St. Johns pottery is a distinctive Florida ware that occurs in abundance throughout peninsular Fl... more St. Johns pottery is a distinctive Florida ware that occurs in abundance throughout peninsular Florida but rarely outside the state. The St. Johns series is defined by a fabric that contains abundant sponge spicules and a characteristic “chalky” feel when handled (Borremans and Shaak 1986; Goggin 1952:99; Holmes 1894:111-112). The origins of these qualities have been a topic of debate in Florida archaeology for many years (Borremans and Shaak 1986; Cordell and Koski 2003; Crusoe 1971; Espenshade 1983; Rolland and Bond 2003). Two opposing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the presence of spicules: “naturally-present” and “added-temper.” Some argue that St. Johns pottery was produced with clays that had spicules naturally occurring within them (e.g., Borremans and Shaak 1986; Cordell and Koski 2003), while others claim that spicules were intentionally added as temper to enhance the working properties of the clay (e.g., Rolland and Bond 2003). Systematic attempts to collect clay...
Photomicrographs of some "temper" categories (width of 4x images ~2mm) : A few clay samples chara... more Photomicrographs of some "temper" categories (width of 4x images ~2mm) : A few clay samples characterized by paucity of aplastics (designated "clay" in bar chart). mica in fabrics A, C, Ea: lot from multiple sites within and without study area, representing: 55 study samples (+ 10 not sampled); 18 sites; 6 regional clusters; 5 tempers (all but mafic, St. Johns, limestone); 5 petro-fabrics (all but Eb, F); 17 temper/ fabric combinations; and 10 unknowns
The Archaeology of Villages in Eastern North America, 2018
The transition of small mobile groups to larger village aggregations poses distinct economic, soc... more The transition of small mobile groups to larger village aggregations poses distinct economic, social, and political challenges. New integrative institutions and practices are necessary, and their stability can be reinforced through inscriptions on the built environment and landscape, particularly as they define the configuration of community spaces in which people interact frequently. In northern Florida and southern Georgia, an effective approach to village proxemics and social grammar emerged in the Woodland Period around ca. AD 200, after which many villages formed with similar U-shaped layouts studded by mounds in similar, or identical, locations. This chapter posits that the origins of this particular village configuration, and ultimately its widespread popularity, were rooted in experiences of non-anthropogenic features on the landscape. The Garden Patch site on the northern peninsular Gulf coast serves as a case study that shows how natural, cosmically aligned features define...
We present a revised chronology for the Kolomoki site (9ER1) in Georgia, occupied primarily durin... more We present a revised chronology for the Kolomoki site (9ER1) in Georgia, occupied primarily during the Middle and Late Woodland periods (ca. 200 BC to AD 1050). The considerable extent of the site has been noted for more than a century but came into sharper focus with the archaeological investigations by Sears (1956) and Pluckhahn (2003). The site includes at least nine mounds, a large central plaza, and a discontinuous habitation area nearly a kilometer in diameter. Previous interpretations assumed gradual and incremental changes in the community plan. We present a greatly revised chronology, based on new investigations in some of the lesser-known portions of the site and a doubling of the number of absolute dates. Bayesian modeling of these and previous dates reveals that, far from the gradualist assumption of previous work, the community at Kolomoki was dynamically transformed several times in its history, reaching its greatest spatial extent and formal complexity in two relative...
