Middle and Late Woodland Settlements in Selected Areas of the Midsouth: A View from the Middle Duck River Drainage in Maury County, Tennessee

Archaeological remains in the Middle Duck River Drainage of Middle Tennessee and other selected areas of the Midsouth offer the opportunity to study human adaptation in Middle and Late Woodland cultures. The basic attributes of such an adaptive system are the elements of technology, subsistence economy, and settlement patterns with other ancillary attributes consisting of mortuary activities, ceremonialism, and interregional exchange.

During the early Middle Woodland in the Midsouth semipermanent villages were established in the main river valley and adjacent uplands. In late Middle Woodland and Late Woodland times, these villages became larger and more intensively occupied in many areas. Subsistence practices were based on the gathering of wild plant foods, simple horticulture, and the exploitation of various faunal resources. Food procurement and production practices were notably influenced by horticulture (maize, squash, beans, and sunflower) in the Late Woodland period of possibly as early as the early Middle Woodland. Mortuary practices in the Midsouth included the establishment of large mortuary/habitation sites and, in certain areas, the construction of burial mounds. The early Middle Woodland is distinguished, in part, by the number and variety of nonlocal ceramic and lithic items included with burials. Interregional exchange decreased through late Middle Woodland and Late Woodland times as populations became more sedentary. A variety of tempering agents and surface treatments were used in the manufacture of ceramic vessels during the Middle and Late Woodland periods. Lithic assemblages include projectile points/knives, elbow pipes, gorgets, microlith tools, and a blade industry on local cherts. These attributes of human adaptation articulate in a cyclical system in which each element affects the other and is crucial for the maintenance of the whole system.