Archaeology Of The Southeastern United States

A chronological summary of major stages in Southeastern United States' development, this unique textbook overviews the region's archaeology from 20,000 years ago to World War I. Early chapters review the history and development of archaeology as a discipline. The following chapters, organized in chronological order, highlight the archaeological characteristics of each featured period. The book's final chapters discuss new directions in Southeastern archaeology, including trends in teaching, research, the business of archaeology, and the public's growing interest. This versatile text perfectly suits undergraduates or anyone requiring a hands-on guide for self-exploration of the fascinating region. This is the first-of-its kind book to summarize Southeastern archaeology. It includes both prehistoric and historic archaeology. Its easy-to-read format is filled with valuable research information. Each chapter is chronologically organized and fully referenced. It has broad audience appeal.

"An important addition to the history of southeastern archaeology, bringing to light the often undervalued or forgotten contributions of the many women who helped to make archaeology what it is today."-- Mary L. Kwas, Bulletin of the History of Archaeology "A readable book that provides a lot of interesting material on the history of southeastern archaeology. It convinced me that, even though some women were treated in ways which today would be regarded as highly exploitative or discriminatory, many of their experiences were similar to those of male archaeologists, and that women have made equally important contributions to southeastern archaeology."-- Janet Rafferty, Journal of Alabama Archaeology "Editors and contributors successfully walk a fine line between discussing individual accomplishments of these women and pointing out some of the obstacles that stood in the way of females attempting to navigate their way through a discipline dominated largely by males. . . . Highly recommended for any archaeologist interested in the history of the discipline."--Choice "An important historical perspective on the formative years of southeastern archaeology. . . . Combines humor, personal history, and serious anthropology in a balanced way without becoming a male-bashing polemic. There are many issues raised that warrant serious thought by all of us concerned with understanding the past."-- Jefferson Chapman, director, Frank H. McClung Museum, Knoxville, Tennessee "We who are women in southeastern archaeology have always known that without the work of women it would never have got done at all, never mind done as well as it has been. This group biography shows for the first time how women made contributions in every niche that the archaeology of the region had to offer." -- Patricia Galloway, Mississippi Department of Archives This volume documents the lives and work of pioneering women archaeologists in the southeastern United States, from the 1920s through the 1960s, portraying their professional accomplishments in the context of their personal lives. Some of the women are working today, and they either wrote their own stories or were interviewed. Others are no longer living; their biographies are gleaned from archival research. Rich with humor, tragedy, and important information for the history of anthropology and archaeology in the South and beyond, this book includes the story of African-American women excavators on WPA crews during the Great Depression; tales of innovative lab work, adventurous fieldwork, and public archaeology; and provocative discussions of women in archaeology and of gender in the archaeological record. Nancy Marie White is associate professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Lynne P. Sullivan is curator of archaeology at the Frank H. McClung Museum, Knoxville, Tennessee. Rochelle A. Marrinan is associate professor of anthropology at Florida State University, Tallahassee.

This volume uses case studies to capture the recent emphasis on history in archaeological reconstructions of America’s deep past. Previously, archaeologists studying “prehistoric” America focused on long-term evolutionary change, imagining ancient societies like living organisms slowly adapting to environmental challenges. Contributors to this volume demonstrate how today’s researchers are incorporating a new awareness that the precolonial era was also shaped by people responding to historical trends and forces. Essays in this volume delve into sites across what is now the United States Southeast—the St. Johns River Valley, the Gulf Coast, Greater Cahokia, Fort Ancient, the southern Appalachians, and the Savannah River Valley. Prominent scholars of the region highlight the complex interplay of events, human decision-making, movements, and structural elements that combined to shape native societies. The research in this volume represents a profound shift in thinking about precolonial and colonial history and begins to erase the false divide between ancient and contemporary America. Contributors: Susan M. Alt | Robin Beck | Eric E. Bowne | Robert A. Cook | Robbie Ethridge | Jon Bernard Marcoux | Timothy R. Pauketat | Thomas J. Pluckhahn | Asa R. Randall | Christopher B. Rodning | Kenneth E. Sassaman | Lynne P. Sullivan | Victor D. Thompson | Neill J. Wallis | John E. Worth A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series

