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Twelve Millennia: Archaeology of the Upper Mississippi River Valley (Bur Oak Book) PDF

273 Pages·2003·4.43 MB·English
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t w e l v e m i l l e n n i a a bur oak book Twelve Millennia Archaeology of the Upper Mississippi River Valley James L. Theler and Robert F. Boszhardt University of Iowa Press Iowa City University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242 Copyright © 2003 by the University of Iowa Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Design by April Leidig-Higgins http://www.uiowa.edu/uiowapress No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. All reasonable steps have been taken to contact copyright holders of material used in this book. The publisher would be pleased to make suitable arrangements with any whom it has not been possible to reach. The publication of this book was generously supported by the University of Iowa Foundation. Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Theler, James L., 1946– Twelve millennia: archaeology of the upper Mississippi River Valley / by James L. Theler and Robert F. Boszhardt. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN0-87745-847-2 (pbk.) 1. Indians of North America—Mississippi River Valley—Antiquities. 2. Mound-builders— Mississippi River Valley. 3. Excavations (Archaeology)—Mississippi River Valley. 4. Mississippi River Valley—Antiquities. I. Title: 12 millennia. II. Boszhardt, Robert F. III. Title. E78.M75 T44 2003 977'.01—dc21 2002073296 03 04 05 06 07 P 5 4 3 2 1 For the people of the Upper Mississippi Valley, past and present c o n t e n t s Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii chapter one Introduction to Archaeology 1 chapter two Environment of the Upper 19 Mississippi River Valley chapter three Past Climate of the Upper 33 Mississippi River Valley chapter four A Brief History of Upper 39 Mississippi River Valley Archaeology chapter five The First People 53 chapter six 69 The Archaic Tradition chapter seven 85 The First Revolution chapter eight 97 The Woodland Tradition chapter nine 121 The Beginning of Tribes chapter ten 141 The Second Revolution chapter eleven 157 The Oneota Culture chapter twelve 173 The End of Prehistory 189 Epilogue 193 Appendix A. Animal Remains 215 Appendix B. Rock Art 229 Appendix C. Places to Visit 233 Recommended Readings and Sources 245 Index viii | contents p r e f a c e The story of pre-European people living in the Upper Mississippi River Val- ley, as told in the archaeological record, spans at least 12,000 years. To put that in perspective, envision a foot-long ruler with each inch representing a millennium. On that scale, Columbus would have reached the New World half an inch ago, the United States declared independence less than a quarter of an inch ago, the automobile was invented a tenth of an inch ago, and the age of computers occupies only the last one-thirtieth of an inch. The more than 11 inches before these events represent the time the region was occupied by pre-European Native American cultures. It is a time before written rec- ords in much of North America and is therefore technically prehistory. This prehistoric story survives only in oral traditions of Native people and as ma- terial remains or archaeological artifacts. The story presented here is one based on archaeology in the Upper Missis- sippi River Valley region. It is a story of cultural and natural continuity and change. Sometimes the changes were minor and gradual, but at several crit- ical points change was dramatic, revolutionizing cultural adaptations to the en- vironment and between societies. Some changes were instigated by climatic shifts, such as the end of the last Ice Age, while others were mirrored in tech- nological innovations, such as the development of pottery, the introduction of the bow and arrow, and the adaptation of corn agriculture.

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From the end of the Ice Age to the fur trade era, Twelve Millennia: Archaeology of the Upper Mississippi River Valley provides an excellent overview of the 12,000-year human past of the Driftless region of the Upper Mississippi River Valley—roughly from Dubuque, Iowa, to Red Wing, Minnesota, but f
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