Archaeology of Woodland Transformation

Exploring a period of transformative change for theWoodland-era societies ofFloridas Lower Suwannee regionIn this book, Jessica Jenkins provides adetailed look at the transition from the Middle to Late Woodland periods in theLower Suwannee region of Floridas Gulf Coast. Drawing on ceramic analysistechniques, Jenkins argues that this time of transformative change, ofteninterpreted as a societal collapse,insteadshould be seen as a purposefulshift brought about by emerging social movements.Beginning around 650 CE, theregions Indigenous inhabitants dispersed from civic-ceremonial centers, movedaway from places associated with the dead, changed their burial practices, and adoptednew pottery surface treatments and designs. Examining ceramic vessels from 12sites located on islands near the present-day town of Cedar Key, Jenkinscatalogs these shifts. Jenkins explores how people shared social identitiesthat connected them through relational networks and laid the foundation forthese changes.An Archaeology of Woodland Transformation is the first book to synthesize information on the villages,networks, and identities of this time and place. Offering rich datasets and newperspectives on sociocultural transformation in and around the lower SuwanneeRiver Estuary, this book represents a breakthrough in current understandings ofthe Woodland period.A volume in the Florida Museum of NaturalHistory: Ripley P. Bullen Series