Content provided in partnership with
An apparent late woodland boundary in Western Wisconsin
Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Fall 2000 by Boszhardt, Robert F, Goetz, Natalie
Conclusions: Segregating the Eastman and Provisional Lewis Phases
In sum, recent research in the northern portion of the Driftless Area has revealed a series of significant distinctions in Late Woodland markers between the areas north and south of the Bad Axe River. To the south are effigy mounds dominated by birds, some of which have split tails, and quadrupeds with either short tails of no tails. Associated ceramics are exclusively Madison ware. Approximately 60 percent of the projectile points are Madison triangular, with the other 40 percent being side-notched forms, all of which are made of chert. In the Prairie du Chien locality, orthoquartzite arrow tips are rare unnotched Madison points and tend to be restricted to the main trench of the Mississippi River. These characteristics correspond to Stoltman's Eastman phase. Associated sites include the dense cluster of prehistoric shell middens in the constricted Mississippi River floodplain.
- More Articles of Interest
- end of the effigy mound culture: The late woodland to Oneota transition in...
- Contracting stemmed: What's the point?
- New data on the late woodland use of wild rice in northern Wisconsin
- Old Cooper and Red Ocher social complexity
- Middle woodland and Oneota contexts for wild rice exploitation in...
To the north of the Bad Axe Valley, where the Mississippi trench is much wider and shell middens are non-existent, effigy mound quadrupeds are dominated by long-tailed forms and single-tailed birds. Ceramics include both Madison ware and Angelo Punctated, and projectile points are nearly exclusively unnotched Madison triangulars, many of which are serrated and made from orthoquartzite. This Late Woodland phenomenon of the northern Driftless Area does not conform to the Eastman phase, and it is proposed that it be considered the Lewis phase in honor of nineteenth-century mound surveyor Theodore Lewis. The Lewis phase is not firmly dated, so it currently has a provisional status (Figure 10).
Because the provisional Lewis phase appears to have Great Oasis influence and encompasses the unique Diamond Bluff "panther" mound with its inclusive emergent Oneota vessels, this phase reflects the terminal Woodland occupation of the northern portion of the Driftless Area and initial transition into the Silvernale Oneota complex at Red Wing. For example, Angelo Punctated pottery was found at Diamond Bluff (Hall 1962) and at Wakanda Park Mound 10 in Dunn County. Wittry's (1959) excavation of Mound 10 at Wakanda Park also produced a grittempered, angular-shouldered Mississippian vessel, similar to a small, grit-tempered, Ramey-like pot found at the Midway site (Boszhardt 1997). Likewise, Midway also produced a shell-tempered variant of a Great Oasis or Mill Creek rim. It is intriguing that Oneota first manifests itself in the Upper Mississippi River at Apple River and Red Wing, then La Crosse, on either side of the Eastman phase. In contrast, the Prairie du Chien locality never supported a major Oneota occupation but, like all of the southern portion of the Driftless Area, became virtually abandoned by ca. A.D. 1200. An explanatory model of how and why Driftless Area Late Woodland groups transformed into emergent Oneota along the Upper Mississippi River is presented in the accompanying article by Theler and Boszhardt.
Acknowledgments
Find Research Guides for:
Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »