The next period which can be clearly identified on the Macon Plateau is
the one whose inhabitants we have called _Early Farmers_. It lasted for
roughly 1,000 years and naturally witnessed considerable change; yet the
evidence for this change in middle Georgia is tantalizingly slender.
There are more and larger sites, and the increase of population
reflected in these might be thought to signify an increased food supply
such as the beginnings of planting and tending a few crops could
produce. Direct evidence for the introduction of such hoe cultivation,
however, is lacking; and we can only say that a number of different
lines of reasoning lead us to believe that some plants—possibly
pumpkins, beans, sunflowers, and tobacco—probably were being cultivated
before the period ended. Through the provision of increased leisure and
stability, an assured food supply may well have been one of the factors
permitting an enrichment of Indian life at this time. Since this cannot
yet be demonstrated, however, we must turn to what we do know. Perhaps
the reader will not be too surprised to learn that we shall again be
talking about pottery, since we have already mentioned it as one of the
archeologist’s most unfailing sources of information.
Like most archeological field work the excavations at Ocmulgee did not
result in an independent body of information which could be added
unchanged to the total fund of our archeological knowledge. We know in
detail what was found; but we must turn to work in nearby and more
distant areas for assistance in its correct interpretation. In the
present case, four main types of pottery occurred more or less
intermixed at almost the deepest levels excavated on the plateau. The
first of these was the fiber-tempered ware described in the previous
section. The other three are tempered with sand or with “grit” (finely
crushed stone) in varying amounts. Like the fiber-tempered pottery these
three types are important time markers in the Southeast. It would be
tedious to go in detail through all the steps involved in placing them
in their proper position in the time scale; but some idea of the nature
of the problem might help us to gain an understanding of its
complexities. It could help us, too, to realize what a jigsaw puzzle an
archeological reconstruction is likely to be.
First let us see what we know about the earliest appearance of pottery
in eastern North America. It has long been thought, and radiocarbon
tests have recently demonstrated, that the earliest pottery known in
this section has come chiefly from the area drained by the Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers from New York State to Illinois and south as far as
north Georgia. This pottery has such close parallels at a like early
period in northeastern Asia that many students believe it may have been
brought here by direct migration, though naturally over a period of
generations. Its chief characteristic is the roughening of its surfaces
with the marks of twisted cords and somewhat later with those made by a
plaited basketry fabric. Here, some believe, must have been the models
which stimulated the shellheap dwellers to their first experiments in
making pottery.
[Illustration: Restored eagle effigy of white quartz boulders near
Eatonton, Ga. Length, 102 feet; width, 120 feet.]
The two sand-tempered wares in the early Macon Plateau collections
referred to above are Mossy Oak Simple Stamped and Dunlap Fabric Marked.
The name of the first of these combines that of the site with which it
was first principally identified with an indication of its general type,
i. e., exhibiting the straight grooves left by the paddle used in
finishing the pot. The paddle itself may have been carved with simple
straight grooves, or it may have been wrapped with a thong or smooth bit
of plant fiber such as honeysuckle vine. Dunlap, on the other hand, is
the name of a family which had long owned a large part of the Ocmulgee
area, while the type designation refers to the use of a piece of woven
basketry used in finishing the vessel.
In order to place these two types of pottery we must examine their
occurrence on the Georgia coast and in north Georgia. Such a study
reveals that the simple stamping follows directly after fiber tempering
on the coast; and that in north Georgia, where the latter is absent, it
lies immediately above a fabric-marked pottery very similar to Dunlap.
It would seem likely, then, that this latter type of pottery might have
worked its way south by the end of the period in which fiber temper was
in vogue. Both types exhibit a kind of finish which, like the early
cordmarking farther north, resulted from techniques that had probably
been found most effective in working the wet clay. Some sort of
implement was needed for thinning and compacting the vessel walls, and
experiment has shown that a paddle with roughened surface is more
efficient for this purpose than a smooth one. No doubt this is caused by
the more tenacious adherence of the wet clay to the latter. In any
event, different ways were found of roughening a flattened stick or
paddle, whether by wrapping various materials about it or carving it
with deep grooves; and some groups may well have rolled up a piece from
an old broken basket or bit of matting and found it equally useful.
