Anthropology 2231F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Cardinal Direction, Social Stratification, Grave Goods

• School: Western University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: Anthropology 2231F/G
• Professor: Christopher Ellis

Document Summary

Lecture 9 part 1 early woodland in eastern north america. Ohio river valley (ohio, indiana, kentucky, west virginia, southwest. Known almost solely based on burial mounds and ceremonial sites: not necessarily one ethnic group. Artifacts and sites found far beyond the heartland, as far as quebec and new. First wide-spread use of mounds, also almost exclusively burial mounds: other structures can occur, most notably circular earthwork enclosures. Built up a ridge, ditch on the inside. 100m across, quite large; only about 1m high. 1 entrance cut into ridge, almost always facing a cardinal direction. Rows of paired posts, formed a sort of palisade. Sacred precincts: many have been destroyed, burial mounds: conical, number of individuals buried varies. Accretional mounds: not built all at once, built in stages over time with gradual additions. Mammoth mound, west virginia (about 21m high, 90 meters across);