tradesman

[shopdog]

I JUST WANT`ED TO KNOW IF ANY OF YOU GUYS THINK THAT NATIVES HAD A TYPE OF TRADE WITHIN THEIR GROUP , THE RESON I ASK IS IN SOME OF THE AREA`S I HUNT I OFTEN FIND AREAS THAT ARE FULL OF POT SHARDS WHILE JUST A FEW YARDS AWAY IT`S COVERED WITH CHIPS AND SPENT CORES . DO YOU THINK THEY TRADED GOODS BETWEEN THEMSELFS OR OTHER GROUPS

 

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[Martingeetars]

Yes, now stop yelling at me!...........Just kidding.

 

[Lone Star]

Shopdog
Why not? That would be the best way to aquire raw materials and maintain relations with those around you. Not only that, I'm sure they would celabrate with some kind of party at these events.
At the house I've got a book that documents trade patterens across the southwest. It was really interesting, and it made sense as there is evidence of those practices that has come to light in recent years. (based on compiled archaelogical reasearch) I'll look for it tonight if your interested. Email me if you are. It may be in "the Indians of Texas" by Hester, I don't remember offhand.
Case in point: Around here there's no flinty rock. Everything here on the west side of Galveston Bay, (We're talking flint now) is of river cobble from the Colorado River basin to the south about 100 miles. Go across the bay to Smith Point, Bolivar penninsula, all the lithics are of pertified wood from the northerly Piney Woods/Big Thicket soil, also about a 100 miles away. Several years ago while surface hunting out west in Llano County, I found the remainder of a welk spiral that was being cut into beads. Were talking 200 miles or more to the closest gulf shore. When you add the lower sea level in early archaic times thats another 20 miles or more. Pretty cool stuff!! Lone Star

 

[1320]

Sounds like a typical camp arrangement. In the shelters that I've dug it appears that each portion of the shelter served a particular purpose, kinda like the homes that we live in today.

 

[joshuaream]

Absolutely.

I think that most people could have done a lot of things in a pinch (resharpen a flint knife, etc.) but with early paleo and with later mound stuff you get a level of art that just doesn't come naturally to all people. People had to practice, learn, improve their skills to make the level of art you see in a Folsom point or at Cahokia, the Ohio mounds, Spiro, etc.

I'd bet the people who made these didn't worry about feeding their family by hunting or farming, they had a skill and probably received their basic needs by making this stuff. Laying out and building a large mound itself isn't as easy as piling up dirt, it takes math and geometry that isn't common knowledge to most people (even today.) When you get to a big population (10,000+ people) not every one needs to do everything for themselves. Not everyone needed to farm for their personal needs, not every one had to go out and hunt, not everyone needs to walk three days to the quarry for their flint, etc. Sooner or later all large groups figure out how to work like a village/city.

http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2005marchbigboypipespiropage1.htm

http://coolohio.com/gator/Panther.jpg

In fact, this division of organized labor/skills explains the consistency of artifacts at certain sites. For example, it would be nearly impossible to get 5,000 individual potters at home who occasionally made pottery to consistently make Lohmann Phase pottery at Cahokia for 25 year window, than it would have been for a small group of tradesmen/women who worked together to consistently make a specific type of pottery.