Late Prehistoric Florida

Late Prehistoric Florida PDF

Author: Keith Ashley

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2012-07-15

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 0813043581

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Prehistoric Florida societies, particularly those of the peninsula, have been largely ignored or given only minor consideration in overviews of the Mississippian southeast (A.D. 1000-1600). This groundbreaking volume lifts the veil of uniformity frequently draped over these regions in the literature, providing the first comprehensive examination of Mississippi-period archaeology in the state. Featuring contributions from some of the most prominent researchers in the field, this collection describes and synthesizes the latest data from excavations throughout Florida. In doing so, it reveals a diverse and vibrant collection of cleared-field maize farmers, part-time gardeners, hunter-gatherers, and coastal and riverine fisher/shellfish collectors who formed a distinctive part of the Mississipian southeast.

Indian Art of Ancient Florida

Indian Art of Ancient Florida PDF

Author: Barbara A. Purdy

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13: 9780813014623

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For thousands of years, the Indians of Florida created exquisite objects from the natural materials available to them - wood, bone, stone, clay, and shell. This stunning full-color book, the first devoted exclusively to the artistic achievements of the Florida aborigines, describes and pictures 116 of these masterpieces. A brief history of the consequences of European infiltration and later investigations by explorers and archaeologists sets the stage for consideration of the works themselves. They date from the Paleoindian period (ca. 9500-8000 B.C.) to the mid-sixteenth century and include utilitarian creations, instruments of personal adornment and magic, and objects indicating status, paying homage to ancestors, or aiding the dead in their journey into the next world.

New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida

New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida PDF

Author: Neill J. Wallis

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780813062099

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Given its pivotal location between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, its numerous islands, its abundant flora and fauna, and its subtropical climate, Florida has long been ideal for human habitation. Representing the next wave of southeastern archaeology, the essays in this book resoundingly argue that Florida is a crucial hub of archaeological inquiry. Contributors use new data to challenge well-worn models of environmental determinism and localized social contact. Themes of monumentality, human alterations of landscapes, the natural environment, ritual and mortuary practices, and coastal adaptations demonstrate the diversity, empirical richness, and broader anthropological significance of Florida's aboriginal past.

Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia

Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia PDF

Author: Kimberly D. Williams

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2019-05-27

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1683400933

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This volume brings together expert s in archaeology and bioarchaeology to examine continuity and change in ancient Arabian mortuary practices. While most previous investigations have been limited geographically to Egypt and the Levant, this volume focuses on the lesser-studied southeastern Arabian Peninsula, showing what death and burial can reveal about the lifestyles of the region’s prehistoric communities. In case studies from Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, contributors explore the transition from the earliest to the most complex mortuary monuments in the Bronze Age and beyond. They consider sociopolitical and environmental factors that may have influenced mortuary practices and what skeletal biogeochemistry can reveal about changing mobility and access to food resources. They also discuss sites that illustrate more nuanced shifts in burial traditions that took place during the evolution of the Hafit to the Umm an-Nar cultures, a period of transformation often neglected because the semi-nomadic lifestyle of this intermediary culture left behind a limited archaeological record. Burial patterns reveal a shift from cairns to communal tombs that offers new insight into the relationship between the mortuary landscape and the living, while the presence of animal bones interred with human remains embodies the significance of herd management as symbols of both territoriality and reproduction. By using skeletal remains as a rich source of scientific data that complements studies of burial context, this volume represents an important turning point for mortuary research in the region. Its novel interdisciplinary and international perspective provides a synthesis of new ideas and interpretations that will guide future archaeological research in Arabia and beyond. A volume in the series Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past: Local, Regional, and Global Perspectives, edited by Clark Spencer Larsen Contributors: Eugenio Bortolini | Charlotte Marie Cable | Guillaume Gernez | Jessica Giraud | Richard Thorburn Howard Cuttler | Aurea Izquierdo Zamora | Olivia Munoz | Jill A. Weber | Benjamin W. Porter | Alexis Boutin | Debra L. Martin | Kathryn M. Baustian | Anna J. Osterholz | Peter Magee

