Large accumulations of ancient shells on coastlines and riverbanks
were long considered the result of garbage disposal during repeated
food gatherings by early inhabitants of the southeastern United
States. In this volume, Asa R. Randall presents the first new
theoretical framework for examining such middens since Ripley
Bullen's seminal work sixty years ago. He convincingly posits that
these ancient "garbage dumps" were actually burial mounds,
ceremonial gathering places, and often habitation spaces central to
the histories and social geography of the hunter-gatherer societies
who built them. Synthesizing more than 150 years of shell mound
investigations and modern remote sensing data, Randall rejects the
long-standing ecological interpretation and redefines these sites
as socially significant monuments that reveal previously unknown
complexities about the hunter-gatherer societies of the Mount
Taylor period (ca.7400-4600 cal. B.P.). Affected by climate change
and increased scales of social interaction, the region's
inhabitants modified the landscape in surprising and meaningful
ways. This pioneering volume presents an alternate history from
which emerge rich details about the daily activities, ceremonies,
and burial rituals of the archaic St. Johns River cultures.
General
Imprint: |
University Press of Florida
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series |
Release date: |
September 2015 |
Authors: |
Asa R. Randall
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156 x 18mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
320 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8130-6101-6 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
Archaeology >
Environmental archaeology
|
LSN: |
0-8130-6101-6 |
Barcode: |
9780813061016 |
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