Woodland Period - Early Woodland Period (1000–1 BCE)

Early Woodland Period (1000–1 BCE)

A period historically using the introduction of pottery as a demarcation of the Woodland period, first believed to have occurred around 1000 BCE.

By the mid-1960s, however, it was evident that in some areas of the United States prehistoric cultural groups with a clearly Archaic cultural assemblage were making pottery without any evidence of the cultivation of domesticated crops. In fact, it appears that hunting and gathering continued as the basic subsistence economy and that true agriculture did not occur in much of the Southeast for a couple of thousand years after the introduction of pottery. This research indicated that a fiber-tempered horizon of ceramics greatly predates 1000 BCE, first appearing about 2500 BCE in parts of Florida with the Orange culture and in Georgia with the Stallings culture. Nevertheless, these early sites were typical Archaic settlements, differing only in the use of basic ceramic technology. As such, researchers are now redefining the period to begin with not only pottery, but the appearance of permanent settlements, elaborate burial practices, intensive collection and/or horticulture of starchy seed plants (see Eastern Agricultural Complex), differentiation in social organization, and specialized activities, among other factors. Most of these are evident in the Southeastern United States by 1000 BCE. The Adena culture is the best-known early Woodland culture.

In some areas, like South Carolina and coastal Georgia, Deptford culture pottery persists until circa 700 CE. Most settlements are near the coast, often near salt marshes. Acorns and palm berries were eaten, as well as wild grapes and persimmon. The most common prey was white-tailed deer. Shellfish formed an important part of the diet, and numerous coastal middens are known. After 100 BCE, burial mounds were built, which is taken to indicate social change.