Redefining Safety Harbor

Redefining Safety Harbor PDF

Author: Jeffrey M. Mitchem

Publisher:

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 651

ISBN-13:

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This study presents new data and a redefinition of the late prehistoric and postcontact Safety Harbor archaeological culture of west peninsular Florida. The Indians of this area were the first aborigines contacted by the early sixteenth century Spanish expeditions of Panfilo de Narvaez and Hernando de Soto. A complete review of known Safety Harbor sites is presented, along with descriptions and interpretations of previously undescribed collections, both publicly and privately owned. A description of the results of three field seasons of excavation at the Tatham Mound in Citrus County, Florida, is then presented. This previously undisturbed site yielded abundant evidence of early sixteenth century Spanish contact, including evidence of a probably epidemic and at least two cut human bones indicating violent confrontations with Spanish explorers. Several hundred primary and secondary human burials were recovered. The recovery of dozens of broken pottery vessels and many Busycon shell cups o the mound surface indicated that black drink rituals had been carried out prior to the mound's abandonment. The lower stratum of the mound yielded a small number of precontact burials accompanied by copper objects, ground and polished stone celts, galena, and abundant shell beads. The circumstances of burial suggest that these were high status individuals. Using the newly-obtained data, a provisional phase sequence for Safety Harbor is presented. Four phases are proposed: Englewood (A.D. 900-1000); Pinellas (A.D. 1000-1500); Tatham (A.D. 1500-1567); and Bayview (A.D. 1567-1725). Five regional variants of Safety Harbor are also proposed: Northern; Circum-Tampa Bay; Manasota; Inland; and South Florida. These units are proposed to aid in clarifying the spatial and temporal relationships between Safety Harbor groups and other cultures in Florida and southeastern North America.

Archeology of the Florida Gulf Coast

Archeology of the Florida Gulf Coast PDF

Author: Gordon Randolph Willey

Publisher:

Published: 1949

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 9780813016030

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"By the end of 1950, only about a dozen publications in American archaeology might be said to stand as monumental contributions from the points of view of prodigious industry, presentation of new data, good organization, balanced interpretation, and clear writing. Of these, the reviewer regards Gordon Willey's great volume on the Florida Gulf Coast as perhaps the best of all."--American Antiquity "Gordon Willey's Archeology of the Florida Gulf Coast literally set the agenda for archaeological research in north Florida. . . . It forms the basis for our understanding of the prehistoric period in this area. . . . It is impossible to do research in the Gulf Coast region without it."--Charles R. Ewen, East Carolina University Fifty years after its first publication by the Smithsonian Institution, this landmark work is back in print. Written by the dean of North and South American archaeologists, Gordon Willey, the book initially marked a new phase in archaeological research. It continues to offer a major synthesis of the archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast, with complete descriptions and illustrations of all the pottery types found in the area. The book contains data that remain indispensable to archaeologists working in every region or state east of the Mississippi River. Nowhere else can the reader find as compact, and at the same time as detailed, a summary of the numerous ceramic types upon which Gulf Florida archaeological chronology is based. It includes an overview of all the work early archaeologists did in the area from the 1800s up through the time of the federal relief archaeology programs of the 1930s, and it has become the foundation upon which all subsequent research in the Gulf area has been constructed. Gordon R. Willey, Bowditch Professor Emeritus of Harvard University, is former curator of anthropology at the Harvard Peabody Museum.

