Cultural Decline
Around 500 CE the Hopewell Exchange ceased, mound building stopped, art forms were no longer produced. War is a possible cause, as villages dating to the Late Woodland Period shifted to larger communities and were fortified with walls and ditches. Colder climatic conditions could have also driven animals north or west, as weather would have a detrimental effect on plant life, drastically cutting the subsistence base for these foods. It's also possible the introduction of the bow and arrow caused stress on already depleted food populations. Just the same, the breakdown in societal organization could have been a result of full-scale agriculture. Scholars Dunnell and Greenlee suggest an idea of waste behavior. "They argue that energy was diverted from biological reproduction during a period when climate irregularities favored small families. As climate became predictable from year to year, energy was turned from waste behavior to food production" (Dancey 131). Still, the true reason for their evident dispersal is yet to be discovered, and much more knowledge is needed.
| Preceded by Early Woodland period Adena culture |
Hopewell Tradition 200 BCE-500 CE |
Succeeded by Late Woodland |
Read more about this topic: Hopewell Tradition
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