Great Plains Prehistoric Cultures Quiz

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)