essay
Woodland subsistence-settlement systems in the Lower Illinois Valley
new perspectives in archeology • Chicago • Published In 1968 • Pages: 285-312
By: Struever, Stuart.
Abstract
Struever presents some of the results from a site survey and excavation project in the lower Illinois Valley in an area where Hopewell developed. Struever was interested in learning about change in subsistence-settlement systems from the Early to Middle Woodland periods. (Only the material pertaining to the Middle Woodland period was indexed for Outline of Cultural Materials subjects.) Struever uses the environmental context of the valley to interpret the archaeological data. He found sites that showed sustained occupation, perhaps year-round, one site that appears to have been a trade or exchange hub (there were large quantities of imported raw materials and finished goods), and a site adjacent to the Peisker mounds that showed multiple, short-lived occupations associated with the burial of the dead. The data also show evidence of what Struever calls 'Intensive Harvest Collecting,' with subsistence centering on foods that 'occur in large, concentrated populations and [that] lend themselves to harvesting…' (page 305) such as nuts, acorns, certain plant seeds, white-tail deer, migratory waterfowl, and fish.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2004
- Region
- North America
- Sub Region
- Eastern Woodlands
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Sarah Berry ; 2003
- Field Date
- 1959-1965
- Coverage Date
- 2200 BP-1600 BP (200 B.C.-400 A.D.)
- Coverage Place
- lower Illinois Valley, Illinois and Missouri; United States
- Notes
- Stuart Struever
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-312)
- LCCN
- 67027386
- LCSH
- Hopewell culture