern Plains Traditions

  • Besant and Sonota projectile points
  • Varying levels of connection to Woodland Period
  • Sonota stronger connection, some overlap with Pelican Lake and Avonlea

Besant Complex

  • (2500-1150 yBP)
  • Variable points with straight base, broad side notches
  • Dart points (some smaller might be arrows)
  • Increased bison hunting, new techniques (jumps, pounds, opportunistic)
  • Presence of pottery (Pelican Lake has none)

Sonota Complex

  • (2500-1350 yBP)
  • Variable points with straight base, broad side notches
  • (River Chert)
  • Samantha Point (arrowpoint)
  • Smaller area, stronger Eastern Woodlands connection

Knife River Flint

  • Used for thousands of years
  • Fine chert material similar to obsidian, less brittle
  • Originally traded, later more systematic in the late period

Northern Plains Burials

  • Boundary mounds (22m diameter, 1m high)
  • Secondary burials, offerings
  • Differences in practices between Sonota and Besant complexes
  • Earthen work mounds focused in Sonota areas
  • Grave offerings (points, atlatl weights, bison, teeth, beads, copper)

Migration/Diffusion (Northern Plains)

  • Woodland groups potentially moved onto the plains, carrying culture traits, pottery
  • Increased emphasis on communal hunts (infrastructure for kill complexes)
  • Social and ritual organization/designations

Plains Village Period

  • Mixed influences in the West (later prehistoric period)
  • Increased reliance on agriculture, sedentary villages
  • Eastern Plains influenced by the East
  • Consistent with modern climate, established plants/animals

Medieval Warm Period

  • (1100-750 yBP)
  • Sustained warming in parts of Europe (facilitated Viking exploration)
  • Marginal effects on Plains lifeways (adapted to drier climates)
  • Increased aridity, decreased winter meltwater, but bison adaptation

Little Ice Age

  • (600-150BP)
  • General cooling period, severe winters
  • Impact on bison populations (herd movement to river valleys)
  • Speculation on behavior

Southern Plains Village

  • Great Basin & Eastern Woodlands influences
  • Major farming communities along floodplains/rivers
  • Reliance on hunting, fishing, gathering (throughout growing season)
  • Bison hunts in fall
  • Mississippian styles in trade networks (agricultural tools)
  • Reliance on corn, beans, squash, tobacco

Settlement Organization (Southern Plains Village)

  • Larger villages (1.2-50 ha), clustered along rivers
  • Water and loose sand soils important
  • No clear ceremonial center?
  • Houses (clay, plaster, grass), central hearths
  • Storage pits, sheet middens, cemeteries, burials
  • Some social stratification (sites varying in size/goods)
  • Periodic site burning (potential inter-site conflict)

Mississippian Culture

  • Last major complex culture in the Great Plains
  • Associated with massive mound building along the Mississippian River
  • Influenced Central Plains Village Culture

Central Plains Village Period

  • (1100-550 yBP)
  • Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas; diverse communities

Subsistence Strategies (Central Plains Village)

  • Horticulture (corn, beans, squash, sunflower)
  • Supplements from hunting bison/meat
  • Cultivation of tobacco
  • Improved corn varieties, food surpluses

Settlement Patterns (Central Plains Village)

  • Small, permanent/semi-permanent settlements
  • Single/clustered houses (4-5), evenly spaced
  • Terraces/elevated points
  • Central plazas (ritual, communal gathering)

Technology (Central Plains Village)

  • Small triangular points (side/basal notched arrows)
  • Bison scapula hoes
  • Deer metapodial awls
  • Fish hooks, metal tools (infrequent), bone tools
  • Globular pottery (cord-marked, geometric rim decorations)
  • Regional preferences in decorations

Social Organization (Central Plains Village)

  • Increased population, social stratification
  • Burial mounds, ossuaries
  • Cultural climax for Anasazi and Mississippian cultures
  • Oneota culture on margins, historical links (direct)

Upper Republican Phase

  • Community centered around Republican River
  • Isolated houses, small settlements
  • Short-term hunts, river-bed camps
  • Square/rectangular earth lodges (ground surface)
  • Cemeteries, ossuaries, rock mounds
  • Globular vessels with cord-marked/roughened exteriors, thickened rims

Nebraska Phase

  • Community centered around Nebraska River
  • Larger, deeper semi-subterranean structures
  • Square/rectangular with rounded corners
  • Globular vessels with constricted necks, flaring rims
  • Smoothed cord-roughened decorations, geometric patterns

Smoky Hill Phase

  • Community centered around Smoky Hill area
  • Large villages (~24 houses), large rectangular/square houses
  • 15x15 meter houses, central posts, storage pits
  • Ground level with extended entryways
  • Ossuaries complex (160 individuals, primary/secondary)
  • Grit, bone, and grog tempered large jars

Upper Mississippian (Oneota)

  • Influences from Minnesota and Wisconsin
  • Westward movement of adjacent groups
  • Distinct signature by mid-period, from Woodlands
  • Transition area, Eastern margins of plains

Social Organization (Upper Mississippian)

  • Hunting bison, elk, deer
  • Horticulture of squash, corn, and beans (sedentary economy)

Technology (Upper Mississippian)

  • Small triangular points, metates, celts, pipes
  • Implements for harvesting/planting
  • Shell items, beads, pendants/bracelets
  • Globular jars with smoothed cord-marking, storage emphasis
  • Crosses (cultural references)

Settlement Patterns (Upper Mississippian)

  • Small fortified villages along river terraces
  • Increased fortification (moats, palisades)
  • Semi-subterranean rectangular structures with long entrances
  • Large lodges, central fireplaces, cache pits
  • Storage pits (reflecting sedentism)

Burial Complexes (Upper Mississippian)

  • Cemeteries on elevated terrain, compound ossuaries
  • Flexed burials, primary/secondary, violence-induced cremations

Middle Missouri Tradition

  • Directly related to historic groups, Northern Plains origins
  • River valley settlement, ties to plains and Woodlands
  • Highly organized, complex societies, fortified cities
  • European influences, climate change posed issues

Settlement Patterns (Middle Missouri)

  • Semi-permanent, subterranean houses, sometimes fortified
  • Thick middens, storage caches
  • Mostly along major streams, borderlands
  • Elevated terraces, defensible positions

Technology (Middle Missouri)

  • Small stone points (2-3 notches)
  • Manos, metates, celts, pipes
  • Globular jars with straight, out-flaring rims, decorated rims

Extended Variant (Middle Missouri)

  • (800-600y BP)
  • Population expansion, intensification of settlements along river/tributaries
  • Larger settlements, communal structures, ceremonial centers

Initial Variant (Middle Missouri)

  • (900-800 y BP)
  • Settlements on both sides of Missouri River, northern area (west side)
  • Fortified settlements (15-50 houses), boat travel
  • Some pottery decoration change, mainly Central Plains style

Terminal Variant (Middle Missouri)

  • (600-400 yBP)
  • Final extension, regional dominance collapse
  • Rapid population growth, dispersion upstream
  • Village organization, specialization, consolidation of settlements
  • Population collapse, increased conflict, final collapse (likely disease)

Late Prehistoric Period

  • (1350-250 y BP)
  • Northern Plains, Plains sites
  • Bow and arrow, pottery technologies
  • Persistence of bison hunting
  • Neo-Atlantic climate, Medieval Warm Period/Little Ice Age
  • Avonlea, Mortlatch, Old Woman's, One Gun phases

Avonlea Phase

  • (2000-900y BP)
  • Three periods: Early (2000-1600BP), Middle (1600-1300BP), Late (1300-900BP)

Avonlea Points

  • Fine, delicate, precise parallel flaking, side notches
  • Less East influencd, potentially developed in-situ

Rock Lake Net Pottery

  • Grit-tempered conical jars, related to brained wares (Mississippian)
  • Punctate designs

Truman Mound Site

  • Avonlea site, pottery spread throughout Avonlea area

Site Organization (Avonlea)

  • Bison jumps, pounds, processing sites, earth ovens
  • Repeatedly occupied sites, large gatherings (tipi rings, hearths)

Burial 1 Site

  • Avonlea secondary burial, stone cairn
  • Partial skeleton, bison bone fragments

