Adena Culture - Wikipedia

Pre-Columbian Native American culture Adena culture

Geographic distribution of the Adena (500 BC–100 AD), Hopewell (200 BC–500 AD), and Fort Ancient (1000–1750 AD) cultures.[citation needed]
Geographical range	Midwestern United States
Period	Early Woodland period
Dates	c. 500 BC to c. 100 AD
Type site	Adena mound
Major sites	Criel Mound, Grave Creek Mound, and Miamisburg Mound
Preceded by	Archaic period
Followed by	Ohio Hopewell

The Adena culture was a pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 500 BC[1] to 100 AD,[2] in a time known as the Early Woodland period.[3] The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native American societies sharing a burial complex and ceremonial system. The Adena culture was centered on the location of the modern state of Ohio, but also extended into contiguous areas of Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and parts of extreme western Pennsylvania.[3]

Importance

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The Adena culture was named for the large mound on Thomas Worthington's early 19th-century estate located near Chillicothe, Ohio,[4] which he named "Adena".

The culture is the most prominently known of a number of similar cultures in eastern North America that began mound building ceremonialism at the end of the Archaic period. The geographic range of the Adena sites is centered on central and southern Ohio, with further sites in contiguous areas of the surrounding states of Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The importance of the Adena complex comes from its considerable influence on other contemporary cultures and cultures that came after it.[5] The Adena culture is seen as the precursor to the traditions of the Hopewell tradition, which are sometimes thought as an elaboration, or zenith, of Adena traditions.

The Adena were notable for their agricultural practices, pottery, artistic works, and extensive trading network, which supplied them with a variety of raw materials, ranging from copper from the Great Lakes to shells from the Gulf Coast.[6][7][8]

Art and religion

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Mounds

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Lasting traces of Adena culture are still seen in the remains of their substantial earthworks. At one point, larger Adena mounds numbered in the hundreds, but only a small number of the remains of the larger Adena earthen monuments still survive today. These mounds generally ranged in size from 20 feet (6.1 m) to 300 feet (91 m) in diameter and served as burial structures, ceremonial sites, historical markers, and possibly gathering places. These earthen monuments were built using hundreds of thousands of baskets full of specially selected and graded earth. According to archaeological investigations, Adena earthworks were often built as part of their burial rituals, in which the earth of the earthwork was piled immediately atop a burned mortuary building. These mortuary buildings were intended to keep and maintain the dead until their final burial was performed. Before the construction of the earthworks, some utilitarian and grave goods would be placed on the floor of the structure, which was burned with the goods and honored dead within. The earthwork would then be constructed, and often a new mortuary structure would be placed atop the new earthwork. After a series of repetitions, mortuary/earthwork/mortuary/earthwork, a quite prominent earthwork would remain. In the later Adena period, circular ridges of unknown function were sometimes constructed around the burial earthworks.[5]

Prominent mounds

[edit] Main article: List of Adena culture sites

Site	Image	Description
Adena mound		The Adena mound, the type site for the culture, is a registered historic structure near Chillicothe, Ohio.
Biggs site		Also known as Portsmouth Group D, the site is located next to the Ohio River in Greenup County, Kentucky. It is a concentric circular embankment and ditch surrounding a central conical burial mound with a causeway crossing the ring and ditch. It is connected to the Portsmouth Earthworks directly across the Ohio River in Portsmouth, Ohio.[9][10]
Criel Mound		A 35-foot (11 m) high and 175-foot (53 m)-diameter conical mound, it is the second largest of its type in West Virginia. It is located in South Charleston, West Virginia. P. W. Norris of the Smithsonian Institution oversaw the excavation. His team discovered numerous skeletons along with weapons and jewelry.[11]
Enon Mound		Ohio's second largest conical burial mound, it is believed to have been built by the Adena.
Grave Creek Mound		At 62 feet (19 m) high and 240 feet (73 m) in diameter, it is one of the largest conical-type burial mounds in the United States. It is located in Moundsville, West Virginia. In 1838, much of the archaeological evidence in this mound was destroyed when several non-archaeologists tunneled into the mound.[11][12]
Miamisburg Mound		Once serving as an ancient burial site, the Miamisburg Mound is the most recognizable landmark in Miamisburg. It is the largest conical burial mound in Ohio, and remains virtually intact. Located in a city park at 900 Mound Avenue, it is an Ohio historical site and serves as a popular attraction and picnic destination for area families. Visitors can climb to the top of the mound via stone-masonry steps.
Wolf Plains Group		A Late Adena group of 30 earthworks including 22 conical mounds and nine circular enclosures.[13] It is located a few miles to the northwest of Athens, Ohio.

Stone tablets

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The Adena also carved small stone tablets, usually 4 or 5 inches by 3 or 4 inches by .5 inches thick. On one or both flat sides were gracefully composed stylized zoomorphs or curvilinear geometric designs in deep relief. Paint has been found on some Adena tablets, leading archaeologists to propose that these stone tablets were probably used to stamp designs on cloth or animal hides, or onto their own bodies.[14] It is possible that they were used to outline designs for tattooing.[15]

Timber circles

[edit] Main article: Timber circles

Postholes from a number of timber circles have been found during excavations of Adena culture causewayed ring ditch sites in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and adjacent regions of Ohio and West Virginia.[16] A notable example was found by archaeologist William S. Webb during the excavations of the Mount Horeb Site 1 in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1939. Webb discovered a circle of "paired-posts" inside of the embankment ring and ditch.[17][18] The 48.5 feet (14.8 m) circle was made up of sixty two "paired" post sets and eight single posts.[19]

Pottery

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Unlike in other cultures, Adena pottery was not buried with the dead or the remains of the cremated, as were other artifacts. Usually Adena pottery was tempered with grit or crushed limestone and was very thick; its decoration was largely plain, cord-marked or fabric marked, although one type bore a nested-diamond design incised into its surface. The vessel shapes were sub-conoidal or flat-bottomed jars, sometimes with small foot-like supports.[20]

Domestic life

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Settlement patterns

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The large and elaborate mound sites served a nearby scattering of people. The population was dispersed in small settlements of one to two structures. A typical house was built in a circle form from 15 to 45 feet in diameter. The walls were made of paired posts tilted outward, that were then joined to other pieces of wood to form a cone shaped roof. The roof was then covered with bark and the walls may have been bark and/or wickerwork.[21]

Food sources

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Their sustenance was acquired through foraging and the cultivation of native plants.

• Hunted deer, elk, black bear, woodchuck, beaver, porcupine, turkey, trumpeter swan, and ruffed grouse.
• Gathered several edible seed, grasses, and nuts.[22]
• Cultivated pumpkin, squash, sunflower, goosefoot, and erect knotweed.[23][verification needed][24]

Tools

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The Adena ground stone tools and axes. Somewhat rougher slab-like stones with chipped edges were probably used as hoes. Bone and antler were used in small tools, but even more prominently in ornamental objects such as beads, combs, and worked animal-jaw gorgets or paraphernalia. Spoons, beads and other implements were made from the marine conch. A few copper axes have been found, but otherwise the metal was hammered into ornamental forms, such as bracelets, rings, beads, and reel-shaped pendants.[20]

See also

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• Hopewell tradition
• Old Copper complex

References

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1. ^ "Adena culture | North American Indian culture". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
2. ^ "American Indians - Ohio History Central". ohiohistorycentral.org. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
3. ^ a b "Adena Culture". Ohio History Central. Ohio History Connection.
4. ^ "Identifying Flint Artifacts/Early Woodland People". Archived from the original on 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
5. ^ a b "Native Peoples of North America–Adena". Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
6. ^ "Civilizations Of The Americas, The Peoples To The North". Archived from the original on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
7. ^ "Early Woodland: Northeastern Middlesex Tradition". Archived from the original on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
8. ^ "Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex". Retrieved 2008-09-11.
9. ^ "Portsmouth Earthworks-Ohio Central History". Retrieved 2008-09-11.
10. ^ Lewis, R. Barry (1996). Kentucky Archaeology. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-1907-6.
11. ^ a b "Mounds and Mound Builders". Archived from the original on 2008-06-23. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
12. ^ Hemmings, E. Thomas (1984). "Investigations at Grave Creek Mound 1975-1967: A Sequence for Mound and Moat Construction". West Virginia Archeologist. 362: 3–49.
13. ^ "The Archaeological Conservancy-2008 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
14. ^ Power, Susan (2004). Early Art of the Southeastern Indians-Feathered Serpents and Winged Beings. University of Georgia Press. pp. 29–34. ISBN 978-0-8203-2501-9.
15. ^ "Virtual First Ohioans". Archived from the original on 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
16. ^ Purtill, Matthew P.; Norr, Jeremy A.; Frodge, Jonathan B. (2014). "Open-Air "Adena" Paired-Post Ritual Features in the Middle Ohio Valley". Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. 9 (1): 59–82. doi:10.1179/2327427113Y.0000000010. JSTOR 26599891. S2CID 129300799.
17. ^ Clay, R. Berle (1998). "The Essential Features of Adena Ritual and Their Implications". Southeastern Archaeology. 17 (1): 1998. JSTOR 41890386.
18. ^ Carbone, Cristina (17 July 2018). "Society of Architectural Historians : Mount Horeb Earthwork". SAH Archipedia. University of Virginia Press.
19. ^ Sizemore, Judy (2008). "Mt Horeb : Adena People Teacher Companion Guide" (PDF). Kentucky Heritage Council. p. 16.
20. ^ a b "Adena Site". Archived from the original on 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
21. ^ "The Adena Mounds". Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
22. ^ "NA Archaeology : Adena". Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
23. ^ Whitaker, Alex (1983). The Mound Builders. Retrieved 2017-04-09. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
24. ^ Mueller, Natalie G. (2018-03-01). "The earliest occurrence of a newly described domesticate in Eastern North America: Adena/Hopewell communities and agricultural innovation". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 49: 39–50. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2017.12.001. ISSN 0278-4165.

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adena culture.

