Hopewell Culture
Studied since the discovery of the
conspicuous mounds in Ross County Ohio, the Hopewell
have been an
archaeological enigma to many. The tradition is so named for the
owner of the
farm, Captain Hopewell, where over thirty mounds were discovered.
Earlier
studies focused more on the exotic grave goods such as precious
metals,
freshwater pearls, many of these objects had come from all corners of
the
continent from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, and north to
the
mid-Atlantic coastline (some say Hopewellian influence reached Nova
Scotia).
Earlier scholars of the Hopewell (1950’s through 1960’s) were
well aware of
the influence of the "Interaction Sphere", yet concluded that
the Hopewell,
in terms of lifestyle were a cult and had no influence on daily
life. Later
studies suggest otherwise, as more and more information surfaces
along with new
insightful interpretations. It is widely accepted that the
Hopewell are the"next generation" of the Adena. That is to say that the Adena
gave rise to
the Hopewell, who had, as speculated migrated into the Ohio
River Valley from
Illinois. The Hopewell have been described as a more
elaborate and flamboyant
version of the Adena. Whether the Hopewell
overpowered the Adena or simply
mingled with and mixed into the culture, is
not certain, yet there has been no
evidence of warfare to support the former.
The result was a cultural explosion
encompassing a vast majority of North
America east of the Rocky Mountains to the
Atlantic coast. The Hopewell
flourished in the Middle Woodland from 200 B.C. to
AD 500. The
environment was nearly what it is today. Temperate with lakes,
streams,
wetlands and flood-plains, the people took advantage of the seasonal
weather
in the Ohio River Valley via foraging as well as hunting and
gathering.
The cultivation of domestic strains of beans and maize was
well on its way as it
was implemented in small amounts, catching on later in
the time period. The
vegetation was a prairie/forest mix of deciduous trees,
walnut, oak, various
grasses and shrub. The fauna of the region included many
species of waterfowl,
turkey and other species in great abundance that are
found today (perhaps in
more abundance than found today). Larger fauna
included buffalo, bison, deer,
and elk and smaller animals such as rodents,
raccoons, beaver and the like.
Aquatic life included freshwater mussels
and clams, many fishes (bass, catfish,
etc.) and turtles. As we will see, the
people made abundant use of these flora
and fauna as food, clothing,
container, ceremonial and ornamental objects. As
for changes through time in
the environment, it is theorized (by some) that it
did in fact shift to a
wetter one, perhaps driving the people to higher ground
or otherwise drier
climates. Core settlement, as noted was along the Ohio River
and its
estuaries on flood-plains, as well as on or near wetlands. Major areas
of
population density include Newark and Chillicothe as well as Marietta.
These
areas provided a lush environment of flora and fauna species that were
widely
exploited over the centuries by the inhabitants. Living quarters,
although
scarcely studied, consist of scattering’s of small villages with
larger
settlements located near and around major mound complexes. Some of
these smaller
villages seem to have been occupied seasonally while settlement
was more than
likely permanent in the larger loci surrounding the mounds.
Some dwellings have
been found to consist of saplings stuck into the ground
in a circle, brought
together in the center and covered with elm bark or mats
of woven grasses. Post
molds from various areas in Ohio and Illinois indicate
oval patterns as well as
rectangular long-houses with rounded corners. Larger
houses ranged from 18 to 25
feet long and one was as large as 44x48 feet,
suggesting a large gathering
place, perhaps for trading, council meetings or
ceremonial practices. The dress
of the people reflected their beliefs,
trading practices and even wealth.
Ornaments were worn head to foot.
