Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400-1700

The Eastern Woodlands Before European Contact: A Multidisciplinary Approach is a groundbreaking book that sheds light on the cultural landscape of North America before the arrival of Europeans.

By combining recent research with insights from anthropology, historiography, and oral tradition, this comprehensive volume examines the prehistoric and historic populations of the northeastern Appalachian forests to the southern trans-Mississippian prairies.

The book provides new evidence of cultural changes prior to European contact, including population movements triggered by the Little Ice Age, shifting exchange and warfare networks, geological restriction of effective maize subsistence, and use of empty hunting territories as buffers between politically unstable neighbors.

Additionally, the contributors trace European influences such as epidemics and trade goods that transformed existing Native American-exchange networks.

The book shows that several indigenous societies were already in the process of redefinition prior to European contact, and cultural change can be traced through archaeological artifacts.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in the rich history and cultural heritage of North America's Eastern Woodlands.