12,000 Years of Native American History

Bob Shamy

Part 1: Using Anthropology as the Scientific Basis for the Study of Culture

Part 2:

New Jersey History – 12000 BP to

European Contact

What is Anthropology?

Physical Anthropology

• Primatology

The study of primates.

• Paleoanthropology

The study of human evolution

• Human Variation Studies: The study of the physical differences in humans.

Cultural Anthropology

A.K.A. Ethnology

• Ethnography

A.K.A. Participant Observation

• Linguistics

• Archaeology

What is Culture?

The Culture Concept: Culture is understood as the learned body of

knowledge, beliefs, and customs that people use to organize their natural

and social environments.

Material Traits

• Tools

• Clothing

• Housing

• ETC.

Non-Material Traits

• Attitudes

• Behaviors

• Beliefs

• ETC.

Culture: No overall consensus as to its meaning…over 300 definitions.

• An Autonomous Population Unit• Distinct Cultural Characteristics• Shared Traditions

Problems:

• Cannot Define Cultural Boundaries

• Cultures are Not Closed and Self-Contained

• Cultures are in Constant Contact and Change

• Cultures are Provisional and Transitory

• Many are Extinct

Culture is a Survival Mechanism

•An infinite variation in cultural expression, but each meets a certain need – Food, Shelter, Resolve Conflict, Solace, etc.•A blueprint of our customs and ideas for living. •It is packaged and delivered by symbols. •It is pervasive - we are often unaware but it surrounds and envelops us. •Items and ideas meld together and make sense.

Fine ArtsStorytelling

Subsistence PatternDancing-Games-Cooking-DressObservable Material Elements

May Include Behavioral Characteristics,i.e. Religion, Handshakes, etc.

Surface Culture

Deep CultureConception of Beauty – Ideals of Governing – Patterns of Raising ChildrenNotions of Modesty – Cosmology – Relationship to Animals

Patterns of Superior/Subordinate Relations – Courtship Practices Conception of Justice – Incentives to Work – Notions of Leadership

Tempo of Work – Patterns of Group Decision MakingConception of Status Mobility (Class, Caste, etc.) – Eye Behavior

Roles in Relation to Status by Age, Sex, Class, Occupation, Kinship, etc.Conversational Patterns in Various Social Contexts – Conception of Past and Future

Nature of Friendship – Conception of Self – Preference for Competition or CooperationPatterns of Handling Emotions

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE…

Cultural Anthropology-Ethnology

Ethnography-Participant Observation

• Social Organization

• Subsistence Pattern

• Economic Pattern

• Political Organization

• Religion

• ETC.

Do these concepts inherently reinforce bias when we teach

history?

PRIMITIVE

UNDEVELOPED/DEVELOPED

RACE

ETHNOCENTRISM/CULTURAL BIAS

Who Were the Indians of New Jersey?

                                                                                          

How do we know where a glacier stops?

Ice sheet on Ellsmere Island, Canada

From Tundra: Semi-frozen Sub Arctic Plain

To: Deciduous Forests

Changing Flora and Fauna Over Time

The Shoreline 18,000 Years Ago

New Jersey During the Late Pleistocene Epoch Circa

15,000-10,000 BP

Glacial Age Fauna

Hypothetical Eastern Woodland Local Sequence in Archaeology

12000 BP

8000 BP

2000 BP

Paleo Indian Period

Archaic Period

Woodland Period

This point was named by Ripley P. Bullen and Edward M. Dolan (1959:77) for Alachua

County, Florida.

PREFORM: Broad and triangular, having convex sides and a straight to slightly convex basal edge.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A thick medium to large point with a nearly straight to

contracting stem and a straight to slightly concave basal edge. The blade is

broad and triangular and may have straight to slightly convex edges.

Shoulders ace broad and angular. The juncture between stem and blade is

usually well rounded.

AGE AND CULTURE: This type begins in late Middle Archaic and continues into the

Late Archaic period. Dates suggested range from 5000 B.C. to 2000 B.C.

DISTRIBUTION: The type is found from Florida to southern Georgia.

COMMENTS: This type has been divided into four variants. The earliest, the Putnam

point, has a contracting stem with a rounded base. The other three points, the

Alachua (Figui-e A), the Levy (Figure B), and the Marion (Figure 0, seem to be variants of the same point. Their major difference is a minor variation in the

stem, which ranges from nearly straight to contracting and has a straight

to slightly concave or convex basal edge.

Bullen, Ripley P. and Edward M. Dolan 1959 The Johnson Lake Site, Marion County, Florida. The Florida

Anthropologi st 12(4).

ALACHUA

Artifact Typology

An Alachua Point

Range 5000-2000 BP

An Archaeological Local Sequence

The Evolution of Projectile Point Typology

Woodland Period

Archaic Hunters and Gatherers

Circa 2000 BP

Circa 1000 BP

Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow

Raising Corn, Beans and Squash

An Archaeological Local Sequence in NJ

Circa 3000 BP Pottery

Circa 8000 BP

Paleo Indians Nomadic Herd Hunters

Circa 12000 BP

Semi Nomadic

Paleo

Indians

And

Mega

Fauna

PALEO INDIAN TOOL KIT

Paleo Indian Projectile Points

Woodland Period

Archaic Hunters and Gatherers

Circa 2000 BP

Circa 1000 BP

Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow

Raising Corn, Beans and Squash

An Archaeological Local Sequence in NJ

Circa 3000 BP Pottery

Circa 8000 BP

Paleo Indians

Circa 12000 BP

Semi Nomadic

Nomadic Herd Hunters

Seasonal Campgrounds

ARCHAIC PERIOD POINTS

The Style and Diversity of Projectile Points and Tool Kits Expands With Each Period

Tools became varied and include more ground, polished and bone tools. They developed grooved axes, pestles, etc. Fishing becomes more important and net sinkers and fish hooks appear.

Woodland Period

Archaic Hunters and Gatherers

Circa 2000 BP

Circa 1000 BP

Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow

Raising Corn, Beans and Squash

An Archaeological Local Sequence in NJ

Circa 3000 BP Pottery

Circa 8000 BP

Paleo Indians

Circa 12000 BP

Semi Nomadic

Nomadic Herd Hunters

A Mississippian Monolithic AxL: 13"

Spiro MoundsLe Flore Co., OK

Under 10 have been found nationwide.

Great Serpent Mound Ohio

Burial and Ceremonial Mounds

Locations of Mound in the Mississippi

Ohio Valleys

The Mound Builders Heavily Influenced the Native Cultures in the East Coast

The Three Sisters of the Garden

WOODLAND POINTS

Early Middle Late

Woodland Period Pottery

Guns, Germs and Steel

The First Globalization

EUROPEAN CONTACT

FROM THIS

TO THIS

COLONIAL ARTIFACTS

18th and 19TH CENTURY HOMES

LIGHTING

BOTTLE AND GLASS

MANUFACTURE