Then, if a smooth surface were desired, the marks of any of these
implements could be erased easily by smoothing with a wet hand.
[Illustration: Reconstructed pottery stamps. Designs taken from sherds
excavated at the Swift Creek site. Total length of paddle, 9 inches.]
[Illustration: Fragments of Swift Creek stamp designs. Scale about
two-fifths.]
The time we have been describing belongs to the general period of
eastern United States archeology known as Early Woodland. The Adena
culture, which apparently spread from centers in the Ohio Valley,
belongs to this period and is well known for its elaborate burial mounds
and other distinctive features which are regarded as typical markers
over a wide area. While no burial mounds are known from middle Georgia
at this time, the fabric-marked and simple-stamped pottery does belong
to a general class of wares occurring also in Adena sites. It seems also
to relate Ocmulgee to a pair of eagle effigy mounds of stone near
Eatonton, Ga.; and bird symbolism is likewise a distinctive Adena
feature, though one more fully developed in the following Middle
Woodland stage. So it appears that a few traits have been found to
connect this period quite definitely with some of the broader currents
affecting other areas in the same time span.
The fourth pottery type found mixed in the lower levels at Ocmulgee was
Swift Creek Complicated Stamped. Actually this was either grit- or
sand-tempered; but its outstanding characteristic was the complex
patterns with which the paddles were carved. The type is named for the
Swift Creek site only a few miles down the river which was occupied
almost exclusively by the people of this culture. This ware covers a
longer time span than the other two types, and its distinctive influence
was exhibited in some sections even into historic times. In its early
stages, it probably served as the source for a tradition of complicated
stamping which covered most of the Southeast and even spread to some
extent beyond its limits. We don’t know just when it began. In northwest
Florida and on the Georgia coast it seems to fall in the Middle Woodland
period. Since the type site, though, is close to its apparent center of
development, its occurrence on the plateau mixed with Mossy Oak and
Dunlap may well represent its true position and thus place its origins
in Early Woodland.
[Illustration: Swift Creek villagers preferred these roughly chipped
axes to ones of ground stone. Many are too light for real chopping and
may have been weapons, kitchen tools, or even digging implements.
Length, 22 inches.]
During its long history, a number of changes may be seen in the form and
decoration of Swift Creek pottery. The commonest vessel shape consists
of a deep jar with slightly flaring rim and nearly conical base. Many of
the earlier pieces had four small bumps at the point of the base, as a
sort of reminder of the feet which were common, also, on earlier pottery
in nearby areas; these disappeared in the later examples. The lip of the
jar, too, was only crudely finished in the earliest forms, being left
rough and irregular or sometimes haphazardly notched or scalloped with
pressure from the potter’s finger. In time the edge tended to be pushed
out a little; and this gradually developed into a smooth outward fold of
the lip and finally a collar of smooth clay about an inch in width about
the rim. This extreme “folded rim,” however, occurs after the Master
Farmer period shortly to be described.
As for decoration, no description can adequately convey the wealth and
variety of complex and often highly attractive designs with which Swift
Creek pottery is stamped. The fragments illustrated give some idea of
the general effect obtained, but only a painstaking reconstruction of
the entire stamp can do them adequate justice. Intricate and beautifully
proportioned combinations of curved and straight lines are numerous.
Despite the cruder efforts which are naturally common, one is constantly
surprised at the artistry exhibited in even the less expertly conceived
decorative motifs.
As we should expect, this form of expression underwent such changes as
might occur in the development of any form of art. The earliest paddles
were carved with many narrow, shallow grooves in a pattern of two or
more chief design elements. Smaller elements were used to connect these,
fill in blank spaces, and generally round out the paddle. In time,
however, the designs grow bolder and were more deeply cut as the motifs
became better organized and as unnecessary filler elements could be
eliminated. These, of course, are not the sort of differences to enable
one to judge a particular sherd as early or late; but in very general
terms, they describe the distinctions which become apparent when large
numbers of sherds from different time periods are examined. It should
also be pointed out that this remarkable pottery style covered such a
wide area that any simplified description can only suggest a few general
features which appear widely applicable, while recognizing that
particular areas had their own varying histories of the type.
