THE WEEDEN ISLAND CERAMIC COMPLEX: AN ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTION » By Karl T. Steinen A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1976 Copyright 1976 By Karl T. Steinen DEDICATED TO: Nancy Sears Steinen TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract vi Introduction 1 Chapter I: Cultural Evolution in the Southeast to Weeden Island 4 Paleo Indian 4 Archaic 5 Formative 5 Sacred and Secular 9 Sacred Development :Yent, Green Point and Weeden Island 11 Kolomoki, Early County, Georgia 16 Midden 19 Mounds 2 Chapter II Ceramic Analysis and Sacred and Secular Distribution. 27 Three Series 33 Secular Ceramic Analysis 34 Weeden Island Distribution: Sacred.... 65 Data Presentation 71 Northwest Coast and Inland Pottery Deposit Types 72 Western Panhandle 73 Central Panhandle 74 Three Rivers 7 8 Eastern Panhandle 80 Chattahoochee River 8 2 Peninsular Coast 83 Northcentral Florida 8 5 Miscellaneous Sites 86 Discussion 87 A Definition of Weeden Island 88 Chapter III Hypothesis and Tests 103 The Northwest Florida Coast and Adjacent Areas of Alabama and Georgia 105 Weeden Island Genesis 105 Weeden Island Origins 110 Chronology and Temporal Placement .... 114 '. Chapter IV Some Suggestions for Future Weeden . Island Research 150 Problem I : Secular Ceramics 150 Problem II : Sacred Ceramics 153 Problem III: Complicated Stamped Pottery.. 154 Problem IV 154 iv Chapter IV continued Problem V: Excavations 157 Problem VI: Cultural Relationships .. 157 Problem VI : Sacred Ceramics and Mounds 158 Chapter V Summary. 161 Appendix A Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: Western Panhandle Area 168 Appendix B Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: Central Panhandle Area 199 Appendix C Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: Peninsular Coast Area 23Q Appendix D Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: Eastern Panhandle Area 251 Appendix E Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: North Central Florida Area 260 Appendix F Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: 3 Rivers Area 266 Appendix G Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: Chattahoochee River Area 2 92 Appendix H Tabular Presentation of Numerical Data: Alabama River Area. 321 Bibliography 3 30 Biographical Sketch 343 v Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy THE WEEDEN ISLAND CERAMIC COMPLEX: AN ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTION By Karl T. Steinen December, 1976 Chairman: Jerald T. Milanich Major Department: Anthropology The Weeden Island ceramic complex is examined in an attempt to define origins and cultural dynamics of this widespread but little understood southeastern archaeo- logical phenomena. Based on the analysis, a new defin- ition of Weeden Island is presented and a series of hypo- theses concerning origins, development and social structure are tested. Finally, a series of research problems are formulated and a set of suggested methods for their testing are presented. The analysis of secular ceramics focuses on the Weeden Island, check stamped, and complicated stamped series in- de- fined geographic areas. This analysis shows that with the exception of peninsular Florida, there is not a great amount of observable difference in the distribution of the three vx series within the Weeden Island region. The analysis of sacred ceramics examins vessels from selected mounds. Due to the un-systematic discarding of plain and check stamped vessels by C.B. Moore, no meaningful cluster analysis or presence/absence analysis could be conducted on this material. Several patterns are apparent from the analysis of the ceramic data: (1) the east side pottery deposit mounds are found from the Choctowhatchee Bay in the west to the Warrior River in the east, as far north as Early County, Georgia and Pulaski County, Georgia; (2) the heaviest con- centration of mounds is along the Apalachicola River and areas adjacent to its mouth on the Gulf Coast; and, (3) continuous use mounds are known from the Warrior River south to Tampa Bay. The cultures using the Weeden Island series of ceramics are seen as developing in place with heavy influence from the Troyville/Coles Creek cultures of the lower Mississippi Valley. Sacred Weeden Island developed out ot the late Green Point complex on the Northwest Florida coast. Secular Weeden Island developed as a result of the addition of the new ceramic modes of incision and punctation to the already present complicated and check stamped ceamics. In both cases, the addition of the ceramic modes expressed in the Weeden Island series is viewed as evidence of the presence of a new social system based on maize horticulture and a complex form of politico/religious social control. vii The