re . ▁ ▁Pot tery , ▁agricult ure , ▁and ▁permanent ▁settlement s ▁have ▁often ▁been ▁thought ▁of ▁the ▁three ▁defining ▁characteristics ▁of ▁the ▁Wood land ▁period . ▁However , ▁it ▁has ▁become ▁evident ▁that , ▁in ▁some ▁areas ▁of ▁North ▁America , ▁pre histor ic ▁cultural ▁groups ▁with ▁a ▁clearly ▁Arch a ic ▁cultural ▁assemb lage ▁were ▁making ▁pot tery ▁without ▁any ▁evidence ▁of ▁the ▁cultiv ation ▁of ▁domestic ated ▁cro ps . ▁In ▁fact , ▁it ▁appears ▁that ▁hunting ▁and ▁gather ing ▁continued ▁as ▁the ▁basic ▁subs istence ▁economy ▁and ▁that ▁subs istence ▁h ort icult ure / ag ric ulture ▁did ▁not ▁occur ▁in ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁S out heast ▁for ▁a ▁couple ▁of ▁thousand ▁years ▁after ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁pot tery , ▁and ▁in ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁N ortheast , ▁h ort icult ure ▁was ▁never ▁pract iced . ▁This ▁research ▁indicated ▁that ▁a ▁fi ber - temper ed ▁horizon ▁of ▁cer am ics ▁greatly ▁pred ates ▁ 1 0 0 0 ▁B CE , ▁first ▁appearing ▁about ▁ 2 5 0 0 ▁B CE ▁in ▁parts ▁of ▁Florida ▁with ▁the ▁Orange ▁culture ▁and ▁in ▁Georgia ▁with ▁the ▁St all ings ▁culture . ▁Nevertheless , ▁these ▁early ▁sites ▁were ▁typical ▁Arch a ic ▁settlement s , ▁differ ing ▁only ▁in ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁basic ▁cer am ic ▁technology . ▁As ▁such , ▁research ers ▁are ▁now ▁re def ining ▁the ▁period ▁to ▁begin ▁with ▁not ▁only ▁pot tery , ▁but ▁the ▁appearance ▁of ▁permanent ▁settlement s , ▁elaborate ▁bur