In the north of Illinois, Hopewellian lasted until 250 A.D. (Poole site) and in the west and south to about 450 or 500 A.D. Though the [culture] died out in Illinois by 500 A.D., it still flourished in [Mississippi] (Bynum site) around 800 A.D. and at Marksville, Louisiana, as late as 850 A.D.
As was stated earlier, emerging cultures grow out of earlier ones. Although it may not yet be generally recognized, the Hopewellian [civilization] probably exerted tremendous influence on the [Mississippi] cultures and on tribes that followed them in the great central valley of the United States and beyond, down to historic times. It must be borne in mind that in spite of their splendid achievements, the Hopewellians had no domestic animals but the dog, no herds for meat and great wealth, no draft animals to drag the plough and turn the mill. All labor was “by hand,” all transport on the back or in a boat driven by human power.
THE DARK AGE IN ILLINOIS—FINAL [WOODLAND] (200 to 900 A.D.)
The Hopewellian [civilization] apparently disappeared as suddenly as it seems to have arisen. This impression is probably due to the fact that the [people] continued to live in the old villages long after the characteristic colorful Hopewell customs were no longer practiced. Actually the [culture] may have declined for a century or more before it finally broke down completely. Many of the simpler folk traditions probably persisted in the area for some centuries afterward.
Possibly long continued abuses of power and privilege by religious and political officials, especially those from the highest social caste, weakened the confidence of the lower classes in their leaders and the [culture]. Newcomers from Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky may have further disorganized certain settlements and separated areas of the larger community from each other. Generally, however, the writer gets the impression that the decay began within the [civilization] although its final downfall may have been accelerated by external pressures.
With failing confidence and a rising uneasiness, trade would naturally decrease and the incentive to fine workmanship decline. The larger cultural community split apart into a number of small tribes, who were isolationists and individualists. All the separate little tribal units were [Woodland] culturally with some small evidence of their Hopewellian heritage, but each differed in certain respects from its neighbors. Villages dwindled to the mere hamlets, widely separated one from another. The elaborate ceremonial dress, [insignia], and [jewelry], and the artistic creations (at least in durable materials) became a part of the past; the [people] found themselves reduced to the rude cultural level of their early Woodland ancestors. Huts were flimsy and left no discernible remains. Tools, weapons, and ornaments were, in general, carelessly made and poorly finished. Although tobacco was smoked and small patches of maize and beans may have been grown, the [chief] economic dependence undoubtedly was on hunting, fishing and collecting.
Fig. 19. Group of mounds exhibiting bird, mammal, linear and conical mounds as they occur characteristically in [Effigy Mound] [subculture] of Final [Woodland]. (B.B.)
The religious beliefs, too, were probably simplified and mixed with magic and superstition, surviving relics of the [religion] of the past age. In a word, the social and religious customs of the little tribes were broadly similar but in minor details differed from each other much as do their artifactual remains.
A study of the Final [Woodland] and other phases of Illinois history reveals certain relationships among some distinguishable differences of detail: