woodland

woodland

a. land that is mostly covered with woods or dense growths of trees and shrubs

b. (as modifier): woodland fauna

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

woodland

[′wu̇d·lənd]

(ecology)

forest temperate woodland

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

woodland

A tract of land dominated by trees but often containing shrubs and other vegetation as well.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Woodland

 

the name for the most recent of three great archaeologically established periods in the history of the ancient population in the eastern regions of North America (Lithic, or Paleo-Indian, approximately 11th to fifth millennium B.C.; Archaic, fifth to first millennium B.C.; and Wood-land, first millennium B.C. to the 16th century A.D.). Three stages are traced in the Woodland period. Early Woodland (first millennium B.C.) is characterized by the retention of hunting, fishing, and gathering as the primary modes of subsistence. These traditional forms of economy continued to develop on the fringes of the Woodland geographical area at even later stages of the Woodland stage. Farming developed during the Middle Woodland (first millennium B.C. to about the middle of the first millennium A.D.). Centers of a developed agricultural society (the so-called Hope well culture), typified by large settled populations and fortified earthen mounds, arose in the Mississippi, Ohio, and Illinois river valleys during the third century A.D. Metalworking with copper, silver, and meteoric iron and the production of ceramics developed. The complexity of the funeral ceremonies (large burial mounds) points to the existence of social differentiation. Early prototypes of cities with earthen mounds encircling the sites of the fortified towns sprang up in the Mississippi Valley on the basis of an agricultural economy during the Late Woodland stage (fifth to 16th centuries A.D.). Large pyramidal mounds of earth topped with temples were typical. The craftsmanship in artistic metalworking and ceramics attained an extraordinarily high level. These cultural centers ceased to exist during the first century of the European colonization of North America.

REFERENCES

Griffin, J. B., ed. Archaeology of the Eastern United States. [Chicago] 1952.
Ritchie, W. A. The Archaeology of New York State. New York, 1965.

LU. P. AVERKIEVA

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.