Artifacts from Woodland Period

Artifacts that have survived decomposition include bone and shell tools, beads made of bird bone and shell, fish hooks carved from deer toe and shin bones, rattles made of turtle shells, and a wide variety of awls, needles, and pottery-making tools crafted from animal bones.
Most of Woodland Period habitation sites produce similar artifacts. Clay pottery, distinctively decorated according to the custom of the people who made it, enables archaeologists to distinguish one group from another.


The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Archaeology