Domestic Architecture at Letchworth (8JE337) and Other Woodland Period Ceremonial Centers in the Gulf Coastal Plain

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Martin Menz
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Domestic Architecture ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
The Past ◽  
Region I ◽  
Northwest Florida

Architectural remains, especially domestic architecture, are essential for understanding the ways in which households organized themselves socially and economically in the past. Unfortunately, these remains are infrequently identified from Woodland period (1000 BC–AD 1000) archaeological sites along the Gulf Coast, an area home to well-known ceramic and mortuary traditions during this time. As a result, our knowledge of Woodland period households in the region is scant. In this article I present a newly discovered house from Letchworth (8JE337), a large Woodland period ceremonial center in northwest Florida, and compare it to the few published examples of houses from this region. I show that domestic architecture along the Gulf Coast during the Woodland period is diverse, suggesting differences in the organization of households and the historical development of ceremonial centers.

Microgastropod population changes from the early Cretaceous to the Recent in the Gulf Coastal Plain of the USA

Zoosymposia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 295-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER L. GARVIE
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Paleoenvironmental Changes ◽  
Late Neogene ◽  
Feeding Type ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Relative Abundances

A collection of over 150,000 molluscs from the Cretaceous through Recent of the Gulf Coast is analyzed to determine major changes in the abundances, diversities, and taxonomic compositions of microgastropods with a size limit of 5 mm. Five major microgastropod groups are recognized based on the relative abundances of high-order taxa of superfamilial rank and feeding types. First, an early Cretaceous assemblage dominated by Turritella, Nerinea and Nerita. Second, a Campanian Trochoidea-dominated deposit and herbivore feeding type assemblage. Third, a Maestrichtian Philinoideadominated carnivore-feeding type assemblage. Fourth, a Paleogene assemblage that is increasingly dominated by carnivores that continues until the end of the Oligocene. Fifth, a more evenly distributed late Neogene assemblage with less dominance by any feeding type. The decline of Trochoidea dominance is closely associated with the ocean thermal minimum at the beginning of the Maestrichtian. The drop in relative microgastropods abundance in the early Paleocene likely refl ects paleoenvironmental changes following the KT boundary event. The changes in composition of the carnivoredominated microgastropod populations in the Oligocene and Miocene appears similarly coeval with the ocean minimum at the end of the Oligocene. This study reveals that the relative abundances and composition of microgastropods are much more sensitive to drops in temperature than for the larger gastropods, and that these temperature drops could be a major contributing factor in the evolution of Gulf Coast microgastropod biotas.

Late-Quaternary Vegetational Dynamics and Community Stability Reconsidered

1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Delcourt ◽  
Hazel R. Delcourt
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Dynamic Equilibrium ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Community Stability ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
The Past ◽  
Degree Of Stability

AbstractDefining the spatial and temporal limits of vegetational processes such as migration and invasion of established communities is a prerequisite to evaluating the degree of stability in plant communities through the late Quaternary. The interpretation of changes in boundaries of major vegetation types over the past 20,000 yr offers a complementary view to that provided by migration maps for particular plant taxa. North of approximately 43°N in eastern North America, continual vegetational disequilibrium has resulted from climatic change, soil development, and species migrations during postglacial times. Between 33° and 39°N, stable full-glacial vegetation was replaced by a relatively unstable vegetation during late-glacial climatic amelioration; stable interglacial vegetation developed there after about 9000 yr B.P. Late-Quaternary vegetation has been in dynamic equilibrium, with a relatively constant flora, south of 33°N on upland interfluves along the northern Gulf Coastal Plain, peninsular Florida, and west-central Mexico.

A LOOK INTO THE EARTH: EVALUATING THE USE OF MAGNETIC SURVEY IN AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Magnavita ◽  
Norbert Schleifer
Keyword(s):  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Magnetic Survey ◽  
The Past ◽  
Common Technique ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Prehistoric Settlements ◽  
Present Case Study

In the last decades, geophysical methods such as magnetic survey have become a common technique for prospecting archaeological sites. At sub-Saharan archaeological sites, however, magnetic survey and correlated techniques never came into broad use and there are no signs for an immediate change of this situation. This paper examines the magnetic survey undertaken on the Nigerian site of Zilum, a settlement of the Gajiganna Culture (ca 1800-400 BC) located in the Chad Basin and dated to ca 600-400 BC. By means of the present case study, we demonstrate the significance of this particular type of investigation in yielding complementary data for understanding the character of prehistoric settlements. In conclusion, we point out that geophysical methods should play a more important role in modern archaeological field research, as they furnish a class of documentation not achievable by traditional survey and excavation methods, thus creating new perspectives for interpreting the past of African societies.

Allometry and Paleoecology of Medial Miocene Dwarf Rhinoceroses from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain

Paleobiology ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. Prothero ◽  
Paul C. Sereno
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Canine Tooth ◽  
Positive Allometry ◽  
Mammalian Faunas ◽  
The Common ◽  
Limb Proportions

Barstovian (medial Miocene) mammalian faunas from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain contained four apparently sympatric species of rhinoceroses: the common forms Aphelops megalodus and Teleoceras medicornutus, a dwarf Teleoceras, and a dwarf Peraceras. Previous work has suggested positive allometry in tooth area with respect to body size in several groups of mammals, i.e., larger mammals have relatively more tooth area. However, dwarfing lineages were shown to have relatively more tooth area for their body size. Our data show no significant allometry in post-canine tooth area of either artiodactyls or ceratomorphs. Similarly, dwarf rhinoceroses and hippopotami show no more tooth area than would be predicted for their size. Limbs are proportionately longer and more robust in larger living ceratomorphs (rhinos and tapirs) than predicted by previous authors. Limb proportions of both dwarf rhinoceroses and dwarf hippopotami are even more robust than in their living relatives.The high rhinoceros diversity reflects the overall high diversity of Barstovian faunas from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain. The first appearance of several High Plains mammals in these faunas indicates “ecotone”-like conditions as faunal composition changed. Study of living continental dwarfs shows that there is commonly an ecological separation between browsing forest dwarfs and their larger forebears, which are frequently savannah grazers. This suggests that the dwarf rhinoceroses might have been forest browsers which were sympatric with the larger grazing rhinos of the High Plains during the Barstovian invasion. The continental dwarf model also suggests that insular dwarfism may be explained by the browsing food resources that predominate on islands.

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