Home Region:  Mississippi Basin (North America)

Cahokia - Late Woodland II

450 CE 600 CE

D G SC WF HS EQ 2020  us_woodland_4 / USMisMu



Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
300 CE 450 CE Cahokia - Late Woodland I (us_woodland_3)    [continuity]

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.
600 CE 750 CE Cahokia - Late Woodland III (us_woodland_5)    [continuity]

2000 BCE

Period of population growth begins [1]

1 CE
c1 CE "large quantities of native cultigens began to be incorporated into midcontinental diets. [1]

100 CE
Maize appears in the archaeological record [2]
Atlatl is the contemporary weapon [2]
"periodic rituals at ceremonial mound centers" [2]
"groups ensured access to needed resources through maintenance of alliance-exchange relationships" [2]

200 CE
300 CE
Early arrowheads appear. "Beginning A.D. 300-400, the bow replaced the atlatl in most regions" [2]
In the Mississippian region (Midwest and Upland South) the transition from atlatl to bow was "relatively rapid because dart points disappear from the archaeological record" [2]
Introduction of the bow in the Mississippi region decreased social complexity because it caused the collapse of the Hopewell system, the abandonment of mound centers and alliance-exchange relationships [2]
Bow enabled a new bow and native crops subsistence strategy which lead to a movement to and the effective exploitation of previously marginal lands and "household autonomy" [2]
There followed an economic intensification and population growth which eventually "packed the landscape with settlements." [2]

400 CE
500 CE
600 CE
Late arrowheads appear. "This transition to small, thin, triangular or triangular corner-notched points has long been accepted as evidence of the bow, but variation in the morphology of late arrow point types suggest that this transition was governed by social and historical factors that varied across these regions." [2]
Late arrowheads may indicate the technological development of fletching as they are less heavy and thick than the early arrowheads. [2]
First evidence of intergroup violence appears in the archaeological record (arrowpoints embedded in skeletons in individual and group burials). [2]
No evidence for an increase in social complexity and hierarchy or deviation from the "trend toward household autonomy" at this time. [2]
"For the first time, there is evidence, in the form of group and individual burials with embedded arrow points, of the bow as the primary weapon of intergroup violence." [2]
"In Middle Woodland times there isn’t much evidence for warfare." "Later, after about A.D. 600 there is more evidence (scalping, embedded arrow points)." [3]
"Population growth, reduced access to resources, sedentism, and the desire to avoid conflict made the high costs of intensified food production more attractive." [2]

"trail networks also are important, and some of the historic east-west ones cross near Cahokia." [4]
Cahokia "controlled a critical choke point in trade routes that spanned the midcontinent" an idea that goes back to Brackenridge (1813 CE). [5]
"The greatest environmental hazard would have been a late summer Mississippi River flood similar to the one that took place in 1993. A rise in the river at that time of the year simultaneously drowned crops, prevented easy fishing in shallow ponds, and ruined food stored in underground pits. Floods attributable to severe storms, including excessive water funnelled into the floodplain by creeks that drain the uplands, certainly caused localized disasters much like they did a century ago before effective flood-control measures were put in place." [6]
"No other major site was as advantageously situated. Cahokia was located in what was by far the widest expanse of land suitable for settlement in the American Bottom. More people could live there than anywhere else ... The high ground where Cahokia was located was bordered on the north and south by large tracts of low-lying land that received the waters of different upland streams." [6]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013)

[2]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[3]: (Peregrine/Pauketat 2014, 16)

[4]: (Peregrine/Trubitt 2014, 21)

[5]: (Milner 2006, 12)

[6]: (Milner 2006, 168)

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Luxury Goods
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Cahokia - Late Woodland II (us_woodland_4) was in:
 (450 CE 599 CE)   Cahokia
Home NGA: Cahokia

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
15 S
[450, 600]

Original Name:
Cahokia - Late Woodland II
[450, 600]

Alternative Name:
American Bottom
[450, 600]
Alternative Name:
Late Woodland
[450, 600]
Alternative Name:
Mund Phase
[450, 600]

Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
600 CE
 

Duration:
[450 CE ➜ 600 CE]
 

Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
none
[450, 600]

Collapse of the Hopewell system c 300 CE lead to the abandonment of mound centers and alliance-exchange relationships. [1]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)


Supracultural Entity:
Middle Woodland
[450, 600]

Succeeding Entity:
Cahokia - Late Woodland III
[450, 600]

Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity
[450, 600]

Preceding Entity:
300 CE 450 CE Cahokia - Late Woodland I (us_woodland_3)    [continuity]  
 
Succeeding Entity:
600 CE 750 CE Cahokia - Late Woodland III (us_woodland_5)    [continuity]  
 

Degree of Centralization:
none
[450, 600]

Language
Linguistic Family:
NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI
[450, 600]

Religion

Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
[30 to 50] people
[450, 600]

Inhabitants. Estimate. Population of the American Bottom was negligible before Sponemann-Collinsville-Loyd phase.


Polity Population:
-
[450, 600]

People.


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
1
[450, 600]

levels.
Before the nucleated villages of the Late Woodland Patrick phase
"From the Late Woodland Patrick phase through Emergent Mississippian times, communities in the floodplain and immediately adjacent uplands tended to consist of groups of structures. Most people lived in these nucleated villages, each of which was occupied by at least a few tens of people, and sometimes several times that number. Only a small proportion of the valley’s inhabitants lived in houses that were widely separated from one another." [1]

[1]: (Milner 2006, 98)


Religious Level:
-
[450, 600]

levels.
Shaman-like religious leaders.


Military Level:
-
[450, 600]

levels.


Administrative Level:
[1 to 2]
[450, 600]

levels.
No evidence for an increase in social complexity and hierarchy or deviation from the "trend toward household autonomy" at this time. [1]
1. Chief
2. Elder. kin group leaders [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Iseminger 2014, 26)


Professions
Professional Soldier:
Absent
[450, 600]

Professional Priesthood:
Absent
[450, 600]

Professional Military Officer:
Absent
[450, 600]

Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
Absent
[450, 600]

Merit Promotion:
Absent
[450, 600]

Full Time Bureaucrat:
Absent
[450, 600]

Examination System:
Absent
[450, 600]

Law
Professional Lawyer:
Absent
[450, 600]

Judge:
Absent
[450, 600]

Formal Legal Code:
Absent
[450, 600]

Court:
Absent
[450, 600]

Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
Absent
[450, 600]

Irrigation System:
Absent
[450, 600]

Food Storage Site:
Absent
[450, 600]

Drinking Water Supply System:
Absent
[450, 600]

Transport Infrastructure
Road:
Absent
[450, 600]

"trail networks also are important, and some of the historic east-west ones cross near Cahokia." [1] Presumably these are frequently used pathways rather than maintained roads.

[1]: (Peregrine/Trubitt 2014, 21)


Port:
Absent
[450, 600]

Canal:
Absent
[450, 600]

Bridge:
Absent
[450, 600]

There were no bridges in prehistoric North America.


Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
Present
[450, 600]

From earliest times people of American bottom were visiting a number of mineral sources. This is not mentioned in current literature. Two examples: Wyandot, in the Ohio river valley and Mill Creek just south of the American bottom. [1]

[1]: pres. comm. Peter Peregrine


Information / Writing System
Written Record:
Absent
[450, 600]

There is no written record for Cahokia. [1]

[1]: (Peregrine 2014, 32)


Script:
Absent
[450, 600]

Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
Absent
[450, 600]

Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
Absent
[450, 600]

Sacred Text:
Absent
[450, 600]

Religious Literature:
Absent
[450, 600]

Practical Literature:
Absent
[450, 600]

Philosophy:
Absent
[450, 600]

Lists Tables and Classification:
Absent
[450, 600]

History:
Absent
[450, 600]

Fiction:
Absent
[450, 600]



Calendar:
Absent
[450, 600]

