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Early Woodland Culture in Wisconsin

© Peggy Hoehne

Sometime after 1,000 BC changes began to occur in the Wisconsin area. The climate warmed until it was very much like it is today. Archeologists had identified earlier groups by the spear points they used. The group coming into prominence would be defined by the use of pottery, the construction of burial mounds and the cultivation of plants. This was the beginning of the period in the Western Great Lakes called the Woodland tradition.

It was a time of great cultural diversity. We see a great emphasis during this era on the Mound Builders, but descendants of the earlier groups were living in the area at the same time. These earlier groups moved north and maintained a simpler life style of hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants. Some descendants of the Archaic groups began to adopt new traits.

This stage of prehistory spans a period of 2,000-2,500 years.

Pottery
The earliest ceramics from this period, about 700 BC, were crude thick-walled pots tempered with heavy grit. Before long, thin-walled vessels with incised decorations were being made.

The earlier pottery style is called Marion Thick. It features thick, straight walls on a coiled pot, with a circular mouth, and often a flat bottom. The later pottery style with the thinner walls is called Dane Incised. It has incised and fingernail-impressed decorations that show care in the decoration. The base comes to a rounded point. Both styles show evidence of careful manufacture.

Some of the early bowls were not even ceramic; they were carved from soapstone. To be called ceramic the vessel must be created with clay to which some binding agent has been added. This binding agent is called temper and gives the vessel far greater strength. The earliest pottery was tempered with fibers of grass or roots. Mineral tempers, such as, grit, crushed rock, sand or ground ceramic shards were the most common types of temper during the Woodland period.

Another characteristic of Early Woodland ceramics is the fabric marked vessels. They have a rough surface whose texture resembles that of a textile, because the vessels were smoothed before firing with a wooden paddle wrapped in fabric. Once smoothed, the paddle was pressed against the vessel to provide the texture characteristic of this style .

The later thin walled, incised ceramics were decorated by drawing linear or curvilinear patterns on the unfired clay. It is distinguishable from engraved decoration (scratched on after firing) by the buildup of excess material along the edges of the incised lines.

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