Late Archaic Culture
3000 B.C. to 500 B.C.
By the Late Archaic period there were larger numbers of people living in larger social groups in the Ohio country. Many of these people adopted a more sedentary lifestyle settling down in villages for much of the year. They continued to hunt and fish, but nuts became a staple of their diet and other resources, such as shellfish, became more important.
Many Late Archaic groups began to trade with people throughout eastern North America for exotic materials, such as copper and sea shells. These special ornaments may have belonged to leaders who were the most respected hunters or healers. When these people died, the objects were buried with them as symbols of the high status they had achieved over the course of their lives.
References and Suggested Reading
- Lepper, Bradley T. Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures. Wilmington, Ohio, Orange Frazer Press, 2005. - Available from Amazon.com
- O'Donnell, James H., III. Ohio's First Peoples. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2004. - Available from Amazon.com
- Prufer, Olaf H., S.E. Pedde, and R.S. Meindle, editors. Archaic Transitions in Ohio and Kentucky Prehistory. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2001. - Available from Amazon.com
- Ricky, Donald B., ed. Encyclopedia of Ohio Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers, Inc., 1998. - Available from Amazon.com
- Struever, S., and F. Antonelli. Koster: Americans in Search of Their Prehistoric Past. New York: Holton New American Library, 1979. - Available from Amazon.com
Time Periods
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Citation
"Late Archaic Culture", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2048
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