In this Book

  • Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400-1700
  • Book
  • Edited by David S. Brose, C. Wesley Cowan, and Robert C. Mainfort
  • 2005
  • Published by: The University of Alabama Press
summary
Combines recent research with insights from anthropology, historiography, and oral tradition to examine the cultural landscape preceding and immediately following the arrival of Europeans

After establishing the distribution of prehistoric and historic populations from the northeastern Appalachian forests to the southern trans-Mississippian prairies, the contributors consider the archaeological and cultural record of several specific groups, including Mohawk and Onondaga, Monacan, Coosa, and Calusa. For each, they present new evidence of cultural changes prior to European contact, including populations movements triggered by the Little Ice Age (AD 1550–1770), shifting exchange and warfare networks, geological restriction of effective maize subsistence, and use of empty hunting territories as buffers between politically unstable neighbors. The contributors also trace European influences, including the devastation caused by European-introduced epidemics and the paths of European trade goods that transformed existing Native American-exchange networks.

While the profound effects of European explorers, missionaries, and traders on Eastern Woodlands tribes cannot be denied, the archaeological evidence suggests that several indigenous societies were already in the process of redefinition prior to European contact. The essays gathered here show that, whether formed in response to natural or human forces, cultural change may be traced through archaeological artifacts, which play a critical role in answering current questions regarding cultural persistence.
 

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Frontmatter
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. List of Figures
  2. pp. vii -viii
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  1. List of Tables
  2. pp. ix-
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  1. List of Contributors
  2. pp. xi-
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. xiii- xiv
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  1. 1 Introduction to Eastern North America at the Dawn of European Colonization
  2. pp. 1-7
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  1. 2 The Distribution of Eastern Woodlands Peoples at the Prehistoric and Historic Interface
  2. pp. 9-18
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  1. 3 Evolution of the Mohawk Iroquois
  2. pp. 19- 25
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  1. 4 Change and Survival among the Onondaga Iroquois since 1500
  2. pp. 27-36
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  1. 5 Contact, Neutral Iroquoian Transformation, and the Little Ice Age
  2. pp. 37-47
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  1. 6 Penumbral Protohistory on Lake Erie's South Shore
  2. pp. 49-65
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  1. 7 The Protohistoric Monongahela and the Case for an Iroquois Connection
  2. pp. 67- 82
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  1. 8 Transformation of the Fort Ancient Cultures of the Central Ohio Valley
  2. pp. 83-106
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  1. 9 Monacan Archaeology of the Virginia Interior, A.D. 1400–1700
  2. pp. 107-123
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  1. 10 Tribes and Traders on the North Carolina Piedmont, A.D. 1000–1710
  2. pp. 125-141
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  1. 11 The Rise and Fall of Coosa, A.D. 1350–1700
  2. pp. 143-155
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  1. 12 The Emergence and Demise of the Calusa
  2. pp. 157-171
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  1. 13 The Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric Periods in the Central Mississippi Valley
  2. pp. 173-189
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  1. 14 The Vacant Quarter Hypothesis and the Yazoo Delta
  2. pp. 191-203
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  1. 15 Prelude to History on the Eastern Prairies
  2. pp. 205-228
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  1. 16 Postscript
  2. pp. 229-232
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  1. References Cited
  2. pp. 233-278
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 279-283
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