Women’s hair were pinned back with dowels of
wood or bone in a bun or knot
and a long sort of ponytail. When nursing, women
wore their hair braided and
tied up in a shorter ponytail that was held together
by a mesh or net-like
bag. Typical male hairstyle was a sort of mohawk on top
with their hair
pulled back into a bun in the back. As for male dress, a warrior
wore a
loincloth of dyed material with patterns on it (resembling a diaper; for
lack
of better description). He carried a long spear, an atl-atl, wearing
various
necklaces of bone, shell and stone beads including bear claws, shark
tooth
and other exotic items. The closest that these ancient north Americans
came
to an iron age is revealed in their use of copper as breast plates
and
helmets in warfare. Members of both sexes wore earspools (yo-yo shaped
earrings)
of copper as well as bracelets and necklaces. Mica was cut and
shaped into
various ornaments for headdresses in the form of animals, birds
of prey talons,
geometric figures, human hand, and bear claw. Mica would be
integrated into
clothing and on garments that would sparkle and reflect
light, somewhat like
sequins. Not much more is known about dress, due to the
fact that textiles
deteriorate rapidly in the archaeological record. Very
little is known of social
and political customs; ideas being drawn from
ethnographic analogy (of Iroquois,
the possible descendants) as well as being
pieced together from archaeological
contexts. More than likely the people
operated under matrilineal kinship. They
lived in long-houses dominated by
the oldest female member of the family and
when a couple was married, the
husband would move into the wives’ house and
become a part of their social
unit. These new husbands had very little if any
say in household matters. The
children "belonged" to or were affiliated with
their mothers family, the
males owing allegiance to that unit. There were,
however male chiefs who
represented households and villages in tribal affairs.
Evidence for
hereditary monarchy is briefly described from a report in the
1950’s. It
documents that a number of skeletons found in some mound structures
had a
rare physical trait. This trait was a bony growth in the ear that
was
genetically transmitted. Peoples found to harbor this growth were found
in
association with vast riches of pearls, beads, precious metals, large
amounts of
mica and the like, quite possibly the "inbred" mark of royalty
within a
tribe or tribes. The subsistence base of the Hopewell consisted of
hunting,
gathering and to a lesser extent cultivation of local plant species,
depending
upon where they lived. Hunting was done primarily with spears and
projectile
points, with the Indians making use of an instrument called and
atl-atl. One
would attach a spear to the atl-atl and hurl it at the target,
the implement
providing not only a more powerful throw, but giving the spear
a more finely
tuned trajectory. Also used at this time were the bow and
arrow, a big step in
technological innovation at the time. This is evident in
the archaeological
record with the finding of smaller projectile points such
as the Squibnocket
Triangle. As for throwing spears, larger projectile
points were used, resembling
the Jack’s Reef Corner Notched, broad knife
blades and corner notched
projectile points being preferred as well as being
typical of the Hopewell.
Associated stone tools were found that
manufactured and maintained these weapons
such as shaft straighteners. These
were rocks that were about palm-sized and had
a carved groove running down
the center with which one would work a stick or
small sapling through over
and over to smooth away notches and small stems. One
would hunt by stalking,
say a deer. The hunter would move very slowly through
the undergrowth wearing
a decoy, perhaps antlers and/or head or skin of the
animal. Once in range he
would hurl the spear attached to an atl-atl to kill the
animal. Other hunting
methods were implemented such as the dead fall. The
Indians would set a
log up in a tree and when an animal pulled on a piece of
bait it would
trigger the log to fall and kill the animal. Snaring was also
practiced using
saplings, the animal being caught and possibly starving to
death. Among the
animals hunted were bison, deer, turkey, beaver, muskrat, duck,
raccoon and
elk. Freshwater fishes such as bass and catfish were caught using
hooks made
from seashells, and freshwater clams and mussels were harvested. As
for
plants, many, such as gourds (for their seeds and used as
containers),
sumpweed, goosefoot, sunflower, knotweed, little barley and
maygrass were
cultivated. Pigweed, lambsquarter and grapes were also
collected. Tobacco was
widely grown, evidenced by pollen core samples and the
presence of pipes in the
archaeological record. Elk scapula and flint hoes
were used to cultivate
gardens. A recent study has revealed that Middle
Woodland environments had a
vast quantity of exploitable food sources. For
example, in one year an area of
ten square miles could produce 182k-426k
bushels of acorns, 100-840 deer,
10k-20k squirrels, 200 turkeys and many
species of duck. At a site in Scoville,
92% of meat was from deer, 4%
from turkey, 72% of nuts were hickory and 27% were
walnuts. This site was not
occupied from spring to mid-spring and middle to late
fall, at the exact time
of waterfowl migration, indicating that they left the
area to hunt them.
