Hopewell culture

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Hopewell mounds from the Mound City Group in Ohio

Hopewell culture is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BC to 400 A.D. At its greatest extent, Hopewell culture stretched from western New York to Missouri and from Wisconsin to Mississippi, and included both the American and Canadian shores of Lake Ontario.

Hopewell can also be considered as a cultural climax. Origins of the Hopewell culture are still under discussion. "Hopewell populations originated in western New York and moved south into Ohio where they built upon the local Adena mortuary tradition. Or Hopewell was said to have originated in western Illinois and spread by diffusion - perhaps carried by a religious elite - to southern Ohio. Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition was thought to have spread up the Illinois River and into southwestern Michigan, spawning Goodall Hopewell" (Dancey, p.114). Aside from the more famous Ohio Hopewell, a number of other Middle Woodland period cultures are known as "Hopewellian," including the Swift Creek culture, 100-500 A.D., the Santa Rosa-Swift Creek culture, 100-300 A.D., the Marksville culture, 1-400 A.D., and the Copena culture, 1-500 A.D.

Hopewell culture is known for its flamboyant burial ceremonialism, diversified material culture, and most importantly, exchange between other communities. Evidence for exchange can be found in exotic artifacts not native to the Hopewell region. With this exchange network, raw materials, as well as finished products were exported and imported. "It was thought that the distinctive Hopewellian artifacts were crafted specifically for mortuary ritual...however, many of the kinds of artifacts associated with human remains under the mounds were found also in settlement debris" (Dancey, p.117). Other features of Hopewell culture include the predominance of agriculture as opposed to hunting and gathering. Chief crops included squash, sunflowers, and various grasses, though maize, which would later become a dietary staple in the region, was only rarely cultivated. Artifacts indicate that the people were able to create tools and ornamental objects out of obsidian, mica, silver, native copper, or slightly modify natural items of iron, using percussion and drilling techniques. Galena (lead ore) was excavated and worked as well, but apparently mostly as a source of powder for coloring. They could not smelt metals or use metallurgical techniques, but were sophisticated craftspeople nevertheless. None of the aforementioned minerals are found in their native state in Ohio. All were brought hundreds of miles from their sources. These minerals and other items were traded in extensive networks.

Hand carved in mica by the Hopewell

Today, the best-known feature of Hopewell culture is the mounds that they built for religious purposes and/or for burial. It is known to be one of the most considerable achievements of Native Americans throughout the ancient past. These mounds, especially along the Ohio River valley could take various geometric shapes and rise to impressive heights. Samples of these mounds can still be seen today, especially in the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, Ohio. Determining the function of the mounds is still under debate. "One popular proposition for the shapes of the earthworks is that they were laid out to record astronomical observations, such as the movement of the sun through the seasons, or of the Moon and Venus" (Dancey, p.123). Due to lack of evidence and poor condition of the mounds, little more information can be obtained. Bradley T. Lepper, Curator of Archaeology, Ohio Historical Society, has argued that the Octagonal mound complex at Newark, Ohio is actually a lunar observatory which records the 18.6 year cycle of 'moonrises' and 'moonsets'. William F. Romain, Ph.D. has written a book on the subject and several articles.^[1]

There are many ideas about the collapse of the Hopewellian culture. Apparently, they ceased to exist around 200 AD. Some suggest that probability of their fall was their society dissolved, rather than crashing. Breakdown in societal organization could have been a result of full-scale agriculture. Scholars Dunnell and Greenlee suggest an idea of waste behavior. "They argue that energy was diverted from biological reproduction during a period when climate irregularities favored small families. As climate became predictable from year to year, energy was turned from waste behavior to food production" (Dancey, p.131). Still, the true reasoning of their evident dispersal is yet to be discovered, and much more knowledge is needed.

The Hopewell shared some features with the Mississippian culture that arose c. 900-1000 A.D. in the Eastern United States. It is unclear how much continuity there was between the two cultures.

The Center for American Archeology specializes in Hopewell culture.

1 Sources
2 See also
3 Footnotes
4 External Links

[edit] Sources

Dancey, William. “The Enigmatic Hopewell of the Eastern Woodlands.” North American Archaeology. Ed. Timothy R. Pauketat and Diana Dipaolo Loren. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2005. 108-137.