Early Woodland

The Early Woodland is actually a transition from the Archaic into the Woodland. Below is a description of some of the elements that are used to define cultures of the Early Woodland. None of these elements are unique to cultures in this period alone. Archaic cultures exploited many of them, and we see almost all of it continued throughout the other Woodland periods (see Middle Woodland and Late Woodland for more information).

The primary indicator of the Early Woodland period is the invention or introduction of earthenware pottery. Additional information on Early Woodland ceramics can be found here.

An interrelated series of new artifacts and style shifts in old ones. The primary archaeological evidence of this are shifts in lithic styles. Additional information on Early Woodland lithics can be found here.

Although burial mounds existed during the Archaic Period, we see a significant increase in the amount and complexity of the mounds and more valuables being buried with the dead.

During the Early Woodland there was an increase in plant cultivation and a related shift to a more sedentary pattern of settlement. There is evidence of cucurbits (gourds, squashes and pumpkin family) utilization in this period, as well as some of the earliest indicated ricing, which would lead to an explosion in the Woodland population.

For more information on the Early Woodland Period click here.