New Histories of Village Life at Crystal River (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)

The tension between competition and cooperation has emerged as a major topic of concern in the understanding of human societies. The dynamic is epitomized by societies undergoing the transition to larger and more permanent villages, referred to as “early village” societies. This study describes archaeological research directed toward the understanding of early village formation at the Crystal River and Roberts Island sites in west-central Florida. Crystal River has long recognized as one of the preeminent sites of the Woodland period (ca. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1000) in the American Southeast; Roberts Island has remained comparatively little known. New field investigations, combined with the reanalysis of previous work at the site, permit a fine-grained understanding of the growth and dissolution of early villages at the sites. The understandings that are gained from this case study can be contextualized to contemporaneous societies of the Gulf Coast, and to early village societies elsewhere in the world. The lessons that early villages contribute regarding cooperation and competition, in turn, contribute to contemporary debates regarding: first, individual versus collective action responsible for social welfare; and, second, the human role in and response to environmental change. La 4ème de couverture indique : "This volume explores how native peoples of the Southeastern United States cooperated to form large and permanent early villages using the site of Crystal River on Florida's Gult Coast as a case study. Crystal River was once among the most celebrated sites of the Woodland period (ca. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1050), consisting of ten mounds and large numbers of diverse artifacts from the Hopewell culture. But a lack of research using contemporary methods at this site--and nearby Roberts Island--limited a full understanding of what these sites could tell scholars. Thomas Pluckhahn and Victor Thompson reanalyze previous excavations and conduct new field investigations to tell the whole story of Crystal River from its beginnings as a ceremonial center through its growth into a large village to its decline at the turn of the first millennium while Roberts Island and other nearby areas thrived. Comparing this community to similar sites on the Gulf Coast and in other areas of the world, Pluckhahn ann Thompson argue that Crystal River is an example of an "early vilalge society." They illustrate that these early villages present important evidence in a larger debate regarding the role of competition versus cooperation in the development of human societies." This volume explores how native peoples of the Southeastern United States cooperated to form large and permanent early villages using the site of Crystal River on Florida's Gult Coast as a case study. Crystal River was once among the most celebrated sites of the Woodland period (ca. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1050), consisting of ten mounds and large numbers of diverse artifacts from the Hopewell culture. But a lack of research using contemporary methods at this site--and nearby Roberts Island--limited a full understanding of what these sites could tell scholars. Thomas Pluckhahn and Victor Thompson reanalyze previous excavations and conduct new field investigations to tell the whole story of Crystal River from its beginnings as a ceremonial center through its growth into a large village to its decline at the turn of the first millennium while Roberts Island and other nearby areas thrived. Comparing this community to similar sites on the Gulf Coast and in other areas of the world, Pluckhahn ann Thompson argue that Crystal River is an example of an "early vilalge society." They illustrate that these early villages present important evidence in a larger debate regarding the role of competition versus cooperation in the development of human societies--back cover This volume explores how native peoples of the Southeastern United States cooperated to form large and permanent early villages using the site of Crystal River on Florida's Gulf Coast as a case study. Crystal River was once among the most celebrated sites of the Woodland period (ca. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1050), consisting of ten mounds and large numbers of diverse artifacts from the Hopewell culture. But a lack of research using contemporary methods at this site―and nearby Roberts Island―limited a full understanding of what these sites could tell scholars. Thomas Pluckhahn and Victor Thompson reanalyze previous excavations and conduct new field investigations to tell the whole story of Crystal River from its beginnings as a ceremonial center through its growth into a large village to its decline at the turn of the first millennium while Roberts Island and other nearby areas thrived. Comparing this community to similar sites on the Gulf Coast and in other areas of the world, Pluckhahn and Thompson argue that Crystal River is an example of an "early village society." They illustrate that these early villages present important evidence in a larger debate regarding the role of competition versus cooperation in the development of human societies. Cover NEW HISTORIES OF VILLAGE LIFE AT CRYSTAL RIVER Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 1. Crystal River and the Archaeology of Early Village Societies in the American Southeast (and Beyond) 2. Context 3. A Center Emerges 4. From Vacant Center to Early Village (Phase 1) 5. From Early Village to Regional Center (Phase 2) 6. From Regional Center to Mound-Residential Compound (Phase 3) 7. New Centers Emerge (Phase 4) 8. The Early Village at Crystal River in Broader Perspective Afterword: Why Early Villages Still Matter References Cited Index This book examines the manner in which native peoples of the first millennium in the Southeast US cooperated to form larger and more permanent villages, using the famous archaeological site of Crystal River in west-central Florida as a case study