1. The almost complete lack of evidence of Hopewellian [art], trade and [religion] in the late [Woodland] [period] gives little apparent indication that the [people] were the direct descendants and heirs of that [civilization]. On the other hand, the general resemblance of Final Woodland assemblages to those of the [Initial phase] seems marked. Let us examine further.
Fig. 20. Graves near Quincy, Illinois, [Stone] Vault [period]. (Photographs through courtesy of O. D. Thurber.)
[Stone] [mound] after earth was removed.
Four excavated “vaults”, the third of which shows a “corridor” entrance with [stone] steps.
The tobacco pipe of the late [phase] with the stem projecting beyond the bowl is found in most aspects. Likewise, the vertically elongated pot is common but not the only form. Burials are often in mounds, frequently in a central chamber or grave, with skeletons in the [flexed] and/or [extended] positions, occasionally accompanied by grave offerings. All these are broadly reminiscent of Hopewellian customs and, in the writer’s opinion, indicate a continuing thread of tradition from Initial [Woodland] through Hopewellian into the [Final phase].
2. The relationship to the Middle [Mississippi] seems more evident and has been attributed by some authors to the “impact” of a high [culture] on that of cruder or “under-developed” neighbors. What are the grounds for these conclusions?
New pottery forms were being attempted, the flattened globular pot, the shallow bowl (occasionally found in Hopewellian sites), the cup or beaker and the plate. In southern counties, a new method of making pits is indicated by a tendency of sherds, even grit-tempered ones, to split or laminate (see Maxwell, [Woodland] Cultures of Southern Illinois, Beloit, 1951, p. 204). Secondary features previously lacking begin to appear as “raised points” or knobs on rims, some roughly resembling animal heads with ears and a snout. Triangular [arrowheads] and others reflecting larger spearhead types are all made from curved, not flat flakes as the Mississippian points are. The [stone] discoidal that seems to be the game piece of the historically known chunkey game, which was possibly initiated in late Hopewellian times (see Fowler, The Rutherford [Mound], Springfield, 1957, pp. 31-33) occurs in the Bluff [subculture] and probably in the Tampico also.
