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.
"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.
This heavily illustrated book is written by top archaeologists who study Florida's sunken heritage in unique underwater sites. Learn from them the secrets at the bottom of springs and rivers, discover drowned prehistoric waterfront neighborhoods, paddle into the past on ancient canoes, swim across wrecked Spanish galleons and slave ships, record the contents of a Civil War troop transport, and study waterlogged artifacts in the laboratory. Submerged History takes readers on professionally guided tours along the broad spectrum of Florida's hidden, watery past to illustrate what these fascinating sites can reveal about the people who came before us.
Milanich begins with an overview of the history of archaeology in Florida. He then describes the earliest aboriginal cultures: the Paleoindians and the people of the Archaic period. The later, regional cultures (Weeden Island, Fort Walton, Glades, Caloosahatchee, and many others) are correlated with geographical and environmental regions and then compared to provide insights about the nature of chiefdom societies, the effects of wetlands on precolumbian settlement systems, and the environmental history of the state. Maps and illustrations document this history of archaeological research in Florida and of the sites and artifacts (including spectacular Weeden Island pottery vessels and Belle Glade wooden carvings) left behind by the precolumbian people.
Archaeologists are increasingly interested in studying the experiences of Chinese immigrants, yet this area of research is mired in long-standing interpretive models that essentialize race and identity. Showcasing the enormous amount of data available on the lives of Chinese people who migrated to North America in the nineteenth century, this volume charts new directions by providing fresh approaches to interpreting immigrant life. In this volume, leading scholars first tackle broad questions of how best to position and understand these populations. They then delve into a variety of site-based and topical case studies, providing new approaches to themes like Chinese immigrant foodways and highlighting understudied topics including entrepreneurialism, cross-cultural interactions, and conditions in the Jim Crow South. Pushing back against old colonial-based tropes, contributors call for an awareness of the transnational relationships created through migration, engagement with broader archaeological and anthropological debates, and the expansion of research into new contexts and topics. Contributors: Linda Bentz | Todd J. Braje | Kelly N. Fong | D. Ryan Gray | J. Ryan Kennedy | Christopher Merritt | Laura W. | Virginia S. Popper | Adrian Praetzellis | Mary Praetzellis | Chelsea Rose | Douglas E. Ross | Charlotte K. Sunseri | Barbara L. Voss | Priscilla Wegars | Henry Yu
This volume examines the various facets of public archaeology practice globally, and the factors which are currently affecting it, together with the question of how different publics and communities engage with their archaeological heritage.
"A research tour de force that seamlessly melds archaeology, geology, ecology, environmental history, and a contemporary conservation ethic. Not only is this volume a must read for scholars interested in Florida’s past, but it is one that deserves to be read by anyone interested in Florida’s threatened environments."—T. R. Kidder, Director of the Washington University in St. Louis Geoarchaeology Lab "O'Donoughue writes thoughtfully and poetically about Florida’s geological history and long-term patterns of environmental change and cultural adaptation. A compelling case for the relevance of archaeology to current environmental concerns."—Christopher B. Rodning, coeditor of Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire "Examines Florida’s critically important springs and discusses how they were used and modified over thousands of years by local inhabitants, placing the springs in a deep historic context while offering well-informed suggestions for their long-term management and use."—David G. Anderson, coeditor of Archaeology of the Mid-Holocene Southeast Throughout their history, Florida's springs have been gathering places for far-flung peoples. In Water from Stone, Jason O'Donoughue discusses the genesis of springs and their role as sites of habitation, burials, ritualized feasting, and monument building for Florida's earliest peoples. O'Donoughue moves beyond a focus on the ecological roles of springs and the popular image of springs as timeless and pristine--approaches taken by many archaeologists and conservationists. Instead, he foregrounds the social and historical importance of springs and their ongoing use as gathering places that draw people for ritual purposes even today. This archaeological viewpoint creates a bridge between past and present, encouraging conservation efforts that focus on the intrinsic value of springs as places of personal experience and social interaction with deep historical significance. To save the springs, O'Donoughue argues, we must recognize the relevance of the past to the problems Florida's artesian springs face today. A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series
Methods, Mounds, and Missions offers innovative ways of looking at existing data, as well as compelling new information, about Florida’s past. Diverse in scale, topic, time, and region, the volume’s contributions span the late Archaic through historic periods and cover much of the state’s panhandle and peninsula, with forays into the larger Southeast and circum-Caribbean area. Subjects explored in this volume include coastal ring middens, chiefly power and social interaction in mound-building societies, pottery design and production, faunal evidence of mollusk harvesting, missions and missionaries, European iron celts or chisels, Hernando de Soto’s sixteenth-century expedition, and an early nineteenth-century Seminole settlement. The essays incorporate previously underexplored markers of culture histories such as clay sources and non-chert lithic tools and address complex issues such as the entanglement of utilitarian artifacts with sociocultural and ritual realms. Experts in their topical specializations, this volume’s contributors build on the research methods and interpretive approaches of influential anthropologist Jerald Milanich. They update current archaeological interpretations of Florida history, developing and demonstrating the use of new and improved tools to answer broader and larger questions. A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series
