North America, 500–1400

The vast area of North America ranges in climate (abundant rainfall to desert) from the frigid reaches of the Arctic Circle, with little vegetation, to the rich wooded expanses of the Northwest Coast, Northeast and Southeast regions. The Southwest had some trees, but plentiful rock. As with most areas of the world, both the availability of building materials and the nature of the social structure determined the architecture of the people of native North America. Larger-scale communities with stratified societies – like those of portions of the southwest, the southeast and the southern parts of the Northwest Coast – were the exception throughout the vast territories of what are now Canada and the USA. Most regions had much smaller communities and built more compact structures. Wood was readily found in the Northwest Coast, the Northeast, the Great Lakes and the Southeast, while other locations relied upon stone, in the case of the Southwest, or driftwood and whalebone in the Arctic, and brush or fibre elsewhere. Social structures throughout native North America were varied, yet most groups, after the big-game hunting era of the Paleo-Indian cultures, lived in small villages and remained extremely mobile. With increased reliance on agriculture, people stayed in one place for longer, given the demands of maintaining agricultural fields. While there are a few examples of larger population centres during the Archaic and Woodland Periods, most remained limited in size, probably just incorporating extended families. With the Mississippian Period in the Southeast, much larger population clusters developed, many temporary ceremonial centres, while at least one was a massive urban centre (Cahokia). There is strong evidence of more stratified societies during this era. Southwestern cultures had small-scale populations, but also larger sites that may likewise have been used for ceremonies, rather than for full-time occupation. Widespread trade existed throughout these native cultures of North America and, by the Mississippian Period, a unified belief structure seems apparent in the Southeast. The same was probably true in the Southwest. The Northwest Coast’s rich environment provides evidence of stratified societies, as well as art forms restricted to specific families or lineages, suggesting similarities to later social structures. There persisted significant regional variations in the architecture of the peoples inhabiting North America prior to European colonization, and thus each of the different regions requires description in turn – even if certain commonalities also evolved between them. Developing on from the earlier Archaic cultures, and settlements such as Poverty Point, the Eastern Woodlands region during the Woodland Period shows evidence of a greater reliance on agriculture, as well as development of new art forms such as ceramics that reflected needs associated with the harvesting and consuming of crops. Houses consisted of wooden pole structures probably covered with bark. By the Middle Woodland Period, the Hopewell used earthen mounds as sites for burial of important people, while also erecting mounds in the shape of various animals or geometric outlines. Sometimes these mounds supported structures, including charnel houses, where the deceased were prepared for burial. The Mississippian Period cultures in the Southeast, especially in Cahokia, were far more stratified and developed larger sites and a shared vocabulary of imagery in various art forms. Important centres in the Southwest include those in Chaco Canyon, with settlements such as Casa Rinconada and Pueblo Bonito, serviced by a series of major roads to and from the towns. Evidence of ball courts has been found in Snaketown in present-day Arizona, and elsewhere. Medicine wheels provided important ritualistic settings for more northerly cultures in what are today Canada and the northern states of the USA.

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