Interdisciplinary collaborations and data sharing are essential to addressing the long history of... more Interdisciplinary collaborations and data sharing are essential to addressing the long history of human-environmental interactions underlying the modern biodiversity crisis. Such collaborations are increasingly facilitated by, and dependent upon, sharing open access data from a variety of disciplinary communities and data sources, including those within biology, paleontology, and archaeology. Significant advances in biodiversity open data sharing have focused on neontological and paleontological specimen records, making available over a billion records through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. But to date, less effort has been placed on the integration of important archaeological sources of biodiversity, such as zooarchaeological specimens. Zooarchaeological specimens are rich with both biological and cultural heritage data documenting nearly all phases of human interaction with animals and the surrounding environment through time, filling a critical gap between paleontological and neontological sources of data within biodiversity networks. Here we describe technical advances for mobilizing zooarchaeological specimen-specific biological and cultural data. In particular, we demonstrate adaptations in the workflow used by biodiversity publisher Vert-Net to mobilize Darwin Core formatted zooarchaeological data to the GBIF network. We also show how a linked open data approach can be used to connect existing biodiversity publishing mechanisms with archaeoinformatics publishing mechanisms through collaboration with the Open Context platform. Examples of ZooArchNet published datasets are used to show the efficacy of creating this critically needed bridge between biological and archaeological sources of open access data. These technical advances and efforts to support data publication are placed in the larger context of ZooarchNet, a new project meant to build community around new approaches to interconnect zoorchaeological data and knowledge across disciplines.
Flat-topped platform mounds of earth, shell, or both, were constructed for millennia in the Ameri... more Flat-topped platform mounds of earth, shell, or both, were constructed for millennia in the American Southeast and became pervasive during the Mississippi period (ca. 1000 CE to 1500) as elevated surfaces for buildings that served as temples, council houses, and residences of the elite. The sub-structural functions of Mississippian platform mounds departed significantly from those of most platforms that preceded them, which lacked buildings or enclosures on summits and served primarily as stages for communal feasts and other ceremonial events. The transition between these alternative functions of platform mounds is critical to understanding the emergence of social differentiation and hierarchical power in the region. Here we look to the last centuries of the Middle Woodland period (ca. 200 BCE to 600 CE) as a key moment of change in Florida and the American Southeast, and present results of investigations of the platform mound at Garden Patch, a civic-ceremonial center on the northern Florida Gulf coast, as a prominent example. Ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, resistivity, and limited test excavation indicate a series of construction stages reflecting communal feasting and ceremony as well as a summit structure that belies collective control. We argue that these features denote social tensions between communal and exclusive functions and rights of access to the platform mound and corresponding social, political, and spiritual powers in the context of the earliest aggregated villages of the region.
We describe the curation and use of clay samples as part of the ceramic ecology program at the Fl... more We describe the curation and use of clay samples as part of the ceramic ecology program at the Florida Museum of Natural History's Ceramic Technology Laboratory (FLMNH-CTL). We outline the history of the comparative clay sample collection at the FLMNH-CTL and detail the standard operating procedure by which samples are processed, analyzed, and curated. We also provide examples of how the clay samples have been used in research projects as well as some of the challenges inherent to studies using such samples. Our collection of processed clays and associated thin sections, which is curated in perpetuity, represents a valuable resource for ongoing and future lab endeavors and is available to other researchers focusing on Florida and adjacent regions.
St. Johns pottery is a distinctive Florida ware that occurs in abundance throughout peninsular Fl... more St. Johns pottery is a distinctive Florida ware that occurs in abundance throughout peninsular Florida but rarely outside the state. The St. Johns series is defined by a fabric that contains abundant sponge spicules and a characteristic “chalky” feel when handled (Borremans and Shaak 1986; Goggin 1952:99; Holmes 1894:111-112). The origins of these qualities have been a topic of debate in Florida archaeology for many years (Borremans and Shaak 1986; Cordell and Koski 2003; Crusoe 1971; Espenshade 1983; Rolland and Bond 2003). Two opposing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the presence of spicules: “naturally-present” and “added-temper.” Some argue that St. Johns pottery was produced with clays that had spicules naturally occurring within them (e.g., Borremans and Shaak 1986; Cordell and Koski 2003), while others claim that spicules were intentionally added as temper to enhance the working properties of the clay (e.g., Rolland and Bond 2003). Systematic attempts to collect clay...
