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60-577: Ocute , later known as Altamaha or La Tama and sometimes known conventionally as the Oconee province , was a Native American paramount chiefdom in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Georgia in the 16th and 17th centuries. Centered in the Oconee River valley, the main chiefdom of Ocute held sway over the nearby chiefdoms of Altamaha, Cofaqui, and possibly others. The Oconee valley area

120-489: A chronological and cultural manifestation without any massive changes in a short time but instead having a continuous development in stone and bone tools , leather crafting , textile manufacture , cultivation , and shelter construction. Many Woodland peoples used spears and atlatls until the end of the period, when they were replaced by bows and arrows ; however, Southeastern Woodland peoples also used blowguns . The most cited technological distinction of this period

180-571: A round body, and lines of decoration with cross-etching on rim. The Havana style found in Illinois had a decorated neck. One of the major tools unique to this era was Snyders Points. These were quite large and corner-notched. They were made by soft-hammering percussion, and finished by pressure flaking. Although many of the Middle Woodland cultures are called "Hopewellian", and groups shared ceremonial practices, archeologists have identified

240-526: A variety of mortuary gifts, many of which were not local. Among the traded materials were copper from the Lake Superior deposits; silver from Lake Superior and especially Ontario; galena from Missouri and Illinois; mica from the southern Appalachians; chert from various places including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; pipestone from Ohio and Illinois; alligator teeth from the lower Mississippi Valley eastward to Florida; marine shells, especially whelks, from

300-435: A variety of other small and large mammals were hunted also, including beaver , raccoon , and bear . Shellfish formed an important part of the diet, attested to by numerous shell middens along the coast and interior rivers. Coastal peoples practiced seasonal mobility, moving to the coast during the summer to take advantage of numerous marine resources such as sea mammals and shellfish, then moved to interior locations during

360-643: Is 8 miles east of the Oconee River along a key trail to the Savannah River , suggesting its location may have been chosen to trade with or defend against people to the east. For a time, the Oconee province interacted with the Savannah Valley chiefdoms. These chiefdoms thrived in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were abandoned entirely by 1450, with at least part of the population moving west into

420-757: Is believed to have been core to the Meadowood Interaction Sphere, in which cultures in the Great Lakes region, the St. Lawrence region, the Far Northeast, and the Atlantic region interacted. The large area of interaction is indicated by the presence of Adena-style mounds, the presence of exotic goods from other parts of the interaction spheres, and the participation in the "Early Woodland Burial Complex" defined by William Ritchie Pottery

480-459: Is especially true for the middle woodland period and perhaps beyond. C. Margaret Scarry states "in the Woodland periods, people diversified their use of plant foods ... [they] increased their consumption of starchy foods. They did so, however, by cultivating starchy seeds rather than by gathering more acorns." Smith and Yarnell refer to an "indigenous crop complex" as early as 3800 B.P. in parts of

540-526: Is little evidence of corn agriculture in this period. During the Late Woodland period , the mound sites were abandoned and the population dispersed. Inhabitants developed simple pottery known as Vining Stamped ware, and primarily lived in small, corn-farming homesteads in and around the Oconee valley. Around 1100 the Mississippian culture took hold in the Oconee province. Inhabitants abandoned

600-476: Is unclear if De Soto entered the main town at the Shinholser site. Zamuno exchanged gifts with De Soto and asked if he should pay tribute directly to him, instead of to his overlord at Ocute. De Soto replied that the previous relationship should stand. De Soto erected a cross and left behind a cannon somewhere in the chiefdom. He summoned the paramount chief of Ocute, and then visited his main town, apparently at

660-703: The Archaic hunter-gatherers and the agriculturalist Mississippian cultures . The Eastern Woodlands cultural region covers what is now eastern Canada south of the Subarctic region, the Eastern United States , along to the Gulf of Mexico . This period is variously considered a developmental stage, a time period, a suite of technological adaptations or "traits", and a "family tree" of cultures related to earlier Archaic cultures. It can be characterized as

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720-692: The Dyar site around 1200 and then to the Scull Shoals site in about 1275. Also around 1275, a second, probably independent chiefdom developed at the Shinholser site 55 miles south. This local phase of Mississippian culture is known as the Savannah period. A third chiefdom arose around 1325. Located at a new mound center, the Shoulderbone site, it was almost exactly equidistant to the other two. Hudson identifies this site with Ocute. The Shoulderbone site

