<Li> Kincaid c. 1050--1400 CE, is one of the largest settlements of the Mississippian culture, it was located at the southern tip of present - day U.S. state of Illinois . Kincaid Mounds has been notable for both its significant role in native North American prehistory and for the central role the site has played in the development of modern archaeological techniques . The site had at least 11 substructure platform mounds (ranking fifth for mound - culture pyramids). Artifacts from the settlement link its major habitation and the construction of the mounds to the Mississippian period, but it was also occupied earlier during the Woodland period . </Li> <Li> The Mississippian culture developed the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, the name which archeologists have given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies and mythology . The rise of the complex culture was based on the people's adoption of maize agriculture, development of greater population densities, and chiefdom - level complex social organization from 1200 CE to 1650 CE . </Li> <Li> The Mississippian pottery are some of the finest and most widely spread ceramics north of Mexico . Cahokian pottery was espically fine, with smooth surfaces, very thin walls and distinctive tempering, slips and coloring . </Li> <Ul> <Li> Iroquois culture: The Iroquois League of Nations or "People of the Long House", based in present - day upstate and western New York, had a confederacy model from the mid-15th century . It has been suggested that their culture contributed to political thinking during the development of the later United States government . Their system of affiliation was a kind of federation, different from the strong, centralized European monarchies . <Ul> <Li> Leadership was restricted to a group of 50 sachem chiefs, each representing one clan within a tribe; the Oneida and Mohawk people had nine seats each; the Onondagas held fourteen; the Cayuga had ten seats; and the Seneca had eight . Representation was not based on population numbers, as the Seneca tribe greatly outnumbered the others . When a sachem chief died, his successor was chosen by the senior woman of his tribe in consultation with other female members of the clan; property and hereditary leadership were passed matrilineally . Decisions were not made through voting but through consensus decision making, with each sachem chief holding theoretical veto power . The Onondaga were the "firekeepers", responsible for raising topics to be discussed . They occupied one side of a three - sided fire (the Mohawk and Seneca sat on one side of the fire, the Oneida and Cayuga sat on the third side .) </Li> <Li> Elizabeth Tooker, an anthropologist, has said that it was unlikely the US founding fathers were inspired by the confederacy, as it bears little resemblance to the system of governance adopted in the United States . For example, it is based on inherited rather than elected leadership, selected by female members of the tribes, consensus decision - making regardless of population size of the tribes, and a single group capable of bringing matters before the legislative body . </Li> <Li> Long - distance trading did not prevent warfare and displacement among the indigenous peoples, and their oral histories tell of numerous migrations to the historic territories where Europeans encountered them . The Iroquois invaded and attacked tribes in the Ohio River area of present - day Kentucky and claimed the hunting grounds . Historians have placed these events as occurring as early as the 13th century, or in the 17th century Beaver Wars . </Li> <Li> Through warfare, the Iroquois drove several tribes to migrate west to what became known as their historically traditional lands west of the Mississippi River . Tribes originating in the Ohio Valley who moved west included the Osage, Kaw, Ponca and Omaha people . By the mid-17th century, they had resettled in their historical lands in present - day Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas and Oklahoma . The Osage warred with Caddo - speaking Native Americans, displacing them in turn by the mid-18th century and dominating their new historical territories . </Li> </Ul> </Li> </Ul>

Which time period marked the high point of native american civilization in the americas