Photomicrographs of some "temper" categories (width of 4x images ~2mm) : A few clay samples chara... more Photomicrographs of some "temper" categories (width of 4x images ~2mm) : A few clay samples characterized by paucity of aplastics (designated "clay" in bar chart). mica in fabrics A, C, Ea: lot from multiple sites within and without study area, representing: 55 study samples (+ 10 not sampled); 18 sites; 6 regional clusters; 5 tempers (all but mafic, St. Johns, limestone); 5 petro-fabrics (all but Eb, F); 17 temper/ fabric combinations; and 10 unknowns
The Archaeology of Villages in Eastern North America, 2018
The transition of small mobile groups to larger village aggregations poses distinct economic, soc... more The transition of small mobile groups to larger village aggregations poses distinct economic, social, and political challenges. New integrative institutions and practices are necessary, and their stability can be reinforced through inscriptions on the built environment and landscape, particularly as they define the configuration of community spaces in which people interact frequently. In northern Florida and southern Georgia, an effective approach to village proxemics and social grammar emerged in the Woodland Period around ca. AD 200, after which many villages formed with similar U-shaped layouts studded by mounds in similar, or identical, locations. This chapter posits that the origins of this particular village configuration, and ultimately its widespread popularity, were rooted in experiences of non-anthropogenic features on the landscape. The Garden Patch site on the northern peninsular Gulf coast serves as a case study that shows how natural, cosmically aligned features define...
We present a revised chronology for the Kolomoki site (9ER1) in Georgia, occupied primarily durin... more We present a revised chronology for the Kolomoki site (9ER1) in Georgia, occupied primarily during the Middle and Late Woodland periods (ca. 200 BC to AD 1050). The considerable extent of the site has been noted for more than a century but came into sharper focus with the archaeological investigations by Sears (1956) and Pluckhahn (2003). The site includes at least nine mounds, a large central plaza, and a discontinuous habitation area nearly a kilometer in diameter. Previous interpretations assumed gradual and incremental changes in the community plan. We present a greatly revised chronology, based on new investigations in some of the lesser-known portions of the site and a doubling of the number of absolute dates. Bayesian modeling of these and previous dates reveals that, far from the gradualist assumption of previous work, the community at Kolomoki was dynamically transformed several times in its history, reaching its greatest spatial extent and formal complexity in two relative...
Interdisciplinary collaborations and data sharing are essential to addressing the long history of... more Interdisciplinary collaborations and data sharing are essential to addressing the long history of human-environmental interactions underlying the modern biodiversity crisis. Such collaborations are increasingly facilitated by, and dependent upon, sharing open access data from a variety of disciplinary communities and data sources, including those within biology, paleontology, and archaeology. Significant advances in biodiversity open data sharing have focused on neontological and paleontological specimen records, making available over a billion records through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. But to date, less effort has been placed on the integration of important archaeological sources of biodiversity, such as zooarchaeological specimens. Zooarchaeological specimens are rich with both biological and cultural heritage data documenting nearly all phases of human interaction with animals and the surrounding environment through time, filling a critical gap between paleontological and neontological sources of data within biodiversity networks. Here we describe technical advances for mobilizing zooarchaeological specimen-specific biological and cultural data. In particular, we demonstrate adaptations in the workflow used by biodiversity publisher Vert-Net to mobilize Darwin Core formatted zooarchaeological data to the GBIF network. We also show how a linked open data approach can be used to connect existing biodiversity publishing mechanisms with archaeoinformatics publishing mechanisms through collaboration with the Open Context platform. Examples of ZooArchNet published datasets are used to show the efficacy of creating this critically needed bridge between biological and archaeological sources of open access data. These technical advances and efforts to support data publication are placed in the larger context of ZooarchNet, a new project meant to build community around new approaches to interconnect zoorchaeological data and knowledge across disciplines.