780-506: The Oconee River valley in the Georgia Piedmont : Ocute, Altamaha, and Cofaqui. Each included a main town and mounds along with various associated settlements, with the chief of Ocute being paramount. Charles M. Hudson and his colleagues locate the main town of Ocute at the Shoulderbone mound site, northwest of Sparta, Georgia . However, subsequent archaeological research has found that this site's population had declined by

840-731: The Orange culture and in Georgia with the Stallings culture . Nevertheless, these early sites were typical Archaic settlements, differing only in the use of basic ceramic technology. As such, researchers are now redefining the period to begin with not only pottery, but the appearance of permanent settlements, elaborate burial practices, intensive collection and/or horticulture of starchy seed plants (see Eastern Agricultural Complex ), differentiation in social organization, and specialized activities, among other factors. Most of these are evident in

900-782: The Southeastern Woodlands by 1000 BCE. In some areas, like South Carolina and coastal Georgia, Deptford culture pottery manufacture ceased after c.  700 CE . In coastal regions, many settlements were near the coast, often near salt marshes, which were habitats rich in food resources. People tended to settle along rivers and lakes in both coastal and interior regions for maximum access to food resources. Nuts were processed in large amounts, including hickory and acorns , and many wild berries, including palm berries, blueberries , raspberries , and strawberries , were eaten, as well as wild grapes and persimmon . Most groups relied heavily on white-tailed deer , but

960-681: The Westo , a group allied to the English who used flintlock muskets and were heavily involved in the Indian slave trade . Many La Tama people were enslaved, and the rest abandoned the Oconee valley entirely. Some survivors scattered to the nearby Muskogean and Escamacu chiefdoms, while others fled to the provinces of the Guale, Apalachee, and Timucua in Spanish Florida . Thereafter, they were among

1020-526: The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from 1000 CE to European contact as a separate period. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic term for prehistoric sites falling between

1080-602: The 1000 CE ending of the Late Woodland period is traditional, in practice many regions of the Eastern Woodlands adopted the full Mississippian culture much later than that. Some groups in the north and northeast of the current United States , such as the Iroquois , retained a way of life that was technologically identical to the Late Woodland until the arrival of Europeans. Despite the widespread adoption of

1140-703: The 17th century, although Altamaha eclipsed Ocute as the primary center, leading the Spanish to refer to the paramountcy as La Tama. In the 1660s the chiefdom fragmented due to slave raids by the English-allied Westo people, though several of its towns relocated to Spanish Florida and formed part of the Yamasee confederacy. Ocute was a sizable paramount chiefdom , a political organization in which multiple chiefdoms are subsumed under one political order. The core area comprised three chiefdoms located in

1200-492: The English. The mission may have lasted until 1704, when the remaining Yamasees moved to English territory in the aftermath of the destruction of the Apalachee Missions . In the Guale and Timucuan Mocama provinces, La Tama refugees established four towns descended from the ancient interior Georgia chiefdoms: Altamaha, Okatee (Ocute), Chechessee (Ichisi), and Euhaw (apparently descended from Toa); Altamaha remained

1260-611: The Guale, and alliances to the north and south would have given Ocute relative parity with their enemies, Cofitachequi. Hudson also entertains the possibility that Toa, perhaps on the Flint River , was included. The area first saw substantial population around A.D. 150, during the Middle Woodland period . At least three mound centers – Cold Springs, Little River, and Lingerlonger – developed, along with smaller settlements. The inhabitants had similar ceramics styles and there

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1320-490: The Lamar phase of the culture. The agricultural expansion and the formation of the eastern buffer zone may signal that all the Oconee polities were integrating into a paramount chiefdom in this period. By 1500, the population had expanded considerably. There were at least five mound centers (although the Shoulderbone site's population had declined dramatically) and several hundred smaller towns and other settlements. Ocute enters

1380-453: The Mississippian period from c.  1000 –1400 CE and may have continued up to European contact, around 500 years ago. The Early Woodland period continued many trends begun during the Late and Terminal Archaic periods, including extensive mound-building, regional distinctive burial complexes, the trade of exotic goods across a large area of North America as part of interaction spheres,

1440-501: The Northwest/Plains regions widely adopted pottery somewhat later, about 200 BCE. The Adena culture built conical mounds in which single- or multiple-event burials, often cremated, were interred along with rich grave goods including copper bracelets, beads, and gorgets , art objects made from mica, novaculite, hematite, banded slate, and other kinds of stone, shell beads and cups, and leaf-shaped "cache blades". This culture

