User:Redalligator3/Oneota

• This article is very limited, it has only two sources one of which is from 1995 and the other is from 1982. I don't find anything to be wrong with the tone or writing style of the article, it just has very limited content. The few sentences in the article that mention connections between the Oneota complex and contemporary or more recent Native American groups is lacking any citations, these connections are also debated in the talk page. I think incorporating more information from indigenous sources could be very beneficial.
• I agree with the above analysis. On the positive side, the article does do a good job providing some context on Oneota material culture such as pottery. However, there are statements that the article makes that are not backed up by any sources. I think we can significantly improve this article by just adding more information. It may be the case that whoever worked on this article beforehand either did not have access to the kinds of academic resources Carleton provides or chose not to take advantage of them. In particular, the chronology mentioned in the article really needs more citations. Finally, some of the phrasing of the article is a little confusing, so rearranging these sentences should help improve clarity.

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Oneota is a term used by archaeologists to refer to a culture that inhabited the Great Lakes and Eastern Plains regions of North America from around 1000 CE until around 1650 CE. Archaeologists use the term Oneota to refer to people of the area with similar material culture and livelihood practices.

The Oneota are considered to be part of the Upper Mississippian Culture, a broad term used to

Chronology

The Brice Prairie phase (1300-1400 CE)

Pammel Creek phase (1400-1500 CE)

The proto-historic period began around the year 1500 CE. This era is marked by the increasing impact of Europeans in the Plains and Midwest. The spread of European disease and the introduction of the horse affected almost every facet of indigenous life. Despite major changes, many older Oneota traditions and practices likely continued to be important and there was still a significant amount of communication and connection between groups across the region. This is seen through the fact that it in many cases plains people were growing the Spanish introduced watermelon several decades before contact with Europeans.

History

Origins

The Oneota are believed to have descended from the Woodland People of the Upper Midwest, primarily modern day Wisconsin. There is evidence of early Oneota settlement from around 1000 CE, and archaeologists begin to see distinct Oneota features starting at around 1200 CE. During this early period, the Oneota lived in small villages and practiced horticulture using tools made from stone and bones.

Expansion

Over the next few hundred years, the Oneota would spread south and west into the plains. This expansion reached its peak during the 16th and 17th centuries. Oneota villages from this period are far larger in scale than earlier settlements and are found in places as far as Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska.

Notable sites

Morton Village

Tremaine Site Complex

Blood Run

Utz Site

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Approximate distribution of Oneota sites across the Midwest.

Morton Village

Morton Village is an Oneota village site located in western Illinois, near the town of Lewiston. This site is notable for the complex social interactions and conflicts that appear to have taken place there. Archaeologists believe that this site dates back to some of the earliest southward Oneota migrations (1300 - 1400 CE) into land that had been strongly associated with Cahokia and the Middle Mississippian Peoples. At this time Cahokia, once a large city located just east of present day St. Louis, Missouri, was in steep decline and would be almost completely deserted by 1400.

The Layout of Morton Village has features typical of both Oneota and Middle Mississippian settlements. Additionally, paleobotanical evidence shows that, while the village was largely maize dependent, its diet was more diverse and less maize focused than the typical Middle Mississippian community. A combination of Oneota and Middle Mississippian pottery styles and techniques seems to be evident at this site as well. Among the pottery discovered at Morton Village are plate and bowl shapes that are quite uncommon at Oneota sites but very common at Middle Mississippian ones. Furthermore, many of these plates and bowls are decorated with motifs that are very distinctively Oneota. Jodie O'Gorman and Jeffery Painter believe that this material evidence suggests that a significant amount of cross cultural diffusion was taking place here and that Morton Village was a multi-ethnic community.

Large ceramic platters were also uncovered at Morton Village. These ceramic types are not typical of Oneota sites, but are believed to have been used frequently by Middle Mississippians to present and serve food at large communal gatherings. Fascinatingly, these platters are not burnished or smudged, a common feature of the Oneota ceramic tradition. This evidence may be an example of Oneota and Middle Mississippi people adapting to one another's practices and techniques.

Morton Village is the site of the largest Oneota burial site currently known to archaeologists, and is the final resting place for 264 Oneota people. The remains show evidence of occasional and relatively small scale violent conflict, corresponding to an uptick in violence in the Central Indiana River Valley in the 14th century. Children were buried with distinctly Mississippian or copies of Mississippian artifacts, providing further evidence that Morton Village was potentially a site of cohabitation and cultural exchange with the Mississippian Culture.