Flat-topped platform mounds of earth, shell, or both, were constructed for millennia in the Ameri... more Flat-topped platform mounds of earth, shell, or both, were constructed for millennia in the American Southeast and became pervasive during the Mississippi period (ca. 1000 CE to 1500) as elevated surfaces for buildings that served as temples, council houses, and residences of the elite. The sub-structural functions of Mississippian platform mounds departed significantly from those of most platforms that preceded them, which lacked buildings or enclosures on summits and served primarily as stages for communal feasts and other ceremonial events. The transition between these alternative functions of platform mounds is critical to understanding the emergence of social differentiation and hierarchical power in the region. Here we look to the last centuries of the Middle Woodland period (ca. 200 BCE to 600 CE) as a key moment of change in Florida and the American Southeast, and present results of investigations of the platform mound at Garden Patch, a civic-ceremonial center on the northern Florida Gulf coast, as a prominent example. Ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, resistivity, and limited test excavation indicate a series of construction stages reflecting communal feasting and ceremony as well as a summit structure that belies collective control. We argue that these features denote social tensions between communal and exclusive functions and rights of access to the platform mound and corresponding social, political, and spiritual powers in the context of the earliest aggregated villages of the region.
We describe the curation and use of clay samples as part of the ceramic ecology program at the Fl... more We describe the curation and use of clay samples as part of the ceramic ecology program at the Florida Museum of Natural History's Ceramic Technology Laboratory (FLMNH-CTL). We outline the history of the comparative clay sample collection at the FLMNH-CTL and detail the standard operating procedure by which samples are processed, analyzed, and curated. We also provide examples of how the clay samples have been used in research projects as well as some of the challenges inherent to studies using such samples. Our collection of processed clays and associated thin sections, which is curated in perpetuity, represents a valuable resource for ongoing and future lab endeavors and is available to other researchers focusing on Florida and adjacent regions.
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2016
ABSTRACT Low-gradient coastlines are susceptible to inundation by rising water, but they also pro... more ABSTRACT Low-gradient coastlines are susceptible to inundation by rising water, but they also promote marsh aggradation that has the potential to keep pace with sea-level rise. Synergies among hydrodynamics, coastal geomorphology, and marsh ecology preclude a simple linear relationship between higher water and shoreline transgression. As an archive of human use of low-gradient coastlines, archaeological data introduce additional mitigating factors, such as landscape alteration, resource extraction, and the cultural value of place. The Lower Suwannee Archaeological Survey (LSAS) is an ongoing effort to document the history of coastal dwelling since the mid-Holocene, when the rate and magnitude of sea-level rise diminished and the northern Gulf coast of Florida transitioned into an aggradational regime. Results of the first 6 years of the LSAS suggest that multicentury periods of relative stability were punctuated by site abandonment and relocation. Subsistence economies involving the exploitation of oyster and fish, however, were largely unaffected as communities redistributed themselves with changes in shoreline position and estuarine ecology. After AD 200, civic-ceremonial centers were established at several locations along the northern Gulf coast, fixing in place not only the infrastructure of daily living (villages), but also that of religious practice, notably cemeteries and ceremonial mounds. Intensified use of coastal resources at this time can be traced to a ritual economy involving large gatherings of people, terraforming, feasting, and the circulation of socially valued goods. To the extent that religious practices buffered the risks of coastal living, large civic-ceremonial centers, like aggrading marshes, afforded opportunities to “outpace” sea-level rise. On the other hand, centers introduced a permanence to coastal land-use that proved unsustainable in the long term.
A marked resurgence in the use of petrography to answer archaeological questions has resulted in ... more A marked resurgence in the use of petrography to answer archaeological questions has resulted in the formation of Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas (CPA), a group that seeks to promote, discuss, and develop ceramic petrography in archaeology. While CPA members physically reside in the Americas, our research spans the globe both temporally and geographically as illustrated by the posters to be presented. The goal of this session is to provide a venue for the discussion and advancement of ceramic petrography and other characterization techniques among petrographers of all skill levels. In this session, ceramic petrography is used in a variety of archaeological cases to investigate social processes (i.e., cultural continuity, identity, migration, and mortuary behavior) by drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data related to raw material selection, ceramic technology, and provenance, as well as highlight additional sourcing techniques (e.g., SEM, EDX, XRF, and INAA) and tools (i.e., digital image analysis, ethnographic interviews, and experimental archaeology) currently used by petrographers.
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Books by Neill Wallis
Papers by Neill Wallis