1500-467: The Oconee province. It appears that increasing enmity with the South Carolina paramount chiefdom eventually known as Cofitachequi was a major factor driving the abandonment of the Savannah. This created the "wilderness of Ocute", which served as a buffer zone against Cofitachequi. From about 1350, farmsteads expanded rapidly and the people adopted more complex coiled ceramics, marking the start of

1560-440: The Shoulderbone site, on April 9. He received gifts and set up another cross, and the army rested for two days. On April 12, De Soto visited another subject chiefdom, Cofaqui, which was governed by a young noble named Patofa on behalf of his elderly uncle. Patofa reiterated his compatriots' policy of amity and gave the army provisions and porters. De Soto then determined to set out for Cofitachequi. The people of Ocute explained that

1620-437: The addition of " paramount " was made so as to distinguish between the ruling monarch and the local aristocracy . Khan , alternately spelled lowercase as khan and sometimes spelled as Han , Xan , Ke-Han , Turkic : khān , Mongolian : qāān , Chinese : 可汗 or 汗, kehan or han ) is an originally Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, first used by medieval Turko-Mongol nomadic tribes living to

1680-632: The communities and some clans resorted to raiding others for resources. Alternatively, the efficiency of bows and arrows in hunting may have decimated the large game animals, forcing the tribes to break apart into smaller clans to better use local resources, thus limiting the trade potential of each group. A third possibility is a colder climate may have affected food yields, possibly affected by Northern Hemisphere extreme weather events of 535–536 , also limiting trade possibilities. Lastly, it may be that agricultural technology became sophisticated enough that crop variation between clans lessened, thereby decreasing

1740-555: The conflict between Ocute and Cofitachequi. Judging by the organization of other paramount chiefdoms such as Coosa and Cofitachequi, Hudson argues that Ocute's power may have extended beyond the core Oconee province. He suggests Ocute's sphere included Ichisi, as well as the Guale and the unknown chiefdom at the Savannah River headwaters. Ocute and Ichisi were both located on tributaries of the Altamaha River , home to

1800-613: The cultivation of domesticated crops. In fact, it appears that hunting and gathering continued as the basic subsistence economy and that subsistence horticulture/agriculture did not occur in much of the Southeast for a couple of thousand years after the introduction of pottery, and in parts of the Northeast, horticulture was never practiced. This research indicated that a fiber-tempered horizon of ceramics greatly predates 1000 BCE, first appearing about 2500 BCE in parts of Florida with

1860-805: The development of distinctly separate cultures during the Middle Woodland period. Examples include the Armstrong culture , Copena culture , Crab Orchard culture , Fourche Maline culture , the Goodall Focus , the Havana Hopewell culture , the Kansas City Hopewell , the Marksville culture , and the Swift Creek culture . The Center for American Archeology specializes in Middle Woodland culture. The late Woodland period

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1920-451: The east lay a vast uninhabited area on both sides of the Savannah River which Spanish chroniclers referred to as the "desert of Ocute" or the "wilderness of Ocute". Beyond the wilderness were Ocute's great enemies, the chiefdom of Cofitachequi in present-day eastern South Carolina . In earlier times the Savannah River area had been densely populated and home to sizable chiefdoms, but it was entirely abandoned by about 1450, apparently due to

1980-429: The entire region (referred to as the "Hopewellian Interaction Sphere"). Such similarities could also be the result of reciprocal trade, obligations, or both between local clans that controlled specific territories. Access to food or resources outside a clan's territory would be made possible through formal agreements with neighbors. Clan heads would be buried along with goods received from their trading partners to symbolize

2040-412: The following Mississippian period, the beginning of serious cultivation greatly supplemented the traditional gathering of plants. Late Woodland settlements became more numerous, but the size of each one (with exceptions) was smaller than their Middle Woodland counterparts. The reasons for this are unknown, but it has been theorized that populations increased so much that trade alone could no longer support

2100-428: The great wilderness separated them, and that no one alive had ever crossed it due to the war, despite what De Soto's guide had claimed. Nevertheless, the army departed on April 13. A party from Ocute initially joined the Spanish to raid Cofitachequi, but De Soto sent them home upon realizing there was no easy way through the wilderness. The paramount chiefdom changed substantially in the late 16th century. A large impetus

2160-498: The historical record in the chronicles of the expedition of Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto , which came through the chiefdom in 1539 on its way to Cofitachequi. They had learned about Ocute from two young men they had captured in Apalachee in present-day Florida . De Soto came to the chiefdom of Ichisi on March 25, 1539, and told the locals he would be merciful if their chief submitted. He visited two small towns and entered

