Overview

Given its pivotal location be¬tween 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. Yet Florida traditionally has been considered peripheral in the study of ancient cultures in North America, despite what it can reveal about social and climate change. The essays in this book resoundingly argue that Florida is in fact a crucial hub of archaeological inquiry. New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida represents the next wave of south-eastern archaeology. Contributors use new data to challenge well-worn models of environmental determinism and localised social contact. Indeed, this volume makes a case for considerable interaction and exchange among Native Floridians and the greater south-eastern United States as seen by the variety of objects of dis¬tant origin and mound-building traditions that incorporated extra regional concepts. Themes of monumentality, human alterations of landscapes, the natural environment, ritual and mortuary practices, and coastal adaptations demonstrate the diversity, empirical rich¬ness, and broader anthropological significance of Florida’s aboriginal past.

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9780813049366

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Using new methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, the authors present exciting new evidence for considerable social interaction and long-distance trade networks among Native Floridians and the larger southeastern United States, elaborate expressions of ritual and monumentality, and the dynamic interplay between people and their environments. American Anthropologist

Situates the extremely rich archaeological materials of the Pre-Columbian Floridian peninsula into broader global discussions of monumentality, memory, seascapes, and maritime ritual processes. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

Clearly evidence[s] the gains in understanding that recent research has won. . . . An exceptional resource. --Journal of Anthropological Research Provides an impressive array of the latest information and fresh perspectives on precolumbian Florida. . . . Its contributors innovatively engage new information in explaining how Native Americans fashioned their own histories. --American Antiquity Situates the extremely rich archaeological materials of the Pre-Columbian Floridian peninsula into broader global discussions of monumentality, memory, seascapes, and maritime ritual processes. --Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology Using new methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, the authors present exciting new evidence for considerable social interaction and long-distance trade networks among Native Floridians and the larger southeastern United States, elaborate expressions of ritual and monumentality, and the dynamic interplay between people and their environments. --American Anthropologist

""Clearly evidence[s] the gains in understanding that recent research has won. . . . An exceptional resource.""--Journal of Anthropological Research ""Provides an impressive array of the latest information and fresh perspectives on precolumbian Florida. . . . Its contributors innovatively engage new information in explaining how Native Americans fashioned their own histories.""--American Antiquity ""Situates the extremely rich archaeological materials of the Pre-Columbian Floridian peninsula into broader global discussions of monumentality, memory, seascapes, and maritime ritual processes."" --Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology ""Using new methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, the authors present exciting new evidence for considerable social interaction and long-distance trade networks among Native Floridians and the larger southeastern United States, elaborate expressions of ritual and monumentality, and the dynamic interplay between people and their environments.""--American Anthropologist

Author Information

Neill J. Wallis is assistant curator in archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History and author of The Swift Creek Gift. Asa R. Randall is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma.

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