Tremaine Site Complex

The Tremaine Site Complex is an Oneota complex just outside of La Crosse, Wisconsin. This complex consists of three distinct sites, Tremaine, OT, and Filler. It is believed that this area was occupied sometime between 1300 and 1625 CE. During this period, its population ranged from just 60 individuals to more than 360. Some archaeologists believe that the original Oneota inhabitants of the Tremaine area arrived there after moving south from nearby present day Red Wing, Minnesota.

Radiocarbon dates of ceramic artifacts from the site, and ethnographic research done among the Iroquois people led researchers to believe that this site may have not been continuously inhabited during this period. Archaeologists believe that these sites ceased to be inhabited by the time of European contact, as no objects of European origin have been uncovered at the complex.

This site features at least seven longhouse structures that appear to have been repeatedly rebuilt as population density in the settlement changed. Within these houses, archaeologists uncovered the remains of 86 people who had likely been buried there while the houses were still occupied. Archaeologists at the Tremaine Site Complex also excavated 855 "pit features" that would have served for either storage or refuse, and the remains of 366 ceramic vessels. The floral and faunal remains in these pits provide important evidence for the Oneota diet. Jars are the most common type of ceramic uncovered at the Tremaine Site Comlex. These jars are described as "globular" in shape and the diameters of their rims vary from 4 cm to 42 cm.

Evidence suggests that these villages relied more on agriculture than the typical Oneota community. Furthermore, it appears that the importance of agriculture increased at the Tremaine sites as time went on and as their populations grew. Despite this, wild foods continued to be important dietary supplements throughout the entirety of the complex's occupations.

The Utz Site

The Utz site is a late Oneota village in central Missouri. The people who inhabited it spoke Chiwere, a contemporary language that is related to other Siouan languages. Objects from as far away as far southeast of Missouri, and even from Puebloan peoples in the Southwest, have been excavated from the Utz site, demonstrating long ranging connections and trade.

Blood Run

Blood Run is a late Oneota archaeological site located in the far northwest of Iowa. This site features large earthworks, including as 90 meter long serpent mound and 275 large burial mounds. The site also contains several hundred stone circles that are believed to be the remnants of the foundations of houses. From the end of the 1600s on, this site was known as the primary village of the Omaha people.

Aztalan and Lake Koshkonong Sites

The Aztalan site was located on the Crawfish River in modern-day Wisconsin. It began as a Late Woodland site and was later occupied by the Mississippian peoples. Archaeologists have dated the earliest layers of Woodland occupation to 900-1000 CE, due to the presence of distinct Woodland-style corded ware pottery. Aztalan was a heavily-fortified site

Lifestyle

Settlements

Oneota settlements appear to have been very diverse in terms of their organization, permanence, and population. Longhouses, small wigwams, and pit-houses are all found at Oneota sites. Additionally some Oneota sites have evidence for the construction of palisades while others do not. Population size also differs dramatically between settlements, with larger villages appearing to have been inhabited for longer periods of time.

Mound Building

For most of their history, the Oneota did not regularly build mounds. However, after European contact, a resurgence of mound building occurred at Blood Run spanning the period from 1640 to 1690 CE. This change in behavior is associated with territorial claims and a return to older traditions in the face of European conquest.

Material Culture

The study of material culture is one of the primary ways that archaeologists identify and classify Oneota sites and complexes.

Pottery

A distinctive style of pottery can be found across the Oneota region. Pottery from Oneota sites often feature decorations with similar motifs, and a technique known as shell-tempering is very common. Shell-tempering involves the incorporation of shells into the clay.

Jars are the most common type of pottery found at Oneota sites. Archaeologist Jodie O'Gorman and Jeffery Painter describe these ceramics a "globular" in shape. Pottery from some Oneota sites seems to have been heavily influenced by other groups and traditions, especially those of the Middle Mississippians.

Bowls, plates and other cookware are also quite common at Oneota sites. Analysis of cookware from the Morton Village Site demonstrated that Oneota people used a wide variety of both "wet-mode" and "dry-mode" cooking techniques. Archaeologists at the Morton Village Site also uncovered large ceramic platters that are

Tools

The Oneota were known to use obsidian tools despite the fact that their heartland was not situated near obsidian sources. Obsidian artifacts obtained at Oneota sites have been traced to volcanic sources in the Western Plains such as in modern day Wyoming and Idaho, and Southwest regions such as New Mexico. This suggests the Oneota had established trade relations with other groups.

Oneota people also made extensive use of chert to make tools like scrapers and trianagle points. Chert was an extremely valuable resource in this part of North America, as it is easily workable as well as very sharp and durable. Chert was the primary tool stone utilized by the Oneota for a 350 year period.

A very limited number of quarries have been identified as sources of chert at Oneota sites across a wide area. For example, 73% of the scrappers and 36.4% of arrow points found at Oneota sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin came from the Grand Meadow Chert Quarry, located nearby present-day Grand Meadow, Minnesota.

