Archaeology of Northern Florida, A.D. 200-900

"Readable, informative, and simply indispensable to anyone with a serious interest in Eastern North America's prehistory". -- American Antiquity "Will be the fundamental reference on the archeology of the north Florida area (and) the Woodland period.... Provides a fascinating and informative picture of how modern archaeological studies are performed and how the ideas of researchers can evolve in the face of new data. I highly recommend it". -- John F. Scarry, Florida Historical Quarterly More than a millennium ago, the Weeden Island culture flourished across the northern half of Florida and adjacent portions of the Alabama and Georgia coastal plain. For more than a century, archaeologists have marveled over the extraordinary animal effigy pottery vessels left behind by these pre-Columbian peoples in their mounds and villages. In this volume the authors draw on north Florida archaeological excavations and site surveys to unlock the secrets of the Weeden Island culture and its magnificent ceramics. In particular, investigations at the McKeithen site, a multimound village site, provide information used to place the culture within the evolutionary framework of native societies in the southeastern United States. New radiocarbon dates from that site establish a firm chronological framework for Weeden Island developments. The authors examine the role of mound-building vis-a-vis social and village organization and provide definitive assessments about the crafting of Weeden Island ceramics and the ritual and social significance of animal effigy figurines and other pottery. From a wealth of past and present field investigations and from modern laboratory analyses, conclusions are offeredabout Weeden Island lifeways, social structure, and sociopolitical stability. Archaeology of Northern Florida provides a much-needed and valuable synthesis of the Weeden Island culture, one that fundamentally alters how we view the pre-Columbian Southeast.

ISBN 0813015383   Pages 224 ISBN13 9780813015385 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher University Press of Florida   Weight (grammes) 517 Imprint University Press of Florida   Published in Florida Format Paperback   Height (mm) 229 Publication date 31 Aug 1997   Width (mm) 178 Library of Congress E99.W48M37   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 975.901   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC21

		List of Figures
		List of Tables
		Preface
		Acknowledgments
1		Behind the Scenes		1
2		The Concept of Weeden Island		9
3		Patterns of Site Location and Prehistoric Occupation		25
4		The McKeithen Village		45
5		Charnel Knowledge: McKeithen Mounds		91
6		Technological Analysis of the Ceramics		120
7		Description of the Pottery Vessels from the McKeithen Mounds		140
8		Symbolism: Interpreting the Mound C Pottery Cache and Related Weeden Island Ceramics		163
9		Interpreting Weeden Island		185
App		Other North Florida Weeden Island Sites		201
		References		209
		Index		217

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