Wikipedia

Adena culture

TheAdena culturewas aPre-ColumbianNative Americanculture that existed from 500 BCE[1]to 100 CE,[2]in a time known as theEarly Woodland period.[3]The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native American societies sharing a burial complex and ceremonial system. The Adena culture was centered on the location of the modern state ofOhio,but also extended into contiguous areas of northernKentucky,easternIndiana,West Virginia,and parts of extreme westernPennsylvania.[3]

Adena culture
Geographic distribution of theAdena(500 BCE–100 AD),Hopewell(200 BCE–500 AD), andFort Ancient(1000–1750 AD) cultures.[citation needed]
Geographical rangeMidwestern United States
PeriodEarly Woodland period
Datesc. 500 BCEtoc. 100 CE
Type siteAdena Mound
Major sitesCriel Mound,Grave Creek Mound,andMiamisburg Mound
Preceded byArchaic period
Followed byOhio Hopewell

Importance

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The Adena culture was named for the large mound onThomas Worthington'searly 19th-century estate located nearChillicothe, Ohio,[4]which he named "Adena".

The culture is the most prominently known of a number ofsimilar cultures in eastern North Americathat began mound building ceremonialism at the end of theArchaic period.The geographic range of the Adena sites is centered on central and southern Ohio, with further sites in contiguous areas of the surrounding states of Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The importance of the Adena complex comes from its considerable influence on other contemporary cultures and cultures that came after it[5]The Adena culture is seen as the precursor to the traditions of theHopewell tradition,which are sometimes thought as an elaboration, or zenith, of Adena traditions.

The Adena were notable for their agricultural practices, pottery, artistic works, and extensive trading network, which supplied them with a variety of raw materials, ranging from copper from the Great Lakes to shells from the Gulf Coast.[6][7][8]

Art and religion

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Mounds

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Lasting traces of Adena culture are still seen in the remains of their substantialearthworks.At one point, larger Adena mounds numbered in the hundreds, but only a small number of the remains of the larger Adena earthen monuments still survive today. Thesemoundsgenerally ranged in size from 20 feet (6.1 m) to 300 feet (91 m) in diameter and served as burial structures, ceremonial sites, historical markers, and possibly gathering places. These earthen monuments were built using hundreds of thousands of baskets full of specially selected and graded earth. According to archaeological investigations, Adena earthworks were often built as part of their burial rituals, in which the earth of the earthwork was piled immediately atop a burned mortuary building. These mortuary buildings were intended to keep and maintain the dead until their final burial was performed. Before the construction of the earthworks, some utilitarian and grave goods would be placed on the floor of the structure, which was burned with the goods and honored dead within. The earthwork would then be constructed, and often a new mortuary structure would be placed atop the new earthwork. After a series of repetitions, mortuary/earthwork/mortuary/earthwork, a quite prominent earthwork would remain. In the later Adena period, circular ridges of unknown function were sometimes constructed around the burial earthworks.[5]

Prominent mounds

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Main article:List of Adena culture sites
Site Image Description
Adena Mound The Adena Mound, thetype sitefor the culture, is a registered historic structure nearChillicothe, Ohio.
Biggs site Also known as Portsmouth Group D, the site is located in next to the Ohio River inGreenup County, Kentucky.It is a concentriccircular embankment and ditchsurrounding a central conicalburial moundwith a causeway crossing the ring and ditch. It is connected to thePortsmouth Earthworksdirectly across theOhio RiverinPortsmouth, Ohio.[9][10]
Criel Mound A 35-foot (11 m) high and 175-foot (53 m)-diameter conical mound, it is the second largest of its type inWest Virginia.It is located inSouth Charleston, West Virginia.P. W. Norris of theSmithsonian Institutionoversaw the excavation. His team discovered numerous skeletons along with weapons and jewelry.[11]
Enon Mound Ohio's second largestconicalburial mound,it is believed to have been built by the Adena.
Grave Creek Mound At 62 feet (19 m) high and 240 feet (73 m) in diameter, it is one of the largest conical-type burial mounds in the United States. It is located inMoundsville, West Virginia.In 1838, much of the archaeological evidence in this mound was destroyed when several non-archaeologists tunneled into the mound.[11][12]
Miamisburg Mound Once serving as an ancient burial site, the Miamisburg Mound is the most recognizable landmark in Miamisburg. It is the largest conical burial mound inOhio,and remains virtually intact. Located in a city park at 900 Mound Avenue, it is an Ohio historical site and serves as a popular attraction and picnic destination for area families. Visitors can climb to the top of the mound via stone-masonry steps.
Wolf PlainsGroup A Late Adena group of 30 earthworks including 22 conical mounds and nine circular enclosures.[13]It is located a few miles to the northwest ofAthens, Ohio.

