Exploring Pre-Columbian Eastern Woodlands Civilizations

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Recommended: Native american culture and traditions

Overall, I enjoyed Lynda Shaffer’s novel Native Americans before 1492; The Moundbuilding Centers of the Eastern Woodlands. I enjoyed the layout of the text, and how she had an independent section on each moundbuilding. I especially liked how she had subsections in each chapter to give detailed analysis about multiple subjects, such as food, military, trade network, and the decline of each civilization. Shaffer tries to shed more attention on the Eastern North America people, which I think her book does exactly that. If anyone was to read this book, it would allow their minds to think about an entire world that existed for the Columbian voyages that we are not taught in school, which is what it exactly did for me.
Throughout her novel Lynda …show more content…

When discussing each moundbuilding Shaffer discusses the number of characteristics for each moundbuilding, such as culture, food, and its decline in America. Shaffer discusses how the Poverty Point people were very spread out across the country; they happened to miles apart. The diets of Poverty Point people varied based on the area in which they lived. Some people would eat large quantities of fish while others ate turkeys, cranes and other kinds of birds. Throughout all of the moundbuildings, they had a similar trade network. Poverty Point would trade minerals such as cert, steatite, and sandstone. The Poverty Point people relied heavily on water routes for their trade network. Shaffer also discusses how pottery became a major advantage to the moundbuilding people. They were now able to cook stew due to pottery. Before, the people would use leafs to make a bowl like shape, but they could not put it directly over the fire. Around 700 B.C. Poverty Point’s preeminence and unique style of moundbuilding faded away, therefore the decline of the entire civilization. In the Adena – Hopewell moundbuildings Shaffer discusses how corn first appeared during the Hopewellian period. Even though corn was found there the people of Hopewell did not rely on it much. But, rather the people were cultivating plants to increase their supply of edible seeds. Shaffer also discusses how the Adena – Hopewell moundbuilding put a lot of effort toward ceremonies and burials. The Hopewellian culture sent off their dead with an array of gifts, which included great stashes of raw materials and finely finished pieces. Sadly, the Hopewellian phenomenon began to decline between A.D. 300 and 400, along with moundbuilding, ceremonialism, and long – distance trading networks. After the Adena – Hopewell moundbuilding came the Cahokia moundbuilding where corn made a reappearance several hundred

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