Thomas J. Pluckhahn

Archaeological Survey in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract We summarize the 3,000-year period of Prehispanic settlement in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, based on our regional surveys. We focus on episodic transitions to compare regional trajectories in the Mixteca Alta and elsewhere in Oaxaca. The regularities in settlement pattern changes over so large an area suggest a common causal chain. The project was a full-coverage survey that recorded over 1000 sites in a 10-valley macroregion. The project boundaries adjoined prior surveys, thereby offering the widest available scale of analysis. Mixteca Alta and Valley of Oaxaca survey blocks were conjoined into a single universe of sites. Significant results included the high regional population densities for the earliest settled villages; the eventual consolidation of some extended communities into urban and state societies; the timing and spread of urbanism into adjacent valleys; and the variation and interconnections among late Prehispanic settlements. We conclude that changing community patterns in the Mixteca Alta arose from the interplay of societies on both regional and macroregional scales. Our results underscore the need for still larger spatial perspectives on early civilizations.

TOWARD A NEW VIEW OF HISTORY AND PROCESS AT CRYSTAL RIVER (8CI1)

Abstract The Crystal River site (8CI1), located on Florida’s westcentral Gulf Coast, has long been counted among the most impressive yet inscrutable archaeological sites in the eastern United States. Excavations by C. B. Moore in the early twentieth century produced a number of artifacts with apparent Hopewellian affiliations, thus indicating an occupation during the Middle Woodland period. However, other features of the site—particularly the presence of flat-topped mounds and negative-painted pottery—suggested a later (Mississippian) date. This apparent conflict cast a cloud of confusion over the site, exacerbated by the later discovery of three purported limestone stelae. We present new insights into Crystal River based partly on new field work, including detailed topographic mapping, geophysical survey, and limited small-diameter coring. These field investigations, when combined with radiocarbon dates and the data gleaned from previous investigations, allow us to make new inferences regarding the chronology of settlement and mound construction at Crystal River. Specifically, we posit, based on these data, a greater degree of planning, structure, and complexity to the site from its founding, possibly as early as cal. 300 B.C. Further, these early practices impact the overarching historical trajectory of the site, guiding subsequent practices over a long time span, likely as late as cal A.D. 600.

Integrating LiDAR data and conventional mapping of the Fort Center site in south-central Florida: A comparative approach

Abstract Publicly available LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data provide a potential windfall for archaeologists, permitting the creation of detailed topographic site maps with little more than an internet-connected computer and appropriate software. The quality of these LiDAR data for site mapping is variable, however, and may need to be supplemented with data obtained from conventional mapping techniques. We share insights from recent mapping of the Fort Center site (8GL13) in southern Florida. Specifically, we suggest a method—based on trial and error—for integrating LiDAR and total station survey data. We compare the results of our work with previous efforts at mapping the site based solely on conventional archaeological survey methods, as well as with results based on LiDAR data alone. We conclude that our combination of LiDAR data, corrected by conventional survey data, produces the most accurate map.

Challenging the Evidence for Prehistoric Wetland Maize Agriculture at Fort Center, Florida

Abstract The early evidence (2400 ± 105 B.P.) for wetland maize agriculture at the archaeological site of Fort Center, a large earth-work site in South Florida, USA, is frequently cited in discussions of the emergence of agriculture in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. The evidence for maize, however, rests on controversial pollen data; some researchers accept it, others remain skeptical of its identification or chronological placement. We present microbotanical data (pollen and phytoliths), macrobotanical data, and radiocarbon dates from recent excavations from this site. We argue that maize agriculture did not occur until the historic period at this site and that the identification of maize in earlier deposits is likely a result of contamination.

Evidence of Small-Scale Feasting from the Woodland Period Site of Kolomoki, Georgia

Abstract Feasting has emerged within the past 15years as a topic ofgreat interest in archaeology. By far the greatest share of this attention has been devoted to large-scale public feasting, often interpreted as an avenue for political maneuvering and the negotiation of power between competing factions. Smaller-scale feasting has not been studied as closely, but it is generally assumed to be related to rituals that emphasize solidarity within households and lineages. We present a case study in the identification of small-scale feasting at the Woodland period site of Kolomoki (9ERl) in sw Georgia. Our identification of feasting is based on anomalies in the faunal, macro-botanical, and artifact assemblages from a pit house that appears to have filled rapidly with a midden. Multiple lines of evidence may be necessary to identify smaller-scale feasting, because it is typically an infrequent occurrence conducted primarily in domestic settings, and is usually obscured by ordinary household refuse. As predicted by hypothetical characterizations of small-scale feasts, the assemblage from Kolomoki contains few examples of the type of exotic artifacts associated with individual aggrandizement. we argue that broad descriptions of small-scale feasts as “solidarity” rituals may overlook competition and conflict at the household level.

Evidence for Stepped Pyramids of Shell in the Woodland Period of Eastern North America

Abstract Antiquarians of the nineteenth century referred to the largest monumental constructions in eastern North America as pyramids, but this usage faded among archaeologists by the mid-twentieth century. Pauketat (2007) has reintroduced the term pyramid to describe the larger, Mississippian-period (A.D. 1050 to 1550) mounds of the interior of the continent, recognizing recent studies that demonstrate the complexity of their construction. Such recognition is lacking for earlier mounds and for those constructed of shell. We describe the recent identification of stepped pyramids of shell from the Roberts Island Complex, located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida and dating to the terminal Late Woodland period, A.D. 800 to 1050, thus recognizing the sophistication of monument construction in an earlier time frame, using a different construction material, and taking an alternative form.