Stone tablets

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The Adena also carved small stone tablets, usually 4 or 5 inches by 3 or 4 inches by.5 inches thick. On one or both flat sides were gracefully composed stylized zoomorphs or curvilinear geometric designs in deep relief. Paint has been found on some Adena tablets, leading archaeologists to propose that these stone tablets were probably used to stamp designs on cloth or animal hides, or onto their own bodies.[14]It is possible that they were used to outline designs fortattooing.[15]

Timber circles

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Main article:Timber circles
Artists conception ofMt Horeb Site 1

Postholes from a number of timber circles have been found during excavations of Adena culturecausewayed ring ditchsites in theBluegrass regionofKentuckyand adjacent regions ofOhioandWest Virginia.[16]A notable example was found by archaeologistWilliam S. Webbduring the excavations of theMount Horeb Site 1inFayette County, Kentuckyin 1939. Webb discovered a circle of "paired-posts" inside of the embankment ring and ditch.[17][18]The 48.5 feet (14.8 m) circle was made up of sixty two "paired" post sets and eight single posts.[19]

Pottery

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Unlike in other cultures, Adenapotterywas not buried with the dead or the remains of the cremated, as were other artifacts. Usually Adena pottery wastemperedwith grit or crushed limestone and was very thick; its decoration was largely plain, cord-marked or fabric marked, although one type bore a nested-diamond design incised into its surface. The vessel shapes were sub-conoidal or flat-bottomed jars, sometimes with small foot-like supports.[20]

Domestic life

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Settlement patterns

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The large and elaborate mound sites served a nearby scattering of people. The population was dispersed in small settlements of one to two structures. A typical house was built in a circle form from 15 to 45 feet in diameter. The walls were made of paired posts tilted outward, that were then joined to other pieces of wood to form a cone shaped roof. The roof was then covered with bark and the walls may have been bark and/or wickerwork.[21]

Food sources

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Their sustenance was acquired through foraging and the cultivation of native plants.

Tools

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Adena culture stone gorgets and points

The Adena ground stone tools and axes. Somewhat rougher slab-like stones with chipped edges were probably used as hoes. Bone and antler were used in small tools, but even more prominently in ornamental objects such as beads, combs, and worked animal-jawgorgetsor paraphernalia. Spoons, beads and other implements were made from the marineconch.A few copper axes have been found, but otherwise the metal was hammered into ornamental forms, such as bracelets, rings, beads, and reel-shaped pendants.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Adena culture | North American Indian culture".Encyclopedia Britannica.Retrieved2021-08-05.
  2. ^"American Indians - Ohio History Central".ohiohistorycentral.org.Retrieved2021-02-13.
  3. ^ab"Adena Culture".Ohio History Central.Ohio History Connection.
  4. ^"Identifying Flint Artifacts/Early Woodland People".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-07-08.Retrieved2008-09-12.
  5. ^ab"Native Peoples of North America–Adena".Archivedfrom the original on 20 September 2008.Retrieved2008-09-12.
  6. ^"Civilizations Of The Americas, The Peoples To The North".Archived from the original on 2009-05-10.Retrieved2008-09-11.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^"Early Woodland: Northeastern Middlesex Tradition".Retrieved2008-09-11.
  8. ^"Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex".Retrieved2008-09-11.
  9. ^"Portsmouth Earthworks-Ohio Central History".Retrieved2008-09-11.
  10. ^Lewis, R. Barry (1996).Kentucky Archaeology.University Press of Kentucky.ISBN978-0-8131-1907-6.
  11. ^ab"Mounds and Mound Builders".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-06-23.Retrieved2008-09-11.
  12. ^Hemmings, E. Thomas (1984)."Investigations at Grave Creek Mound 1975-1967: A Sequence for Mound and Moat Construction".West Virginia Archeologist.362:3–49.
  13. ^"The Archaeological Conservancy-2008 Annual Report"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-07.Retrieved2010-02-03.
  14. ^Power, Susan (2004).Early Art of the Southeastern Indians-Feathered Serpents and Winged Beings.University of Georgia Press.pp.29–34.ISBN978-0-8203-2501-9.
  15. ^"Virtual First Ohioans".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-10.Retrieved2017-04-09.
  16. ^Purtill, Matthew P.; Norr, Jeremy A.; Frodge, Jonathan B. (2014)."Open-Air" Adena "Paired-Post Ritual Features in the Middle Ohio Valley".Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.9(1): 59–82.doi:10.1179/2327427113Y.0000000010.JSTOR26599891.S2CID129300799.
  17. ^Clay, R. Berle (1998)."The Essential Features of Adena Ritual and Their Implications".Southeastern Archaeology.17(1): 1998.JSTOR41890386.
  18. ^Carbone, Cristina (17 July 2018)."Society of Architectural Historians: Mount Horeb Earthwork".SAH Archipedia.University of Virginia Press.
  19. ^Sizemore, Judy (2008)."Mt Horeb: Adena People Teacher Companion Guide"(PDF).Kentucky Heritage Council. p. 16.
  20. ^ab"Adena Site".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-05-09.Retrieved2008-09-12.
  21. ^"The Adena Mounds".Archivedfrom the original on 2 October 2008.Retrieved2008-09-12.
  22. ^"NA Archaeology: Adena".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-06-27.Retrieved2008-09-12.
  23. ^Whitaker, Alex (1983).The Mound Builders.Retrieved2017-04-09.{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help)
  24. ^Mueller, Natalie G. (2018-03-01)."The earliest occurrence of a newly described domesticate in Eastern North America: Adena/Hopewell communities and agricultural innovation".Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.49:39–50.doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2017.12.001.ISSN0278-4165.
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