Clan symbols evolved across North America from 5000 BC to 1540 AD. 5000-1000 BC Late Archaic: Great Lakes bears/ducks/fish, Ohio Valley deer/turkey/snakes, Southwest turtles/fish 1000 BC-500 AD Woodland era: Adena-Hopewell core with snakes and turkey, plus wolves, turtle, deer 500-1000 AD Middle Woodland: Northeast Iroquoian appears, Lower Mississippi alligators
Clan symbols shifted dramatically across millennia: Late Archaic Great Lakes bears and ducks, Adena-Hopewell snakes and turkeys, then Iroquoian appearances and Mississippian Cherokee clans. De Soto's 1540 arrival disrupted identification patterns, while Moundville emptied from introduced disease. Jaguar effigies appear in NC artifacts.
Key Facts
- 5000-1000 BC Late Archaic: Great Lakes bears/ducks/fish, Ohio Valley deer/turkey/snakes, Southwest turtles/fish
- 1000 BC-500 AD Woodland era: Adena-Hopewell core with snakes and turkey, plus wolves, turtle, deer
- 500-1000 AD Middle Woodland: Northeast Iroquoian appears, Lower Mississippi alligators
- 1000-1540 AD Mississippian: Cherokee region develops with wolf, deer, bird, long hair, wild potato clans
- 1540 marks arrival of De Soto, which changed clan symbol identification patterns
- Moundville became empty after disease brought by conquistadors
- Jaguar effigies found in North Carolina artifacts
Source: The Roundtable Chronicles - Ep. 23 by Institute for Natural Philosophy