The Great Plains and Mississippi Valley

doi:10.1017/CHO9781139017831.081

2.33 - The Great Plains and Mississippi Valley

from VI. - The Americas

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014

Linea Sundstrom and

Timothy R. Pauketat

Edited by

Colin Renfrew and

Paul Bahn

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Linea Sundstrom: Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Timothy R. Pauketat: Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana
Colin Renfrew: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge

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Summary

Environment

The Great Plains and Mississippi Valley encompass most of eastern North America, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, including the Ohio River drainage, the Appalachians, and the Missouri River Basin. This vast area encompasses significant geomorphological, biotic and climatic diversity. Much of the midcontinent had been glaciated, characterised today by level to gently rolling topography. Uplifts and more heavily dissected regions make up the lands south of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, and heavily weathered hills characterise the coastal plains along the Gulf coast (Map 2.33.1).

The Mississippi Valley is typical of much of eastern North America. It is a land primarily of temperate deciduous forest, with limited areas of prairie in the Midwest and coniferous forests in the south and Appalachian Mountains to the east. For such reasons, the Mississippi Valley and eastern North America south of the Great Lakes are commonly referred to as the Eastern Woodlands. Low-lying lands, especially floodplain areas of the Mississippi River, were rich in biotic resources, and prone to flooding. Upland areas were less rich, but were home to large game mammals such as elk and whitetail deer. For periods each year, great flocks comprising millions of migratory birds – ducks, geese, cranes, swans – used the Mississippi River and its tributaries as a flyway, moving from nesting grounds in Canada and the upper Mississippi Valley south to the Gulf coast and beyond.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge World Prehistory , pp. 1274 - 1292

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139017831.081 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2014

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