Political Structure and Change in the Prehistoric Southeastern United States

Political Structure and Change in the Prehistoric Southeastern United States PDF

Author: John F. Scarry

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780813014333

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"We now realize that to understand the origin of the state, we must first understand the development of the chiefdom. And nowhere in the world is the study of chiefdoms being pursued as vigorously as in the Southeast. Combining tantalizing bits of ethnohistory with painstaking archaeology, the scholars of this region are adding greatly to our understanding of the chiefdom as a political form. The present volume, which is the work of outstanding specialists in the region, is a striking example of the rich fruit being yielded by this research."--Robert L. Carneiro, Curator of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History "A major step forward in the history of work on Mississippian culture. . . . This book is a must for those interested in the period--and highly recommended for archaeologists who are not southeasterners."--James A. Brown, Northwestern University "will do blurb after seeing page proofs"--Robert Carneiro, American Museum of Natural History The great societies that flourished during the late Precolumbian period--called Mississippian chiefdoms--disappeared shortly after European contact, leaving a legacy across the southeastern United States. This book presents up-to-date information about their political structures, offering new perspectives on "cycling"--the growth, collapse, and reappearance of chiefdoms. Using archaeological discoveries and historical documents, the book documents the dynamic and varied nature of chiefdoms and explains why they evolved the way they did. It illustrates the value of studies of the Mississippian societies for addressing general anthropological questions. Contents Part I. Introduction 1. Looking for and at Mississippian Political Change, by John F. Scarry 2. The Nature of Mississippian Societies, by John F. Scarry Part II. Structure and Change in Mississippian Societies 3. Development and Dissolution of a Mississippian Society in the American Bottom, Illinois, by George R. Milner 4. Markers of Social Integration: The Development of Centralized Authority in the Spiro Region, by J. Daniel Rogers 5. Control over Goods and the Political Stability of the Moundville Chiefdom, by Paul D. Welch 6. Platform-Mound Construction and the Instability of Mississippian Chiefdoms, by David J. Hally 7. Mississippian Political Dynamics in the Oconee Valley, Georgia, by Mark Williams and Gary Shapiro 8. Chiefly Cycling and Large-Scale Abandonments as Viewed from the Savannah River Basin, by David G. Anderson 9. Stability and Change in the Apalachee Chiefdom, by John F. Scarry Part III. Chiefly Politics and the Mississippian Societies 10. Fluctuations Between Simple and Complex Chiefdoms: Cycling in the Late Prehistoric Southeast, by David G. Anderson John F. Scarry is research associate and research assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the coauthor of San Pedro y San Pablo de Patale: A Seventeenth-Century Spanish Mission in Leon County, Florida, and has written numerous book chapters and articles for publications such as The Florida Anthropologist, Southeastern Archaeology, and Southeastern Archaeological Conference Bulletin.

Frontiers of Colonialism

Frontiers of Colonialism PDF

Author: Christine D. Beaule

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2017-07-11

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0813052807

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Featuring case studies of prehistoric and historic sites from Mesoamerica, China, the Philippines, the Pacific, Egypt, and elsewhere, Frontiers of Colonialism makes the surprising claim that colonialism can and should be compared across radically different time periods and locations. This volume challenges archaeologists to rethink the two major dichotomies of European versus non-European and prehistoric versus historic colonialism, which can be limiting, self-imposed boundaries. By bringing together contributors working in different regions and time periods, this volume examines the variability in colonial administrative strategies, local forms of resistance to cultural assimilation, hybridized cultural traditions, and other cross-cultural interactions within a global, comparative framework. Taken together these essays argue that crossing these frontiers of study will give anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians more power to recognize and explain the highly varied local impacts of colonialism.

New Directions in the Search for the First Floridians

New Directions in the Search for the First Floridians PDF

Author: David K. Thulman

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2019-05-21

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 1683400801

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Presenting the most current research and thinking on prehistoric archaeology in the Southeast, this volume reexamines some of Florida’s most important Paleoindian sites and discusses emerging technologies and methods that are necessary knowledge for archaeologists working in the region today. Using new analytical methods, contributors explore fresh perspectives on sites including Old Vero, Guest Mammoth, Page-Ladson, and Ray Hole Spring. They discuss the role of hydrology—rivers, springs, and coastal plain drainages—in the history of Florida’s earliest inhabitants. They address both the research challenges and the unique preservation capacity of the state’s many underwater sites, suggesting solutions for analyzing corroded lithic artifacts and submerged midden deposits. Looking towards future research, archaeologists discuss strategies for finding additional pre-Clovis and Clovis-era sites offshore on the southeastern continental shelf. The search is important, these essays show, because Florida’s prehistoric sites hold critical data for the debate over the nature and timing of the first human colonization of the Western Hemisphere.