Archaeological Institute of the Pee Dee - Woodland Period - Christopher Judge

On April 28, 2022, Christopher Judge, Assistant Director Native American Studies Center, University of South Carolina Lancaster, provided a lecture focusing on the Woodland Period Indigenous Landscape in the Pee Dee. This lecture was held at the Florence County Museum in partnership with the Archaeological Institute of the Pee Dee.
Wedged between the better known Late Archaic and Mississippian Periods, archaeologists have defined the period from circa 3,000 to 1,000 years ago as the “Woodland Period.” Throughout the eastern US, this was a time of change in the economic, technological and sociopolitical realms of life. Pottery came into widespread use with many different shapes and manners of surface decoration. The bow and arrow arrived replacing the long used spearthrower (aka atlatl) and small-scale gardening of various native plants was added to the hunter/gatherer/fisher subsistence strategy. Mound burial became a feature of the Woodland landscape evidenced by the fact that tobacco pipes and stone tools were often buried with their owners.
In South Carolina, evidence does not exist for widespread mound burial; to date, the few known sites have not been adequately explored. The traces of the past for this period are dominated by pieces of broken clay vessels referred to as sherds by archaeologists and small stemmed and triangular arrow points. A handful of houses have been identified suggesting more substantial construction thought to be related to a more sedentary village lifestyle.