An Archaeology of Woodland Transformation: Social Movements, Identities, and Pottery Production on the Gulf Coast

Exploring a period of transformative change for the
Woodland-era societies of
Florida's Lower Suwannee region

In this book, Jessica Jenkins provides a
detailed look at the transition from the Middle to Late Woodland periods in the
Lower Suwannee region of Florida's Gulf Coast. Drawing on ceramic analysis
techniques, Jenkins argues that this time of transformative change, often
interpreted as a societal collapse, should instead be seen as a purposeful
shift brought about by emerging social movements.

Beginning around 650 CE, the
region's Indigenous inhabitants dispersed from civic-ceremonial centers, moved
away from places associated with the dead, changed their burial practices, and adopted
new pottery surface treatments and designs. Examining ceramic vessels from 12
sites located on islands near the present-day town of Cedar Key, Jenkins
catalogs these shifts. Jenkins explores how people shared social identities
that connected them through relational networks and laid the foundation for
these 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 new
perspectives on sociocultural transformation in and around the lower Suwannee
River Estuary, this book represents a breakthrough in current understandings of
the Woodland period.

A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural
History: Ripley P. Bullen Series