Reconsidering the Late Woodland: A Critical Reassessment through Decolonizing Approaches

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Late Woodland period in eastern North America has traditionally been conceptualized as a cultural hiatus between the region’s Hopewell and Mississippian traditions. As a drastic (though not complete) reduction in the practices of monumental architecture and art produced with nonlocal materials occurred during this time, the end of the preceding Hopewell tradition (and its related Interaction Sphere) has been depicted as a “collapse” or “devolution” by multiple researchers. However, the Late Woodland also saw a rapid rise in population, intensification of agriculture, increased sedentism, and technological innovation. Although the combination of these factors and the period’s architectural and artistic reduction appear contradictory, I argue that this contradiction stems from improper applications of evolutionist thought and outdated notions of cultural progress. The ways in which archaeologists (and the communities with whom they can interact) perceive this period in the Eastern Woodlands must be reassessed. Through the adoption of decolonizing approaches, I reconsider the Late Woodland period as a dynamic and crucial transition central to the history of the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33309