2220-606: The interior, but only two reached La Tama, in 1625 and 1627. The first crossed the Wilderness of Ocute but was turned back at Cofitachequi due to the old war, while the second was allowed into Cofitachequi. After this, Spanish expansion efforts focused on the Timucua and Apalachee provinces west of St. Augustine rather than Georgia. By around 1630, European diseases struck the province, and the population began to decline precipitously. In 1661 and 1662, Guale and Tama were raided by

2280-757: The leading town. Within the Yamassee confederacy, these towns formed the Lower Yamassee, while Guale towns and some others formed the Upper Yamassee. The Yamaseee shifted alliances and later relocated to present-day South Carolina in 1685. They remained a significant power in the Southeast until the British settlers defeated them in the Yamasee War of 1715–1717, after which they integrated into

2340-469: The main town of Ichisi, at the Lamar Mounds and Village Site , on March 30. The chief of Ichisi cooperated fully, and informed the Spanish about the nearby paramount chief, Ocute. De Soto erected a wooden cross on one of the mounds before heading to Ocute. On April 3, the Spanish approached the chiefdom of Altamaha, led by a chief named Zamuno, who always bore arms in case of attack by Cofitachequi. It

2400-461: The mid-16th century, weakening its identification with Ocute, but it remains the best fit of the currently known sites. Altamaha was located downstream to the south at the Shinholser site. Cofaqui was to the north, evidently at the Dyar site near Greensboro . The people of Ocute spoke a language later known as Yamasee , apparently a Muskogean tongue that may have been similar to Hitchiti . Another chiefdom possibly associated with Ocute, Ichisi ,

2460-430: The mission returned to Spanish territory. A military venture in 1602 found La Tama to be a fertile, populous province, and the chief of La Tama visited Spanish Governor Pedro de Ibarra in Guale in 1604. The Spanish determined La Tama would be a valuable region to colonize, but never realized their plans to do so. In the 1620s, the Spanish sent five military expeditions to investigate rumors of mines and other Europeans in

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2520-804: The multiethnic settlements in Spanish Florida. Paramount chiefdom During the Victorian era , paramount chief was a formal title created by British colonial administrators in the British Empire and applied in Britain's colonies in Asia and Africa. They used it as a substitute for the word " king " to ensure that only the British monarch held that title. Since the title "chief" was already used in terms of district and town administrators,

2580-570: The need for trade. As communities became more isolated, they began to develop in their own unique ways, giving rise to small-scale cultures that were distinctive to their regional areas. Examples include the Baytown , Troyville and Coles Creek cultures of Louisiana ; the Alachua and Weeden Island cultures of Florida ; and the Plum Bayou culture of Arkansas and Missouri . Although

2640-819: The north of China. 'Khan' is first seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289 and was used as a state title by the Rouran confederation. It was subsequently adopted by the Göktürks before Turkic peoples and the Mongols brought it to the rest of Asia. In the middle of the sixth century it was known as "Kagan – King of the Turks" to the Persians . It now has many equivalent meanings such as commander, leader, or ruler. The most famous khan

2700-400: The old homesteads for new settlements near the river, taking advantage of the rich floodplain soils well suited for corn. Ceramics styles shifted to " complicated stamped " pottery, and the residents established mound centers, starting by reoccupying the Middle Woodland period Cold Springs mound. This was apparently the first chiefdom in the Oconee valley, although the town evidently relocated to

2760-547: The paramount town; contemporary Spanish records refer to the province as "La Tama", derived from Altamaha. The Spanish sent several expeditions to La Tama between 1597 and 1628, beginning with a Franciscan mission that hoped to proselytize the province. The mission was warmly received in Altamaha, where the people nominally accepted Christianity. At Ocute, however, the chief threatened to kill them if they proceeded, invoking De Soto's invasion, and Altamaha also became hostile, so

2820-529: The peoples who became known as the Yamasee, who numbered between 700 and 800 in Florida in 1682. A mission called "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Tama" or "La Purificación de Tama" was established close to San Luis , the capitol of Apalachee Province , in 1675. There were 300 people in two settlements at the mission in 1675, growing to 400 by 1689, but declining after that as Yamasees left to move closer to

2880-581: The region. The beginning of the Middle Woodland saw a shift of settlement to the Interior. As the Woodland period progressed, local and inter-regional trade of exotic materials greatly increased to the point where a trade network covered most of the Eastern Woodlands . Throughout the Southeast and north of the Ohio River , burial mounds of important people were very elaborate and contained

