Fig. 17. Artist’s idea of a Hopewellian [chief] or high [priest] in full ceremonial regalia. (J.C.) Evidence for dress (except for [calumet]) has been found in Illinois.
For the first time in [Amerindian] history in Illinois we become aware of an accumulation of wealth, a surplus of handmade goods over and above those needed for survival; many of these were neither well-suited nor intended for immediate physical needs, but rather were aimed at social display or spiritual enhancement. Wealth reflects a relatively constant and abundant supply of food and other necessities and the resulting accompaniment of considerable leisure time for a sizable portion of the community. It may also mark the beginning of craft [specialization].[13]
It is hardly necessary to add that, if such a profusion of grave offerings as indicated by Hopewellian tombs—[feather cloth] robes, pearl necklaces, copper hatchets, and beautifully fashioned [art] objects—were left with the dead, that the high political and religious officers were correspondingly bedecked in gorgeous apparel for civil and religious ceremonies.
Nor should sight be lost of the fact that these creations and materials, so commonplace and inexpensive today, were to the Hopewellians as valuable and highly desirable as gold, silk, and precious stones are to us in Western [civilization]. For a better perspective these tomb offerings should be compared with objects usually found in camp and grave sites of the Initial and Final [Woodland] peoples.
Traders may have gone to distant regions to select and barter for raw materials, to the Lake Superior region for copper, to Ohio for pipestone, to the south Atlantic and Gulf Coasts for the small Marginella and Oliva [shells], for the larger Cassis and Busycon shells, and to the Yellowstone or Mexico for [obsidian] (of which little is found in Illinois graves). Trade, to some degree, removes the limitations imposed by the immediate surroundings. Pearls were secured in quantity from the clams of the native streams. Bone, antler, tortoise and clam shell, bears’ teeth, bear, wildcat and wolverine jaws from their hunting and collecting pursuits were utilized more fully than ever before. Even human jaws, possibly of enemies, were cut, polished and bored for use as pendants.
Though the Hopewellians may not have been the pacifists they are sometimes painted, there must have been long periods of peaceful relationships with distant and nearer neighbors with whom they traded or through whose territories their traders had to pass. Whether or not a condition of peace was maintained within the borders of their [culture] area by the force of arms is an interesting question that cannot now be answered.
Fig. 18. The Hopewellian [assemblage] of [artifacts] that collectively identify the Hopewellian ([Classic] [Woodland]) [period] and, except for shell spoon, turtle shell dish, and some bead types, distinguish it from the other Woodland assemblages. A, drinking cup of marine shell (Cassis madagascarensis); B, C, D, Hopewellian pottery (restored); E, mussel shell spoon with “handle”; F, turtle shell dish; G, sheet mica (mirror?); H, antler headdress; I, J, platform pipes with [effigy] mammal bowls, polished [stone] (Otter and bear’s head, eyes set with copper pellets); K, platform pipe (plain bowl), curved base, polished stone; L, copper earspools or ornaments, pair; M, imitation bear tooth, copper; N, (Below) N₁, Bear jaw, cut in half, ground and drilled to be worn as a double pendant; (Above) N₂, Fragment of a human jaw that has been similarly treated; O, copper [hatchet] that carries imprint of textile on its surface; P, copper adze; Q, R, Hopewellian [spearheads]; S, massive bead of copper; T, bracelet of copper beads; U, necklace of pearls; V, necklace of copper beads; W, necklace of graduated ground shell beads from columella (central column) of marine shell.
In southern Illinois the advance of Hopewellian [culture] was slower. The infiltration of new pottery styles noted at [Crab Orchard] very possibly represents intermarriage with Hopewellian women. Possibly through ties of relationship and the acceptance of the new food plants, the old Baumer way of life was submerged by the Hopewellian customs though here and there former habits still are recognizable. Some customs of Baumer and Crab Orchard were adopted by the northern Hopewellians—the reel-shaped [gorget], the plummet and the chipped [stone] hoe.