socio/political organization of the Weeden Island cultures is believed to have been a chiefdom similar to the historically known Natchez. A central great chief resided at the Kolomoki site and two subsidiary chiefs resided at the McKeithen and Mitchell sites. There was a central unifying religion, and a system allowing redis- tribution of goods from various physiographic zones, in- cluding the coast, inland river valleys, and inland forrest areas of the coastal plain. Finally, a series of research problems designed to futher our understanding of the Weeden Island phenomena are presented with suggested methods of testing them. The basic orientation of these problems is the improvement of the data base so that complex questions of chronology and cultural dynamics can be asked and answered. vi 11 INTRODUCTION The archaeologically known Weeden Island ceramic series of sand tempered, punctated, incised and red painted pottery was first defined by Gordon R. Willey (1949) in his monu- mental Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast . Since this first definition, archaeologists have recognized the wide distribution of the series within the southeast United States Gulf Coastal Plain. Weeden Island, by definition, is re- cognized by the presence of Weeden Island series ceramic types in a midden or mound context. The Weeden Island region, in turn, is that geographical area in which the Weeden Island ceramic series is found. Weeden Island was a topic of research in archaeology before it was even defined. Clarence B. Moore, a Philadelphian, toured the southeast in his steamboat, "Gopher", during the late 19th and early 2 0th centuries, excavating Weeden Island and other mounds. He single- handedly excavated the great majority of known Weeden Island Mounds from the Chattahoochee River to Tampa Bay and along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Interest in the Weeden Island materials has not waned since Moore departed the Gulf Coast. Jesse W. Fewkes excavated the Weeden Island site on Tampa Bay in 1924 (Fewkes 1924). James Bell excavated a series of mounds containing some Weeden Island ceramics in North-central Florida in 1883. Willey and Richard B. Woodbury (1942) carried out a survey and test program in Northwest Florida. Following this, Sears (1951a, 1951b, 1956, 1957) excavated the Kolomoki site near Blakely, Georgia. The federally sponsored river basin surveys from the late 1940s to the present produced a wealth of information concerning the distrubution of Weeden Island ceramics. In short, the data base for the study of Weeden Island is broad and inclusive. Theoretical interest in Weeden Island has not lagged behind the data collection. William H. Sears has authored a series of papers concerning Weeden Island social, politi- cal and religious organization (Sears 1968, 1973, Ms. a, Ms.b). More recently, Jerald T. Milanich organized a sym- posium on Weeden Island at the 39th annual meetings of the Society for American Archaeology. This symposium served as the forum for presenting several papers which made an effort to re-think the concept of Weeden Island. The purpose of this dissertation is to re-examine the occurrence of the Weeden Island ceramic series in an attempt to analyze recognizable patterns. From this analysis, a definition of Weeden Island is constructed and a series of hypotheses concerning origins, development and social structure are tested. A series of integrated re- search problems are presented with suggested methods of solving them. These are designed to increase the applicability of the data to complex questions of anthro- pological orientation. Chapter I is a summary of cultural developments in the Weeden Island region. CHAPTER I CULTURAL EVOLUTION IN THE SOUTHEAST TO WEEDEN ISLAND To understand both the development and origins of Weeden Island and the complexities of the midden and mound deposits, a rudimentary understanding of cultural evolution in the Southeast is needed. Isolating the Weeden Island ceramic series from its developmental complex does not allow for a full understanding of the complexities of the observable patterns. It is in this light that the following synthesis of southeastern prehistory is presented. Much of what we know of cultural development in the southeast is confined to the interpretations based on cer- amics. Too little has been written on adaptation, eco- logical relationships or settlement patterns. For this reason, the discussion for this chapter will be confined, for the most part, to ceramic development. Pa leo- Indian The earliest occupation of the Gulf Coastal Plain was by Paleo-Indian groups who practiced a nomadic big- game hunting subsistence system, manufactured lanceolate points, and, presumably, had band social structure. Arc haic