The Alachua culture is a Late
Woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
Southeast period
archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...
in north-central
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, dating from around 600 to 1700. It is found in an area roughly corresponding to present-day
Alachua County, the northern half of
Marion County and the western part of
Putnam County. It was preceded by the
Cades Pond culture
The Cades Pond culture is defined as a Middle Woodland Southeast period archaeological culture in north-central Florida, dating from around 100 to 600 CE.
Location
The Cades Pond culture is found in an area roughly corresponding to present-day ...
, which inhabited approximately the same area.
Origin
The
archeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...
Jerald Milanich suggests that the people of the Alachua culture were immigrants from what is now
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Early Alachua culture
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
resembled that of the
Ocmulgee culture found along the
Ocmulgee River
The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha. . In this scenario, the Ocmulgee immigrants were either already practicing agriculture or adopted it shortly after arriving, and settled in upland areas suitable for agriculture. These areas had been little used by the Cades Pond people, who had occupied areas in wetlands. The Cades Pond culture disappeared soon after the appearance of the Alachua culture. Other archaeologists have suggested that the distinctive Alachua pottery types developed in situ, and even that the resemblance between Ocmulgee and Alachua pottery resulted from a migration from the Alachua area to the Ocmulgee area. Archaeologists also note the close resemblance between Alachua culture and neighboring
Suwannee Valley culture pottery, which appears to have developed in situ out of the
McKeithen Weeden Island culture
The Weeden Island Cultures are a group of related archaeological cultures that existed during the Late Woodland period of the North American Southeast. The name for this group of cultures was derived from the Weedon Island site (despite the diss ...
.
Periods
The
precolumbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, t ...
part of the Alachua culture period has been divided into the Hickory Pond period (600 to 1250) and the Alachua period (1250-1539). At the time of first contact with
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
explorers, the Alachua culture area was occupied by the historical
Potano
The Potano (also Potanou or Potavou) tribe lived in north-central Florida at the time of first European contact. Their territory included what is now Alachua County, the northern half of Marion County and the western part of Putnam County. This ...
Indians, a branch of the
Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The v ...
. They spoke the Potano dialect of the
Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua peoples. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish colonization in Florida. Differences among the ...
.
The sub-periods in the Alachua culture period are defined by the relative prevalence of different
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
types. The most common type of pottery during the Hickory Pond period was the Prairie Cord Marked style. The Alachua Cob Marked style became more prevalent in the Alachua sub-period. Other styles of pottery occurred throughout the Alachua culture period.
The period after 1539 was characterized by the introduction of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an artifacts and of pottery styles from other cultures. The Potano II period was marked by the almost complete replacement of traditional pottery styles by
Leon-Jefferson pottery styles (associated with the
Apalachee
The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,B ...
). This suggests that the depopulated Potano Province was repopulated from
Apalachee Province
Apalachee Province was the area in the Panhandle of the present-day U.S. state of Florida inhabited by the Native American peoples known as the Apalachee at the time of European contact. The southernmost extent of the Mississippian culture, th ...
, but no evidence of such a population movement has been found in Spanish documents. Stone and bone tools show little variation over the course of the period.
Sites
The Alachua-culture people occupied
hardwood hammocks, with village sites on high ground, near streams or
sinkhole
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s. The village sites are often in clusters, which may have resulted from periodic relocation of a village in a small area. The village clusters tend to fall along lines, which may represent the lines of the hammocks, or the paths of trails. Archaeological sites associated with the Alachua culture include the Richardson (
8AL100)Site, currently believed to have been the site of the town of
Potano
The Potano (also Potanou or Potavou) tribe lived in north-central Florida at the time of first European contact. Their territory included what is now Alachua County, the northern half of Marion County and the western part of Putnam County. This ...
visited by
Hernando de Soto in 1539, as well as the later mission of San Buenaventura de Potano. Other Alachua culture sites include Bolen Bluff, Fox Pond, Henderson Mound, Law School Mound, Rocky Point and Woodward Mound and Village.
Subsistence
The presence of Cob Marked pottery throughout the period indicates that the people of the Alachua culture grew
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
.
Middens contain few fresh water shells, and a smaller number of animal species, compared to Cades Pond middens. This may indicate a reduction in hunting and gathering as food sources, compared to the preceding Cades Pond culture.
[Milanich 1994: 335] A more detailed analysis of the food resources used by the Alachua culture people has not been made. Burial
mound
A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...
s are found in the area, but have not been extensively excavated. Storage pits and indications of other structures, including a circular house at one site, have been found in villages.
See also
*
List of Native American peoples in the United States
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
Notes
References
*
*Milanich, Jerald T. (1995). ''Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe''. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
*Milanich, Jerald T. (1998). ''Florida's Indians from Ancient Times to the Present.'' Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alachua Culture
Post-Archaic period in North America
Formative period in the Americas
Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands
Archaeological cultures of North America
Pre-Columbian cultures
Native American history of Florida
Archaeological sites in Florida
Former Native American populated places in the United States
6th-century establishments in North America
17th-century disestablishments in North America