The Manasota culture was an

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 ...

that was practiced on the central

Gulf coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

of the

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 ...

peninsula from about 500

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

until about 900, when it developed into the

Safety Harbor culture The Safety Harbor culture was an archaeological culture practiced by Native Americans living on the central Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula, from about 900 CE until after 1700. The Safety Harbor culture is defined by the presence of Safety H ...

. From about 300 to 700 the Manasota culture adopted the ceremonial ceramics and burial practices of the

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 ...

s of northern Florida and adjacent

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and

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 ...

. The Manasota culture was defined by archaeologists George Luer and Marion Almy in 1979. Their definition partially replaced an earlier definition of a Perico Island tradition or culture, which failed to hold up under later research. Luer and Almy identify 25 archaeological sites around

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

and between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor as belonging to the Manasota culture. The Manasota culture incorporated ceremonial burial practices of the Weeden Island cultures starting around 300 until 700. Weeden Island sacred ceramics were first described at the

Weedon Island The Weedon Island Preserve is a 3,190 acre natural area situated along the western shore of Tampa Bay, and located on 1800 Weedon Drive NE. St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is predominately an estuarine preserve composed of upland and a ...

site in

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...

. Generally speaking, the Manasota culture pottery was limited to sand-tempered, undecorated ceramics. The Weedon Island site was part of the Weeden Island-related late Manasota culture. Archaeologists now recognize that the Weedon Island site is well outside the heartland of the Weeden Island culture, and that the Manasota culture developed around 500 BCE, 700 years before the development of the Weeden Island sacred complex. The secular component of the Manasota culture had no connection with the secular components of heartland Weeden Island cultures.

Citations

References

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External links

* * *{{cite web , title=Manasota - The Culture of Yat Kitischee , url=http://www.co.pinellas.fl.us/bcc/yatki/manasota.htm , access-date=3 January 2015 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051738/http://www.co.pinellas.fl.us/BCC/yatki/manasota.htm , archive-date=4 March 2016 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 Pre-statehood history of Florida