[Illustration: Straight tubes of steatite or soapstone are the earliest
known form of pipe. They probably belonged only to shamans or medicine
men. These come from north Georgia. Lengths, 2 inches and 11 inches.]
Nothing has been said about other distinctive features of this period of
development in Georgia. Projectile points vary from heavy, shapeless
forms with stems to smaller triangular ones without. Flat stones with
two holes through them were once presumed to have been used as gorgets,
i. e., hung upon the chest as a sort of decoration, but they may well
have been atlatl weights or served some other purpose. “Boatstones” and
the prismatic form of atlatl weight are also said to occur, but there is
some disagreement on this and even on the continued exclusive use of the
atlatl in this period at all. In some areas the large numbers of smaller
points may suggest that the bow and arrow were beginning to be used. The
characteristic ax of the period was roughly chipped in a double-bitted
form. Steatite or soapstone was still fashioned into crude bowls and the
perforated net sinkers or pot boilers we have noted previously, as well
as into short tubular pipes which are found in the region of central
Georgia.
Just as Mossy Oak and Dunlap in Georgia appear to reflect more
noteworthy developments farther north, so Swift Creek has its more
spectacular parallels, too. These relate to Hopewell, the outstanding
culture of the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell burial mounds and
other massive and complex earthen structures were accompanied by an
overall artistic achievement in pottery, chipped and polished stone,
bone, sheet mica, and copper which is probably without equal among North
American Indians. These materials were traded far and wide so that
Hopewellian influence is strongly indicated in the neighboring states of
Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee. Even Georgia shows some evidence of
Hopewell connections, although in middle Georgia this is confined to the
complicated stamped pottery. Types evidently related to Swift Creek
occur frequently in classic Hopewell sites. In north Georgia, however,
elaborately carved stone pipes are said to denote this relationship, and
it is even more clearly indicated by a number of burial mounds. One of
them, built of stones, contained a burial displaying such typical
Hopewell features as a covering of mica plates and a breast plate and
celt of copper.
During the Early Farmer period, then, we feel that the Indians in middle
Georgia must have become more settled. Fragile pottery is not easily
carried in any quantity by wandering bands of hunters. On the other
hand, the technique of gathering wild foods is not likely to have become
suddenly so efficient that this alone could account for the large
increase in population which must be reflected in the more numerous
sites. Knowledge of planting and plant care, too, is likely to have
spread piecemeal rather than as a single unit. Hence, as we have already
stated, this seems the most likely period for the Indians to have begun
learning to raise some of the many plants which not too long afterwards
became so important in their existence.
[Illustration: This temple mound is a lasting memorial to the energy of
the Master Farmers, the fourth group to occupy Ocmulgee.]
[Illustration: OCMULGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT MACON, GEORGIA. SEPTEMBER 1955
NM·OCM·7002]
[Illustration: Early stage in excavation of the ceremonial earthlodge at
Ocmulgee.]
In central Georgia, though, we see instead a different side of their
lives. We follow the experiments made by the Indian women of the several
tribes in trying to improve the pottery which had now become such an
important utensil in their homes. Stronger vessels would break less
easily; so paste was improved from time to time, if this end was not
outweighed by other considerations. The attractiveness of the finished
piece, however, was soon a matter of universal concern, at least to the
potters themselves; and as their skill increased and their ideas and
standards became more clearly defined, we can follow a process which
never ceases to astonish us by its workings in our own society. The
whims of fashion surprise and puzzle us today as they are expressed in
our women’s clothing, our automobiles, our houses, and our furnishings.
Evidently, however, if we may judge by the variations in his wife’s
pottery, they were hardly less a problem to the Indian of 2,000 years
ago.