"Apalachicola Valley Archaeology is a major holistic synthesis of the archaeological record and what is known or speculated about the ancient Apalachicola and lower Chattahoochee Valley region of northwest Florida, southeast Alabama, and southwest Georgia. Volume 1 coverage spans from the time of the first human settlement, around 14,000 years ago, to the Middle Woodland period, ending about AD 700. Author Nancy Marie White had devoted her career to this archaeologically neglected region, and she notes that it is environmentally and culturally different from better-known regions nearby. Early chapters relate the individual ecosystems and the types of typical and unusual material culture, including stone, ceramic, bone, shell, soils, and plants. Other chapters are devoted to the archaeological Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland periods. Topics include migration/settlement, sites, artifacts and material culture, subsistence and lifeways, culture and society, economics, warfare, and rituals. White's prodigious work reveals that Paleoindian habitation was more extensive than once assumed. Archaic sites were widespread, and those societies persisted through the first global warming when the Ice Age ended. Besides new stone technologies, pottery appeared in the Late Archaic period. Extensive inland and coastal settlement is documented. Development of elaborate religious or ritual systems is suggested by Early Woodland times when the first burial mounds appear. Succeeding Middle Woodland societies expanded this mortuary ceremony in about forty mounds. In the Middle Woodland, the complex pottery of the concurrent Swift Creek and the early Weeden Island ceramic series as well as the imported exotic objects show an increased fascination with the ornate and unusual. Native American lifeways continued with gathering-fishing-hunting subsistence systems similar to those of their ancestors. The usefulness of the information to modern society to understand human impacts on environments and vice versa caps the volume"--

Synthesizes the archaeology of the Apalachicola-lower Chattahoochee Valley region of northwest Florida, southeast Alabama, and southwest Georgia, from 1,300 years ago to recent times

In the Apalachicola River Valley, outdoor adventure is a way of life. It's a culture of fishing, hunting and everything in between, but this culture is fading as overdevelopment upstream dries up the region's natural resources. These narratives are part of an effort to capture the memories and keep those traditions alive. The quirky stories include calling a gator to a creek bank, exploring the origin of "Polehenge" and understanding just what makes Catawba worms so special. Learn the basics of frog gigging and ponder how many fish make a "mess." Author and Florida native Jim McClellan revives local stories from the banks of the Big River and preserves the allure of this fading swamp paradise.

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area in prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.

Presenting the best current archaeological scholarship on the American Civil War, From These Honored Dead shows how historical archaeology can uncover the facts beneath the many myths and conflicting memories of the war that have been passed down through generations. By incorporating the results of archaeological investigations, the essays in this volume shed new light on many aspects of the Civil War. Topics include soldier life in camp and on the battlefield, defense mechanisms such as earthworks construction, the role of animals during military operations, and a refreshing focus on the conflict in the Trans-Mississippi West. Supplying a range of methods and exciting conclusions, this book displays the power of archaeology in interpreting this devastating period in U.S. history.

From approximately AD 900 to 1600, ancient Mississippian culture dominated today’s southeastern United States. These Native American societies, known more popularly as moundbuilders, had populations that numbered in the thousands, produced vast surpluses of food, engaged in longdistance trading, and were ruled by powerful leaders who raised large armies. Mississippian chiefdoms built fortified towns with massive earthen structures used as astrological monuments and burial grounds. The remnants of these cities—scattered throughout the Southeast from Florida north to Wisconsin and as far west as Texas—are still visible and awe-inspiring today. This heavily illustrated guide brings these settlements to life with maps, artists’ reconstructions, photos of artifacts, and historic and modern photos of sites, connecting our archaeological knowledge with what is visible when visiting the sites today. Anthropologist Eric E. Bowne discusses specific structures at each location and highlights noteworthy museums, artifacts, and cultural features. He also provides an introduction to Mississippian culture, offering background on subsistence and settlement practices, political and social organization, warfare, and belief systems that will help readers better understand these complex and remarkable places. Sites include Cahokia, Moundville, Etowah, and many more.

The Chattahoochee River has dramatically shaped the heritage of the lower Chattahoochee Valley of east and southeast Alabama and west and southwest Georgia. As the region's dominant geographic feature, the Chattahoochee has served residents of the area as an engine for commerce and as an important transportation route for centuries. It has also been a natural and recreational resource, as well as an inspiration for creativity. From the stream's role as one of the South's busiest trade routes to the dynamic array of water-powered industry it made possible, the river has been at the very center of the forces that have shaped the unique character of the area. A vital part of the community's past, present, and future, it binds the Chattahoochee Valley together as a distinctive region. Through a variety of images, including historic photographs, postcards, and artwork, this book illustrates the importance of the Chattahoochee River to the region it has helped sustain.

The Presented Past is concerned with the differences between the comparatively static, well-understood way in which the past is presented in schools, museums and at historic sites compared to the approaches currently being explored in contemporary archaeology. It challenges the all-too-frequent representation of the past as something finished, understood and objective, rather than something that is `constructed' and therefore open to co-existing interpretations and constant re-interpretation. Central to the book is the belief that the presentation of the past in school curricula and in museum and site interpretations will benefit from a greater use of non-documentary sources derived from archaeological study and oral histories. The book suggests that a view of the past incorporating a larger body of evidence and a wider variety of understanding will help to invigorate the way history is taught. The Presented Past will be of interest to teachers, archaeologists, cultural resource managers, in fact anyone who is concerned with how the past is presented.

First published in 1996. In recent years there has been a general increase of scholarly and popular interest in the study of ancient civilizations. Yet, because archaeologists and other scholars tend to approach their study of ancient peoples and places almost exclusively from their own disciplinary perspectives, there has long been a lack of general bibliographic and other research resources available for the non-specialist. This series is intended to fill that need.

This book sweeps away the last vestiges of social-evolutionary explanations of 'chiefdoms' by rethinking the history of Pre-Columbian Southeast peoples and comparing them to ancient peoples in the Southwest, Mexico, Mesoamerica, and Mesopotamia.