WHAT HAPPENED IN THE EARLY WOODLAND?

The Early Woodland period of Northeastern prehistory (3000 B.P. -1800 B.P. or 1200 cal -250 cal A. D.) presents major chronological, culture-historical and theoretical problems which have been infrequently discussed in the archaeological literature. A new technology (ceramics) was introduced, which presumably allowed more efficient food-processing, yet population appears to have declined dramatically throughout the region. In this article, I will examine the evidence for an Early Woodland population crisis, and suggest several possible causes for this unexplained and sometimes unrecognized phenomenon.

• http://www.jstor.org/stable/40914448