Burial 1(a) Site

  • Avonlea flexed burial with bundle, stone cairn
  • Seven individuals (adult to child) coated in red ocher
  • Bison, turtle

Avonlea Origins

  • Potential migrating Athabaskan groups (e.g., Dene)
  • Potential in-situ development from Pelican Lake
  • Decreased Knife River Flint use, varying pottery styles

Terminal Late Period

  • (1100-300 y BP)
  • Ancient groups overlapping with modern contact groups
  • Old Woman's = Modern Blackfoot
  • Mortlach = Assiniboine
  • Vickers's = Eastern groups
  • One Gun = Minnesota, Atsine

Old Woman's Phase

  • Two primary projectile point variants (Prairie Side Notched, Plains Side Notched)
  • Caley and Samantha points (regional variations)

Prairie Side Notched

  • (1200-600yBP)
  • Highly variable, asymmetrical, crudely flaked
  • Broad, shallow points

Plains Side Notched

  • (600-250 yBP)
  • Finer make, smaller arrowhead forms
  • Triangular points
  • Possible Avonlea connection

Ethridge Ware

  • Grit-tempered ware
  • Linked with Old Woman's and Avonlea phases

Subsistence Strategies (Old Woman's)

  • Bison hunting complexes (kill sites, drive lanes)
  • Long-term settlements, potentially complex hunter-gatherer societies

Napi Figures

  • Large stone figures (well-endowed male)
  • Blackfoot creator god (related to legends)
  • Education, age-based society, stories

Medicine Wheels

  • Likely navigational aids, possibly tombs for chiefs or sun dance monuments

Rock Art

  • Engravings on stones, preservation bias
  • Historic/proto-historic events, shield warriors
  • Foothill Abstract form: abstract lines, tally marks

Columbia Plateau Site

  • Rock art, Southern Plains groups moving to the Northern Plains
  • Flute playing-insect motif

Iniskim Stones

  • Ammonite remains, bison-shaped effigies
  • Bison calling rituals, legends, bargaining with animals

Pebble Chert Quarries

  • Linear Hill System, Neutral Hill Uplands
  • Rich in pebble chert, used in later sites
  • Demarcation between Blackfoot and Cree territories

Mortlatch Phase

  • Offshoot of Old Woman's Phase, different pottery, projectile points
  • Increased bone processing (marrow)
  • Wide distribution of medicine wheels

One Gun Phase

  • Fortified villages, Kaylee points, grinding stones
  • Corn, beans, squash, local/exotic plants

Proto-Historic Period

  • (400-150 yBP)
  • Cultural development, linked to modern/historical groups
  • European influence spreading outwards

Introduction of Horses

  • Spread from South Texas/New Mexico, acquired by Northern Plains groups
  • Impact on movement, settlements (pasture access), tipis

Introduction of Firearms

  • French traders (18th century), later Hudson's Bay Company
  • Impact on alliances, conflicts, bison hunting

Trade Goods (Proto-Historic)

  • Metal artifacts, fur trade goods, blankets, cloth, tobacco

Iron Confederacy

  • Alliance of Cree, Assiniboine, Blackfoot
  • Control over intermediary trade, bison meat, pemmican

Disease Transmission (Proto-Historic)

  • New World susceptibility to Old World diseases
  • 50+ epidemics; sedentary communities first affected
  • Major social, mental health impacts

Previous Complexity Theory

  • Plains people already complex before Europeans
  • Systems disrupted by European conquest

European Assisted Complexity Theory

  • European technology increased material surplus for tribal social progression

Complexity (Proto-Historic)

  • Horses as wealth symbols, increased conflict, social stratification (alliances, trade)
  • Bison meat/pemmican trade

Warfare (Proto-Historic)

  • Increased conflicts (horse pasture, territory control)
  • Northern alliances fracturing, fighting for territory control
  • Alliances to hunt remaining bison (towards end of period)

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Test your knowledge on the climate and cultural influences during the Middle-Later Prehistoric Period in the Great Plains. Explore how the Eastern and Western influences shaped modern ecosystems and plant communities. Dive into the traditions of the Napikiwan and Tunaxa cultures that emerged in this region.

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