THE YOUNGE PHASE
The Younge Phase is the second phase of the 'Western Basin Late Woodland". It followed the Riviere au Vase Phase in southwestern Ontario. Younge Phase sites are restricted to the vicinity of the rivers and streams which drain into Lake St. Clair, the western and northern shores of Lake Erie, the Maumee River area and the vicinity of Saginaw Bay.
POTTERY
Between A.D. 800 and 900 the pottery made by the people in southwestern Ontario gradually changed from squat, round based cord roughened 'Wayne ware' vessels of the Riviere au Vase phase, to the more elongated , smooth necked and decorated forms of the Younge phase. The distinctive plain cord-roughened vessels of the earlier phase all but disappear from the archaeological record by approximately A.D. 1000.
Younge phase pots tend to be elongated, with a broad neck area which was often decorated. In many of the examples which have been recovered through excavation, this area has been decorated with open or filled, incised triangles or diamond patterns.
STONE TOOLS
The stone tools from sites of this phase are not noted for their distinctiveness or variety. Triangular 'Levanna' projectile points are most common, although these are found on Late Woodland sites throughout southern Ontario and are not diagnostic of the Younge Phase.
The 'exotic' stone tools so common on Western Basin Middle Woodland sites, and on Riviere au Vase sites are much less common on Younge Phase sites. Younge Phase people relied much more on local sources of stone for tool making.
OTHER ARTIFACTS
Younge Phase people also made and used a wide variety of tools and decorative objects of bone and antler. These include awls, points and bone beads.
Pipes made of pottery are also a
fairly common find on sites of this phase. Younge Phase pipes are 'elbow pipes'
(the bowl and stem meet at right-angles. Many are undecorated, although some
have dentate stamp or incised decoration on the bowl and stem. Some of the
filled-triangle motifs used on Younge Phase pots are also present on pipes.
SUBSISTENCE
This apparent decline in exotic raw materials coincides with evidence that cultivated plants were being consumed by Younge phase people. Carbonized remains of beans and corn have been found at some excavated Younge Phase sites. However, while cultigens were being consumed by Younge phase people, the data from archaeological excavations suggests that nuts (hickory, acorn and walnut) were a more important food item. The products of horticulture were still peripheral to the subsistence pattern of these people.
Whether the decline in exotics and the rise in horticulture are related is open to debate. Some archaeologists have speculated that the increased cultivation of crops may have changed the way in which people thought about the land. As agriculture increased in importance people may have become more propriatorial, developing a xenophobic attitude to people of different cultural origins.
SETTLEMENT
In contrast to contemporary Early Iroquoian groups to the east, Younge Phase people do not appear to have felt the necessity to protect their settlements with impressive stockades.
Younge Phase people seem to have followed the same seasonal patterns as people of the Riviere au Vase phase. During warm weather they seem to have favoured lakeshore areas, particularly where the resources of marsh, lake and hinterland offered the best combinations of fishing, hunting and gathering. During the fall nut processing and hunting were pursued, perhaps with several families grouping together to work. Once the work of processing and storing winter provisions was complete, small family groups moved further inland to winter hunt camps.