Woodland Period Systematics in the Middle Ohio Valley

Woodland Period Systematics in the Middle Ohio Valley. DARLENE APPLEGATE and ROBERT C. MAINFORT, JR. (eds.) University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, 2005. xx, 288 pp. ill., maps. $32.95 (paper), ISBN: 0-8173-5237-6.Mounds and earthworks scatter the middle Ohio Valley, one of the richest areas for Woodland archaeology in North America, but the accurate identification of their cultural and temporal associations remain an issue as new data challenges existing systematics. In Woodland Period Systematics in the Middle Ohio Valley, Darlene Applegate and Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., bring together presentations from two symposia held on Woodland taxonomy in 2002 and 2003. The volume opens formal discussion of problems in Woodland taxonomy by some of the leading regional experts.Originally, Adena and Hopewell described the archaeological cultures responsible for middle Ohio Valley burial mounds and earthworks. As time passed and data accumulated, these cultural labels lost their meanings and became synonyms for temporal associations with the Early and Middle Woodland periods. Confounding cultures and cultural traits with a taxonomic dating technique generated many problems over the past half century pertaining to properly labeling archaeological cultures, classifying time periods, and how past cultures are viewed from the archaeological record. This book presents different views of problems associated with the Woodland systematics and rewrites the way archaeologists classify and date archaeological sites in the middle Ohio Valley.In beginning the volume, Applegate (Chapter 1) offers an overview of terms associated with regional sites labeled as Adena and Hopewell and interpreted as Early and Middle Woodland. Applegate's chapter identifies the main taxonomic issues while stating that current regional systematics require refinement. Greber (Chapter 2) similarly argues for clarification through comparison of Adena and Hopewell sites. In Greber's opinion localized, site-specific phrases should be used (i.e., Middle Muskingum Adena) to describe regional Adena or Hopewell complexes, thus leaving room for spatial differentiation. Burks (Chapter 3) discusses how settlement patterns in central Ohio have been overlooked as regions outside this area have expressed classic characteristics of coeval Adena and Hopewell. Burks argues that more work in peripheral areas will lead to greater understandings of contemporary Adena and Hopewell populations. Together these first three chapters make clear the regional taxonomic issues and offer ways future work can sensibly classify sites.Moving from the Ohio core into the periphery, Schlarb, Pollack et al., and Richmond and Kerr (Chapters 4, 5, and 6) discuss Adena and Hopewell in Kentucky. Using site-specific data, Adena characteristics are seen much later at Kentucky sites running well into the Middle Woodland. The authors point out that a Hopewell influence exists in Kentucky Adena, causing considerable variation specifically in regard to mortuary, ritual, and artifact data from the Bullock, WalkerNoe, and Amburgey sites. As with the Ohio core, emergent issues are identifying distinct Adena and Hopewell characteristics. The Bullock site contains both Adena and Hopewell traits, making determination of cultural affiliation difficult. Pollack et al. identify problematic mortuary variations at the Walker-Noe site leading to the conclusion that strict trait-list approaches to classification diminish efforts to understand mortuary practices and ceremonialism. Amburgey is yet another Kentucky Adena site with a distinctly Hopewellian artifact assemblage that again demonstrates the need for refined systematics.Clay, Brown, and Sieg and Hollinger (Chapters 7, 8, and 9, respectively) provide an historic context that problematizes Adena and Hopewell taxonomy. Clay's chapter synthesizes the origins of Adena terminology, and because of its misuses over time, Clay argues for its total abandonment

Archaeology · Art · Biology · Cartography · Earthworks · Geography · Period (music · Systematics · Taxonomy (biology · Woodland · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Natural History · Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies · Ecology · History · Antiquities · Excavations (Archaeology) · Ohio river and valley

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