Posted on 01/31/2008 6:49:57 AM PST by blam
Researchers unearth glimpse of Adena hunter-to-farmer shift
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 3:05 AM
By Bradley T. Lepper
Ohio's Adena culture represents a turning point in state history. Situated between the nomadic hunting and gathering cultures of the Archaic period and the more settled farming cultures of the later Woodland period, the Adena culture represented the dawn of a new way of life for Ohio's ancient people.
Archaeologists now are fleshing out the details of the daily lives of Ohio's first farmers, who were known mostly for their mortuary and ritual sites, such as Chillicothe's Adena Mound, for which the culture is named.
Archaeologists Craig Keener and Kevin Nye, with the Professional Archaeological Services Team in Plain City, investigated three Adena encampments in central Ohio that show strong continuities with the earlier hunting and gathering way of life as well as hints of the changes that, in Asia, are described as the Neolithic Revolution.
Their results are reported in the current issue of the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.
The three sites are situated in the uplands and likely represent autumn camps focused on gathering and processing nuts -- especially hickory nuts. Before this work, most known Adena habitation sites and camps were located along rivers. The upland setting and the focus on nut collecting are more what we would expect for Archaic period camps.
New developments are revealed by the presence of broken pots and, in one pit, a handful of seeds representing the earliest domesticated plants in Ohio: goosefoot, sumpweed and maygrass.
The pottery suggests a less nomadic way of life, because the large pots of the Adena were both heavy and fragile. The seeds indicate an increasing commitment to food production rather than simply collection of Ohio's natural bounty.
The sites that Keener and Nye studied capture a glimpse of groups on the cusp of change -- no longer simply hunter-gatherers and not yet fully committed farmers. Such sites will provide the clues to understanding how small steps led to a giant leap for humankind.
Bradley T. Lepper is curator of archaeology at the Ohio Historical Society.
GGG Ping.
Does this explain Dennis Kucinich?........
And thus began the descrecration of the virgin forests which existed by the noble redman. And global warming was given another boost.
The Adena were mound builders. Kucinich is a steaming pile builder.
a throwback, perhaps........
|
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks Blam. |
||
|
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
And from farming it was a short leap to pickup trucks and global warming. It’s all Ohio’s fault.
Harvesting hickory nuts isn’t easy work. Even after they got the husks removed and the shells cracked, it would take a lot of folks just sitting around and picking the meat out of the shells.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.