The transition between Woodland I and Woodland II periods (ca. A.D. 800-A.D. 1000) is one of the most pronounced cultural changes seen during the prehistoric occupation of the Delmarva Peninsula and southeastern Pennsylvania. Cultural changes manifested in the local archaeological record include changes in site distributions and settlement patterns, the abandonment of some sections of certain drainage basins, the demise of regional exchange systems, the demise of local complex socio-political systems, the appearance of new and diverse ceramic technologies and ceramic design systems, and the appearance of certain special exotic artifact forms and mortuary; ceremonialism traits which are virtually identical to similarly dated archaeological complexes of the eastern Great Lakes, central Pennsylvania, and western Virginia. The Woodland I/Woodland II cultural discontinuity is probably the result of a migration of Algonkian-speaking groups into the area.
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