Surplus venison, bison, elk and other meats were smoked,
dried and stored in
pits lined with leather or bark. Fruits and vegetables were
dried and stored
as well as maize which was kept in bark barrels. Cornbread,
succotash and
hominy (a boiled cornmeal porridge) were baked/cooked. Maple trees
were
tapped to make syrup and sugar. Publications of the 1950’s and 1960’s
claim
that there was a strict division of labor. Men would hunt, fish,
make
weapons, canoes, bark barrels, snowshoes, paddles (oars), cleared land
and
participated in the harvest. It states that women would do the
gardening,
cooking, caring for children, gathered wild plants, made pottery,
wove cloth,
tailored clothing and trapped smaller animals. These seem to be
sexist
assumptions, as women could practice many of the "men’s work" as well
as
the fact that men would also be involved in many activities slated towards
women
such as caring for the children, pottery-making and weaving.
Objective
approaches to interpretation of past activities should always be
taken, for we
do not have all of the facts about these and other ancient
peoples and never
may. Now we come to trade, which along with burial
practices has put the
Hopewell on the archaeological "map" so to speak.
Trade, on a continental
scale had made their presence known, spreading and
absorbing ideas from the
Rocky Mountains to the East Coast, this has been
named the "Hopewell
Interaction Sphere." There were artisans (possibly a
separate class) who had
individual specialties in different raw materials.
These raw materials included
copper (seemingly the choice metal of the people
over gold and silver), stone,
bone, and flint-knappers, specialists in mica
and highly skilled ceramists.
Ceramics underwent a change through time
and were traded extensively. Normally
they were tempered with gritty sand or
pulverized limestone and paddled with a
cord paddle or a wrapped stick. There
were squat jars used in burials that were
smaller and thicker rimmed and
diagonally hatched or crosshatched (1-2% of most
finds), and conical or
spherically expanding flat-based pots with a flared
mouth, used for cooking
and storage, generally a utilitarian ware. Rocker
stamping done with
seashells was a popular design along with geometric patterns.
Designs
below the neck were, as mentioned, geometric patterns, broad shallow
grooves
that were made with a dull pointed tool (antler or stone tool).
Flamingo,
spoonbill and duck were common motifs (possibly noting their
importance as a
subsistence base) and the design was emphasized by texturing the
figure or
the background using a rocker-stamp technique with shells in a
zigzag
fashion. Other than bird motifs, concentric circles, wavelike patterns
and
geometric designs are incised on the pottery. Vase-like shapes, rounded
off
square vessels and trapezoidal forms have been found. The pottery was
traded
throughout the interaction sphere, with particular designs being
favored in
various regions. Uses include storage of foods, cooking vessels,
and mortuary
objects (broken ritually, perhaps to release the "spirit" of the
vessel).
Other clay objects found are highly stylized and detailed
figurines in human
form. They give us an idea of typical dress, custom and
hairstyle (mentioned
above). Women wore short sleeved robes tied at the waist
with a wide sash,
animal skin boots as well as wrist and arm bands with
patterns on them. Men wore
leather bib-like shirts and a type of loincloth
(also mentioned above).
