| Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400-1700 First Edition, Edition Contributor(s): Brose, David S. (Editor), Smith, Marvin T. (Contribution by), Williams, Stephen (Contribution by) |
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ISBN: 0817353526 ISBN-13: 9780817353520 Publisher: University Alabama Press OUR PRICE: $33.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2005 Annotation: Within a generation of initial Native-European contact along North America's shores, European trade and diseases had dramatically altered the lives of inland indigenous tribes. In Societies in Eclipse, archaeologists combine their current discoveries with insights from anthropology, history, and Native oral traditions to examine the cultural transformations among the Eastern Woodlands tribes immediately preceding and following the arrival of Europeans. After establishing the distribution of prehistoric and historic populations from the north-eastern Appalachian forests to the southern trans-Mississippian prairies, the contributors consider specific groups, including Mohawk and Onondaga, Monacan, Coosa, and Calusa. For each, they present new evidence of cultural changes prior to European contact, including population movements triggered by the Little Ice Age (A.D. 1550-1700), shifting exchange and warfare networks, geological restriction of effective maize subsistence, and use of empty hunting territories as buffers between politically unstable neighbors. The contributors also trace European influences, including the devastation caused by European-introduced epidemics and the paths of European trade goods that transformed existing Native exchange networks. While the profound effects of European explorers, missionaries, and traders on Eastern Woodlands tribes cannot be denied, the archaeological evidence suggests that several indigenous societies were already in the process of redefinition prior to European contact. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies - Social Science | Archaeology |
| Dewey: 974.01 |
| Physical Information: 0.65" H x 8.44" W x 10.98" (1.57 lbs) 304 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Native American |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: While contact with explorers, missionaries, and traders made a significant impact on natives of the Eastern Woodlands, Indian peoples cannot be solely understood from the historical record. Here, in Societies in Eclipse, archaeologists combine recent research with insights from anthropology, historiography, and oral tradition to examine the cultural landscape preceding and immediately following the arrival of Europeans. The evidence suggests that native societies were in the process of significant cultural transformation prior to contact. |