Book

The Hopewell interaction sphere: the evidence for interregional trade and structural complexity

Indiana Historical Society5 (2)Published In 1979 • Pages: 235-438 , plates

By: Seeman, Mark F..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This monograph is a modified version of Seeman's Ph.D. dissertation. Seeman analyzes Struever and Houart's 1972 model of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere in more detail. Seeman tries to determine exactly what kind of artifacts were traded and how complex the system was. He presents a quantitative analysis of the items traded in the Interaction Sphere from data gathered from published literature, unpublished notes and manuscripts, personal communications, and museum collections. He also discusses potential sources of raw materials. The data are subjected to statistical analysis, especially factor analysis. He concludes, '…the Hopewell Interaction Sphere was not a particularly dynamic or integrated system…[T]he volume of interregional trade was rather low and the distribution of these goods extremely variable. The fact that the majority of the Interaction Sphere commodities were concentrated in Ohio, together with the clustering of complex sites in this area, suggests that interregional trade was predominantly a one-sided proposition, with the cultural groups of the Scioto area occupying the pivotal position.' (page 411). Only the area that is considered to be within Hopewell as defined by Peter N. Peregrine in the article 'Hopewell,' in the Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Peter N. Peregrine and Melvin Embers, editors, New York: Plenum Publishing Corporation, 2001-2002, was indexed for OCM (Outline of Cultural Materials) subjects.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Reviews and critiques
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Organization and analysis of results of research
Mineral resources
Fauna
Ornament
Lithic industries
Smiths and their crafts
External trade
Burial practices and funerals
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Hopewell
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2004
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry ; 2003
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
not specified
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
2200 BP - 1500 BP (200 B.C.-500 A.D.)
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
the Midwest; Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, United States
NotesAdditional notes
by Mark F. Seeman
Includes bibliographical references (p. 413-438)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
81125434
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Hopewell culture