Figurines discovered depict a woman standing with
an object broken in half in
her two hands, a woman carrying an infant on her
back, a woman sitting with her
hand on her lap and one of a woman nursing an
infant. A male figurine depicts
him sitting and holding a staff with two
hands as if meditating. All of the
peoples eyes are closed, evoking
reflection and/or deep thought. They are highly
lifelike and great attention
to detail is paid as one can discern jewelry,
headdress or hairstyle,
clothing and ornament. The purpose of the figurines
could be decoration or
trade good evoking cultural values and norms. Pipestone,
imported from
Missouri was used for a variety of objects such as mortar and
pestle, beads
and small bowls. However, its main use was for animal (sometimes
human yet
that was primarily an Adena feature) effigy platform pipes (sometimes
made of
clay). They consisted of a flat rectangular base with a hole through
the
middle and a very lifelike depiction of various animals on top.
Effigies
included that of birds of prey, beaver, frog (or toad), a cougar or
wildcat,
bear and heron. Some are just plain old bowls. A large hole was
borne into the
top and tobacco or other herbs were smoked. Although I have
not come across any
speculation of why particular animals were chosen, I feel
as though they are
representative of particular clans or lineage’s, perhaps
even moieties. Copper
was the metal of choice for the Hopewell. It was
imported from the Lake Superior
region (along with silver). Copper was
fashioned into rings, necklaces and
bracelets, earspools, beads, panpipes,
ax-heads, breast plates, masks and
projectile points. Helmets were also made
and decorated with antler and other
objects. It was fashioned by cold-working
and heating, pounding it into sheets
to be cut and shaped into various forms.
These objects have been found in
Tennessee, New York, Iowa and Missouri.
Mica, as described above was used for
various ornaments quite possibly even
mirrors, was mined in the southern
Appalachians. Obsidian, a glassy
volcanic mineral obtained from Yellowstone, was
professionally worked was
made into large ceremonial bifaces as well as knives
and other blades.
Animal-related objects include turtle shells used for
containers and such,
sharks teeth, barracuda jaw, conch shells (used as
containers and gorgets),
and Busycon (giant sea snail, shell used for cups) were
from the Gulf of
Mexico along with alligator teeth and skulls. Local freshwater
pearls from
mussels were used as beads for necklaces, anklets and armlets or
were sewn
onto clothing. Bear and wolf teeth from the Rocky Mountains were used
as
pendants or beads, as well as mandibles from these animals. In one
burial,
the mandible of a wolf was found inserted into a gap in a skeletons
teeth. Many
of these objects were found in the main Hopewell concentration
areas of Illinois
and Ohio. Galena, a type of lead ore was used to make
face-paint. Recorded
findings at a site name 22 different types of exotic
materials, 16 of them being
minerals, yet only two native to Ohio. Value in
terms of manufacture and
symbolic meaning went hand in hand, as these objects
displayed high prestige
among the people. Several trading centers include
Illinois, Scioto (Ohio),
Missouri/Kansas, as well as other areas about
the region. One researcher states
that it was a big festival when the traders
arrived home, there were games,
dancing, food and music for two or three
days, also stating that the Hopewell
were less likely to be war-like, being
more interested in trade. Reciprocity
plays a role in exchange with the
theory of the "Big Man." These individuals
were pillars of the community,
possessing great wealth and prestige. They would
acquire large amounts of
goods and then lend them to others in times of need.
The lend-ees would
then be obligated to the "Big Man," perhaps having to
work harder to pay back
the favor. This, along with burial customs is the
overall effect of the
Hopewell interaction sphere facilitating the so-called
"Big Idea." It was
a philosophy, a way of life be it not all encompassing in
the lives of
distant trade partners, yet affecting them through ritual
ceremonialism (in
some areas as evidenced by presence’s of mounds) and
trade-good manufacture.
This dispersal reached Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Iowa, Missouri, New
York, the Northeast and eastern Rocky Mountain states and
into the deep
south. The best-known aspects of the Hopewell are their ceremonial
and burial
practices centering on earthworks and burial mounds. Earthworks
included
animal effigy mounds (coinciding with animal platform
pipes.