Subsistence

Evidence suggests that Oneota diets were highly local and based of what resources and ecosystems were near that specific community. Hunting and gathering, agriculture, and the exploitation of aquatic resources like fish and freshwater mussels were all important. Each of these seem to have been flexible, with different communities prioritizing different practices based on need and availability. Aquatic foods may have been more especially important and more universally relied on.

Hunting and gathering

The contents of garbage pits from the Tremaine Site Complex in La Crosse Wisconsin shows archaeologists some of the things that the Oneota people were eating. Mammals found at this site include deer, bison, coyote or dog, river otter, black bear, squirrel, mouse, and musk rat. Among the remains of birds, ducks, cardinals, pigeons, blackbirds, geese, swans, turkeys, and even falcons were all represented. Turtle and snake remains were also identified.

Fishing was also an important part of the diet of the people who inhabited the Tremaine Site Complex.

The pits at the Tremaine Site Complex also contain evidence of plant foods such as nuts, fruits, and seeds. It is unclear which of these products were gathered and which were farmed.

Agriculture

The importance of agriculture varies greatly across Oneota sites. Common crops propagated by the Oneota included non-local plants such as maize, beans, and squash, as well as locally domesticated plants such as barley.

In contrast to the more mixed and variable Oneota methods of subsistence, the Middle Mississippian People of Cahokia relied more on maize agriculture. Some sites, such as the Morton Village, appear to have had combinations of Oneota and Middle Mississippian agricultural and subsistence practices.

Health

A study of the nutritional properties of food remains at the Tremaine Site Complex found that malnutrition was not a common problem for its inhabitant. However, the researchers also found that a diet of the foods found at the site would lead to deficiencies in fiber, calcium, folate, and Vitamin A.

Human remains also uncovered at the Tremaine Site Complex showed signs of very poor dental health, which is often associated with diets dependent on maize. Other health issues were observed, including porotic hpyerostosis which was displayed in 26% of the remains examined. Porotic hpyerstosis affects bones and is likely the result of a parasitic infection. Additionally, tooth enamel samples suggest the 50% of the people from the complex who's remains were examined experienced growth disruptions as children. There is a notable lack of evidence for infectious disease at these sites, suggesting that it may not have been a serious problem even though it certainly did exist.

Nutrition is possibly a major contributor to these health problems. Archaeologists have long established a connection between agricultural intensification, particularly maize agriculture, and worsened health. Maize is able to meet basic nutritional needs and is a very productive crop. This often led maize growing societies to a high level of dependence on maize thereby reducing the range of foods and nutrients they consumed. Maize is also very low in protein and inhibits the absorption of important minerals, meaning that it can lead to negative health outcomes when over relied on. Furthermore, intensive agriculture allows for higher population densities which are associated with greater risks of infectious and parasitic disease.

Social Structures

In contrast with the Mississippian culture, the Oneota were egalitarian and did not have an established social hierarchy. Evidence from the Morton Village archaeological site shows that woman experienced violence at a similar rate to men, suggesting Oneota woman participated in conflict just as much as men did.

Mortuary Practices

Unlike the Mississippian and other North American cultures of the same time period, the Oneota rarely built mounds, although some Oneota burials are situated at mound sites. Instead, the Oneota primarily buried their dead in cemeteries, villages, and within houses. The Oneota would bury the deceased alongside material remains such as pottery, weapons, tools, or other utilitarian objects, as well as organic materials such as clams and mussels. Oneota children were often interred with a relatively high number of ceremonial objects compared to adults. Evidence also suggests that males would receive preferential treatment compared to females when it comes burial decorations.

Relationships with other groups

Upper Mississippian

The Oneota are closely linked with Upper Mississippian culture. Ceramics such as serving vessels found at the Oneota site of Morton Village have many similarities with Upper Mississippian pottery, including engravings and overall shape. The two groups occupied overlapping regions and in some cases lived together in the same settlements.

More recent peoples

The Utz site is a late Oneota village in Missouri. The people who inhabited it spoke Chiwere, a contemporary language that is related to other Souian languages. Objects from as far away as far southeast of Missouri, and even from Puebloan peoples in the Southwest, have been excavated from the Utz site, demonstrating long ranging connections and trade.

There are well established connections to the Loway people and more tentative connections to the Ho Chuck, Oto, Missouri, Osage, Kansas, Omaha, and Dakota.

History of Archaeological Study

Historically, archaeological study of the Oneota has primarily been focused on establishing similarities between different communities across the region rather than looking at specific communities or settlements.

The use of flotation samples has been an important method for analyzing biological material at Oneota sites. This process uses water to separate biological material from soil.