This volume provides a comprehensive, broad-based overview, including first-person accounts, of the development and conduct of archaeology in the Southeast over the past three decades. Histories of Southeastern Archaeology originated as a symposium at the 1999 Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) organized in honor of the retirement of Charles H. McNutt following 30 years of teaching anthropology. Written for the most part by members of the first post-depression generation of southeastern archaeologists, this volume offers a window not only into the archaeological past of the United States but also into the hopes and despairs of archaeologists who worked to write that unrecorded history or to test scientific theories concerning culture. The contributors take different approaches, each guided by experience, personality, and location, as well as by the legislation that shaped the practical conduct of archaeology in their area. Despite the state-by-state approach, there are certain common themes, such as the effect (or lack thereof) of changing theory in Americanist archaeology, the explosion of contract archaeology and its relationship to academic archaeology, goals achieved or not achieved, and the common ground of SEAC. This book tells us how we learned what we now know about the Southeast's unwritten past. Of obvious interest to professionals and students of the field, this volume will also be sought after by historians, political scientists, amateurs, and anyone interested in the South. Additional reviews: "A unique publication that presents numerous historical, topical, and personal perspectives on the archaeological heritage of the Southeast."—Southeastern Archaeology

"This book explores changes in houses and households in the southeastern United States from the Woodland to the Historic Indian Period (ca. 200 B.C. to A.D. 1800). Most studies of domestic architecture in the Southeast have been conducted at the single-site scale. As a result, broader spatial and temporal patterns of variation in houses and households are not well understood. To address this problem, Steere constructed a database that catalogues the architectural features of 1,258 structures from 65 sites in the Southern Appalachian region and surrounding areas. Significant trends identified by this comparative study include changes in the size and spacing of houses, changes in architectural investment, and a secular trend toward the increasing segmentation of houses. Using a theoretical framework developed from household archaeology and anthropology, Steere argues that certain aspects of this architectural variation can be explained by changes in household economics and household composition, symbolic behavior, status differentiation, and settlement patterning. More generally, he proposes that large-scale patterns of diachronic and synchronic variation in domestic architecture are best explained by changes in social organization"--Provided by publisher.

A chronological summary of major stages in Southeastern United States' development, this unique text overviews the region's archaeology from 20,000 years ago to World War I. Early chapters review the history and development of archaeology as a discipline. The following chapters, organized in chronological order, highlight the archaeological characteristics of each featured period. The book's final chapters discuss new directions in Southeastern archaeology, including trends in teaching, research, the business of archaeology, and the public's growing interest. This versatile text perfectly suits undergraduates or anyone requiring a hands-on guide for self-exploration of the fascinating region. This is the first-of-its kind book to summarize Southeastern archaeology. It includes both prehistoric and historic archaeology. Its easy-to-read format is filled with valuable research information. Each chapter is chronologically organized and fully referenced. It has broad audience appeal.

Native peoples living around the Gulf of Mexico had much in common, from the time of the earliest hunter-fisher-gatherers onward. There have been hypotheses of prehistoric interaction between the southeastern United States and Mesoamerica, but explorations of the processes have been few. This volume chronicles the archaeological continuities and discontinuities along the Gulf Coast from Archaic through Postclassic/Mississippian times and later, including shell mounds/middens and estuarine adaptations, subsistence similarities, the relationship of early settlement and sea level rise, cultural complexity, early monumental construction, long-distance exchange relations, and symbolism and iconography. Many debatable issues are explored. Northeastern Mexico is a region relatively remote from the Mesoamerican heartland, as is coastal Texas from the southeastern United States. The connecting area of the south Texas/Mexican coast may have been too inhospitable for much habitation, thus inhibiting interaction, yet some artifact types and styles, not to mention food crops, crossed these boundaries. The long-distance diffusion of ideas of sociocultural complexity, food production, and monument construction are reexamined in Gulf Coast Archaeology with new data and wide geographic prespectives. This book is an important contribution to the hypothesis of prehistoric culture contact and interaction between native groups in North America and Mesoamerica, which has been an openly debated topic over the last century.

A chronological summary of major stages in Southeastern United States' development, this unique textbook overviews the region's archaeology from 20,000 years ago to World War I. Early chapters review the history and development of archaeology as a discipline. The following chapters, organized in chronological order, highlight the archaeological characteristics of each featured period. The book's final chapters discuss new directions in Southeastern archaeology, including trends in teaching, research, the business of archaeology, and the public's growing interest. This versatile text perfectly suits undergraduates or anyone requiring a hands-on guide for self-exploration of the fascinating region. This is the first-of-its kind book to summarize Southeastern archaeology. It includes both prehistoric and historic archaeology. Its easy-to-read format is filled with valuable research information. Each chapter is chronologically organized and fully referenced. It has broad audience appeal.