PASTE CHARACTERIZATION OF WEEDEN ISLAND POTTERY FROM KOLOMOKI AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SPECIALIZED PRODUCTION

Abstract We report the results of a petrographic analysis of pottery from Kolomoki, a Middle and Late Woodland period mound and village complex in southwestern Georgia. Thin sections of 65 sherds representing several prestige and utilitarian Weeden Island pottery types, from both domestic (midden) and ceremonial (mound) contexts, were obtained. For comparison, we also analyzed samples from a few potential clay sources. We characterize the range of variability in paste/resource groupings present in the Kolomoki assemblage and use these data to address patterns of manufacture and exchange of Weeden Island pottery through comparisons to thin sections of comparable types from the McKeithen site and other Weeden Island sites in the region.

Constructing community at civic-ceremonial centers: pottery-making practices at Crystal River and Roberts Island

ABSTRACT Crystal River (8CI1) and Roberts Island (8CI36, 8CI40, 8CI41) are neighboring mound complexes on Florida’s west-central Gulf Coast, with mainly sequential occupations during the Middle and Late Woodland periods, respectively. Previous work at Crystal River produced assemblages marked by a diversity of pastes and surface treatments, suggestive of distinct communities of practice. However, these excavations were unsystematic and poorly controlled, thus confounding understanding of temporal and spatial variation in practice. Recent excavations in domestic areas, combined with the analysis of older collections from mounds, support a finer-grained understanding of variation in ceramic production. Our analysis suggests that communities of practice persisted through time, although there is variation that corresponds well with changes in settlement.

Social Networks and Networked Scholars

ABSTRACT We describe the development of an open-access database for Swift Creek Complicated Stamped ceramics, a type of pottery common to Georgia, eastern Alabama, and northern Florida in the Middle and Late Woodland periods between ca. cal A.D. 100 and 800. The characteristic stamped designs on Swift Creek pottery, created by impressing a carved paddle into a clay vessel before firing, provide unique signatures that enable archaeologists to identify paddle matches—multiple vessels, sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart, stamped with a single paddle. These paddle matches potentially allow archaeologists to trace social interactions across hundreds of kilometers with high spatial and temporal resolution. To date, however, this potential has been hindered by the limited accessibility and fragmented nature of the dataset of reconstructed designs. The database we describe integrates paddle designs with other pertinent data for identifying paddle matches and their context, including the results of sourcing and technofunctional analyses and absolute dating. We view this database not only as a critical component of our own research, but also as a platform for collaboration among researchers that will facilitate broad syntheses of the region. Se describe el desarrollo de una base de datos de libre acceso para la cerámica Swift Creek Complicated Stamped, un tipo de cerámica común en Georgia, el este de Alabama y el norte de Florida en los períodos Silvícola Medio y Tardío, entre aproximadamente 100 y 800 cal d.C. Los diseños característicos estampados sobre la cerámica Swift Creek, creados mediante la impresión de una paleta de madera tallada en un recipiente de arcilla húmeda antes del secado y cocción, proporcionan firmas únicas que permiten identificar la ocurrencia de múltiples vasos, a veces cientos de kilómetros aparte, estampados con la misma paleta. Estas coincidencias entre diseños de paleta tienen el potencial de permitir el rastreo de las interacciones sociales a distancias de cientos de kilómetros con una alta resolución espacial y temporal. Sin embargo, hasta ahora este potencial se ha visto obstaculizado por la accesibilidad limitada y la fragmentación del conjunto de datos de diseños reconstruidos. La base de datos que describimos integra diseños de paleta con otros datos pertinentes para la identificación de coincidencias de paletas y su contexto, incluyendo los datos de procedencia, análisis técnico-funcional y datación absoluta. Consideramos que esta base de datos no sólo funciona como un componente crítico de nuestra propia investigación, sino también como una plataforma para la colaboración entre investigadores que facilitará amplias síntesis de la región.

The ceramic ecology of florida: compositional baselines for pottery provenance studies

Abstract The success of pottery provenance studies is fundamentally dependent upon spatially patterned variation in the composition of exploited clay resources. Uniformity in clay composition within a region and recognizable differences between regions of interest are essential requirements for determining provenance, but these parameters are difficult to satisfy in study areas such as the coastal plain of the southeastern USA in which chemical and mineralogical variation tend toward continuous gradients. In an attempt to improve the reliability and validity of pottery provenance studies in the area, this research investigates compositional variation in raw clay samples from across Florida and southern Georgia through NAA (n=130) and petrographic analysis (n=99). The results indicate that fourteen distinct compositional regions can be differentiated, ranging from 50 km to 400 km in length. These regions dictate the direction and minimum distance a pottery vessel must have been transported in order to be recognized as nonlocal through compositional analysis. The validity of the proposed compositional regions is supported by previous case studies focused on assemblages from three of the regions. In each case, vessels were transported from other compositional regions more than 100 km away.