• Ohio Memory
• Ohio Historical Society's Archaeology Page
• Virtual First Ohioans's webpage on the Adena
• Introduction to North America's Native People: Adena people
• Ancient Earthworks of Eastern North America Photo Galleries

v t e Adena Culture
List of Adena culture sites Woodland period Mound Builders List of archaeological periods (North America)
Ohio sites	Adena Austin Brown Arledge Beam Farm Clemmons Conrad Coon Hunters George Deffenbaugh Enon Fortner Great Mound Hartley Highbanks Metro Park Hillside Haven Hodgen's Cemetery Horn Hurley Jackson Karshner Kinzer Luthor List McDaniel Miamisburg Mound Cemetery Odd Fellows' Cemetery Old Maid's Orchard Orators Carl Potter Raleigh Reeves D.S. Rose Ross Trails Circle Short Woods Park Shrum Snead Spruce Run David Stitt Story (Cincinnati) Story (Chillicothe) Williamson Wolf Plains Wright-Patterson Zaleski
Kentucky sites	Biggs Gaitskill Jim King Mound Mound Hill Mount Horeb Ramey Round Hill
West Virginia sites	Camden Park Mound Cotiga Mound Cresap Mound Criel Goff Mound Grave Creek Lynden Reynolds Farm Mound Neibert Mound St. Albans Site St Mary's Mound Turkey Creek Mound
Indiana sites	Mounds State Park
Category

v t e Native Americans in Ohio
Prehistory of Ohio – History of Ohio – Northwest Territory – Ohio Country – Native Americans in the United States – History of Native Americans in the United States
Historic tribes	Chalahgawtha (Shawnee) Delaware (Lenape) Erie people (Iroquois) Honniasont Huron (Wyandot) Miami Mingo (Iroquoian speaking) Mosopelea (Siouan speaking) Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) Odawa (Anishinaabe) Pekowi (Shawnee) Piankeshaw (Miami) Shawnee Wyandot See also Western Confederacy
Consulted tribes	Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians Citizen Potawatomi Nation Delaware Nation Delaware Tribe of Indians Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma Forest County Potawatomi Community Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Osage Nation Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Seneca–Cayuga Nation Seneca Nation of New York Shawnee Tribe Tonawanda Band of Seneca Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians Wyandotte Nation
Languages	Algonquian languages
Former reservations	Blanchard's Fork Reserve Moravian Indian Grants Nawash-Kinjoano Reservation Two Mile Square Reservation Upper Sandusky Reservation See also Indian removals in Ohio
Historic figures	Blue Jacket (Shawnee) Buckongahelas (Lenape) Cornstalk (Shawnee) Egushawa (Odawa) Joseph Brant (Mohawk) Kakowatcheky (Shawnee) Little Turtle (Miami) Roundhead (Wyandot) Tecumseh (Shawnee) Tenskwatawa (Shawnee)
Historic communities	Hell Town, Ohio Lenape settlements Lower Shawneetown Muskingum (village) Pickawillany
Prehistoric cultures	Adena (Early Woodland) Fort Ancient (Late Prehistoric) Glacial Kame culture (Archaic) Hopewell (Middle Woodland) Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands Monongahela culture (Late Woodland) Whittlesey culture (Late Prehistoric)
Prehistoric communities or sites	Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Archaeological sites in Ohio Mounds in Ohio Petroglyphs in Ohio‎ Tower Site See also Ohio River – Wilderness Road
Culture	Birdstone (sculpture) Mounds in Ohio Petroglyphs in Ohio‎ Thunderbird (mythology) Underwater panther
Museums	Flint Ridge State Memorial Fort Ancient (Lebanon, Ohio) Fort Hill State Memorial Fort Recovery Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum New Indian Ridge Museum Shawnee Woodland Native American Museum SunWatch Indian Village Zane Shawnee Caverns
Events	Beaver Wars (1609–1701) Nanfan Treaty (1701, 1726) Raid on Pickawillany (1752) Pontiac's War (1763) Lord Dunmore's War (1774) Yellow Creek massacre (1774) Treaty of Camp Charlotte (1774) Northwest Indian War (1785–1795) St. Clair's defeat (1791) Siege of Fort Recovery (1794) Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794) Treaty of Greenville (1795) Treaty of Grouseland (1805) Treaty of Detroit (1807) Treaty of Brownstown (1808) Treaty of Fort Meigs (1817) Treaty of St. Mary's (1818)
Other topics	Native American place names in Ohio Indian removals in Ohio

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Anishinaabe Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island Woodland
Archaeologicalsites	Angel Mounds Anzick Site Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter Bluefish Caves The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Carlisle Fort Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Cutler Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings Glenwood Grimes Point Helen Blazes Holly Bluff Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena Site Ocmulgee Mounds Old Stone Fort Orwell Site Paquime Painted Bluff Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Plum Bayou Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Rassawek Recapture Canyon River Styx Roberts Island Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Russell Cave Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Shell ring sites Spiro Mounds Stallings Island SunWatch Taos Pueblo Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Wickiup Hill Windover Winterville Wupatki
Humanremains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Ballgame Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era