2940-611: The relationships they had established. Under this scenario, permanent settlements would be likely to develop, leading to increased agricultural production and a population increase. Ceramics during this time were thinner and better quality than earlier times. Examples show pottery also was more decorated than Early Woodland. One style was the Trempealeau phase, which could have been seen by the Hopewell in Indiana. This type included

3000-594: The reliance on both wild and domesticated plant foods, and a mobile subsistence strategy in which small groups took advantage of seasonally available resources such as nuts, fish, shellfish, and wild plants. Pottery, which had been manufactured during the Archaic period in limited amounts, was now widespread across the Eastern Interior, the Southeast, and the Northeast. The Far Northeast, the Sub-Arctic, and

3060-602: The south Atlantic and Gulf coasts; Knife River chalcedony from North Dakota; and obsidian from Yellowstone in Wyoming. The most archaeologically certifiable sites of burial during this time were in Illinois and Ohio . These have come to be known as the Hopewell tradition . Due to the similarity of earthworks and burial goods, researchers assume a common body of religious practice and cultural interaction existed throughout

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3120-416: The use of fast rotation such as a pottery wheel. Some were slipped or brushed with red ochre. Pottery, agriculture, and permanent settlements have often been thought of the three defining characteristics of the Woodland period. However, it has become evident that, in some areas of North America, prehistoric cultural groups with a clearly Archaic cultural assemblage were making pottery without any evidence of

3180-434: The winter where access to deer, bear, and anadromous fish such as salmon could see them through the winter. Seasonal foraging also characterized the strategies of many interior populations, with groups moving strategically among dense resource areas. Recently evidence has accumulated a greater reliance on woodland peoples on cultivation in this period, at least in some localities, than has historically been recognized. This

3240-464: Was a time of apparent population dispersal, although populations do not appear to have decreased. In most areas construction of burial mounds decreased markedly, as did long-distance trade in exotic materials. At the same time, bow and arrow technology gradually overtook the use of the spear and atlatl . Agricultural production of the " Three Sisters " ( maize , beans , and squash ) was introduced. While full-scale intensive agriculture did not begin until

3300-460: Was apparently the founding of Spanish St. Augustine in 1565, which caused Indian polities to realign in response to the new regional power center. Ocute's population dispersed from the mound centers in favor of decentralized farmsteads, and some began migrating into Spanish Florida . The mounds themselves were no longer used after about 1580. However, the total population continued increasing until about 1600. In this period, Altamaha eclipsed Ocute as

3360-414: Was located to the southwest, along the Ocmulgee River at the Lamar Mounds and Village Site . Further southeast were smaller chiefdoms including Toa and Capachequi. The Guale lived on the Georgia coast to the southeast, downstream from Ocute. Northwest of Ocute was the much larger paramount chiefdom of Coosa ; also to the north was a chiefdom at the Savannah River headwaters whose name is unknown. To

3420-429: Was populated for thousands of years, and the core chiefdoms of Ocute emerged following the rise of the Mississippian culture around 1100. Ocute was invaded by the expedition of the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1539. At that time, Ocute was locked in a longstanding war with the rival paramount chiefdom of Cofitachequi in present-day South Carolina . The chiefdom remained a significant regional power into

3480-462: Was the Great Khan of Mongols: Genghis Khan . Another famous Manchu khan was Nurhachi . Huguan Siou is the paramount leader for the Kadazandusun Murut indigenous community in Sabah . The current and the second Huguan Siou is Joseph Pairin Kitingan . The office is near sacred and can be left vacant if no one is deemed worthy to hold the title. Middle Woodland period In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America ,

3540-536: Was the widespread use of pottery (although pottery manufacture had arisen during the Archaic period in some places), and the diversification of pottery forms, decorations, and manufacturing practices. The increasing use of horticulture and the development of the Eastern Agricultural Complex , consisting of weedy seed plants as well as gourd cultivation, also meant that groups became less mobile over time and, in some times and places, people lived in permanently occupied villages and cities. Intensive agriculture characterizes

3600-702: Was widely manufactured and sometimes traded, particularly in the Eastern Interior region. Clay for pottery was typically tempered (mixed with non-clay additives) with grit (crushed rock) or limestone. Pots were usually made in a conoidal or conical jar with rounded shoulders, slightly constricted necks, and flaring rims. Pottery was most often decorated with a variety of linear or paddle stamps that created "dentate" (tooth-like) impressions, wavy line impressions, checked surfaces, or fabric-impressed surfaces, but some pots were incised with herringbone and other geometric patterns or, more rarely, with pictorial imagery such as faces. Pots were coiled and paddled entirely by hand without

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