Correlation?), geometric shapes, and a particular recent find, the
Great
Hopewell Road. Found in Ohio, it runs from Newark to Chillicothe,
in a straight
line through swamps and streams, thought to be a spiritual or
pilgrimage route,
rather than one of trading. Burial mounds were usually
enclosed by a raised
embankment, symbolizing a sacred place. Earthworks were
found in conjunction
with burial mounds, near burial mounds or even distances
away, some taking up
hundreds of acres. The great "Serpent Mound" is a good
example, yet is
thought of as Adena. As for mortuary customs, three quarters
of the bodies had
been cremated, full fleshed burial was probably a privilege
of higher ranked
individuals, they were buried in full flexed position.
Structures called Charnel
Houses were erected where the dead were
de-fleshed and then taken for cremation.
First, brush was cleared from
the burial area, including trees and topsoil. Clay
was then lain down and
then an inch of sand that was compacted. A large wooden
structure (some with
no roofs, possibly to expose flesh to the elements for
removal) was built,
sometimes with smaller rooms inside to accommodate others or
extra grave
goods and furniture. Cremations were done in clay lined pits dug
into the
floor after the bodies had been stripped of flesh and left there or
placed
inside the log cabin structure. They were then surrounded by
high-quality
grave goods mentioned above, artisans or craftsmen being
interred with large
amounts of their medium of specialty or trade including
pearls, mica and
obsidian. One mound was found with 12,000 pearls, 35,000
pearl beads, 20,000
shell beads, nuggets of copper, meteoric iron, silver,
sheets of hammered gold
and copper, and iron beads. These houses were left
standing or were burnt down
and then covered with a mound taking up to and
including one million basket-fulls
of earth. This was done periodically,
layering burial on top of burial, perhaps
indicating lineage, that it was
that clan’s mound. Some of the skeletons had
copper noses affixed to their
skulls (nasal cavities). The mounds were probably
reserved for those in high
status positions, sizes ranging from ten to fifty
feet high and larger. The
number of these earthworks in Ohio alone reaches
10,000, however, many
have been lost in this and other areas due to plowing and
erosion. The
Hopewell decline is as much a mystery as its origins and practices.
The
Hopewell exchange systems seem to have deteriorated around AD
500;
Moundbuilding ceased, art forms were no longer produced. War and
mass murder is
unlikely, for there is no evidence for fighting (none even
during the era).
Perhaps it was the decimation of big-game herds of
buffalo, deer and elk due to
the technology of the bow and arrow. Support for
this theory lies in the
disappearance of atl-atl weights around the same time
as the collapse. This, in
conjunction with colder climatic conditions could
have driven the animals north
or west, as weather would have a detrimental
effect on plant-life, drastically
cutting the subsistence base for these
foods. Along with this, food production
of maize and other hardier plants
would have been more important than trading
exotic goods. Another theory
suggests that they eventually dispersed for unknown
reasons, moving perhaps
south, integrating with the Mississippian culture or to
the northeast,
lending to the ancestral Iroquois theory. Whatever the case may
be, the
Hopewell have left their indelible mark on Ancient Native North
American
Culture in a way Archaeologists and Historians have never
encountered.
Bibliography
Fagan, Brian M. Ancient North America
1995 (revised) Thames and Hudson Ltd.,
London. Jennings, Jesse D.
Prehistory of North America 1968 McGraw-Hill Inc.,
New York. Spencer,
Robert F. / Jesse D. Jennings The Native Americans (second
edition) 1977
Harper and Row, Publishers, New York. Ceram, C.W. The First
American 1971
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., New York "Recent Fieldwork at
Hopewell
Culture National Historic Park"
www.nps.gov/hocu/recent%20fieldwork.htm
Home Page for Jackson, Jennifer
M. www.ucsu.colorado.edu/~jacksoj/ Archaeology:
Woodland 3: Hopewell
www.uiowa.edu/~anthro/webcourse/naarch/hopewell.htm
Research finds
Hopewell Indians were in park
www.wcinet.com/th/News/010398/Front/90294.htm
Woodland Period
www.uiowa.edu/~osa/cultural/wood.htm