Information / Money
Paper Currency:
Absent
[450, 600]

Indigenous Coin:
Absent
[450, 600]

Foreign Coin:
Absent
[450, 600]

Article:
Present
[450, 600]

Exchange-system economy. [1]

[1]: (Milner 2006, 138)


Information / Postal System
Postal Station:
Absent
[450, 600]

General Postal Service:
Absent
[450, 600]

Courier:
Absent
[450, 600]

Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Stone Walls Non Mortared:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Stone Walls Mortared:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
Absent
[450, 600]

Settlements primarily located for access to water and arable land. [1]

[1]: (Peregrine 2014, personal communication)


Modern Fortification:
Absent
[450, 600]

Moat:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Fortified Camp:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Earth Rampart:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Ditch:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Complex Fortification:
Absent
[450, 600]

Checked by Peter Peregrine.


Long Wall:
absent
[450, 600]

Military use of Metals
Steel:
Absent
[450, 600]

Iron:
Absent
[450, 600]

Bronze:
Absent
[450, 600]

Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
Absent
[450, 600]

Sling Siege Engine:
Absent
[450, 600]

Sling:
Absent
[450, 600]

The atlatl was the main weapon of this region before the introduction of the bow c300-400 CE. [1] [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Iseminger 2010, 24) Iseminger, W R. 2010. Cahokia Mounds: America’s First City. The History Press. Charleston.


Self Bow:
Present
[450, 600]

"Beginning A.D. 300-400, the bow replaced the atlatl in most regions" [1] However, not regularly used as a weapon: evidence of victims "struck by arrows and clubs" increased only during "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Javelin:
Absent
[450, 600]

Most sources only refer to bows and arrows [1] , and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Handheld Firearm:
Absent
[450, 600]

Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
Absent
[450, 600]

Crossbow:
Absent
[450, 600]

Composite Bow:
Absent
[450, 600]

Checked by Peter Peregrine.


Atlatl:
Absent
[450, 600]

"Beginning A.D. 300-400, the bow replaced the atlatl in most regions" [1] However, not regularly used as a weapon: evidence of victims "struck by arrows and clubs" increased only during "last half of the first millennium" [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner 2006, 174)


Handheld weapons
War Club:
Present
[450, 600]

However, not regularly used as a weapon: evidence of victims "struck by arrows and clubs" increased only during "last half of the first millennium" [1]

[1]: (Milner 2006, 174)


Sword:
Absent
[450, 600]

Most sources only refer to bows and arrows [1] , and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Spear:
Absent
[450, 600]

Most sources only refer to bows and arrows [1] , and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Polearm:
Absent
[450, 600]

Most sources only refer to bows and arrows [1] , and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Dagger:
Absent
[450, 600]

Most sources only refer to bows and arrows [1] , and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Battle Axe:
Absent
[450, 600]

Most sources only refer to bows and arrows [1] , and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [2]

[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95)

[2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Animals used in warfare
Horse:
Absent
[450, 600]

Elephant:
Absent
[450, 600]

Donkey:
Absent
[450, 600]

Dog:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Camel:
Absent
[450, 600]

Armor
Wood Bark Etc:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1] Of course, wooden objects would not survive in the archaeological record.

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Shield:
Absent
[450, 600]

Checked by Peter Peregrine.


Scaled Armor:
Absent
[450, 600]

Plate Armor:
Absent
[450, 600]

Limb Protection:
Absent
[450, 600]

Checked by Peter Peregrine.


Leather Cloth:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1] Of course, such objects would not survive in the archaeological record.

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Laminar Armor:
Absent
[450, 600]

Helmet:
Absent
[450, 600]

Checked by Peter Peregrine.


Chainmail:
Absent
[450, 600]

Breastplate:
Absent
[450, 600]

Checked by Peter Peregrine.


Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
Absent
[450, 600]

Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
Absent
[450, 600]

Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
Absent
[450, 600]


Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Luxury Goods

Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions
Coding in Progress.