Lithic debitage was recovered from archaeological salvage excavations from an intact organic anaerobic deposit that was uncovered during the replacement of a retaining wall along the northeastern shore of Salt Springs in the Ocala National Forest, Florida. Radiocarbon dating from this organic deposit has yielded dates from 5450-4407 cal. B.P. placing this deposit within the Mt. Taylor period. Two different techniques of analysis have developed to review lithic debitage – Individual Flake Analysis and Aggregate Analysis and were used to differentiate core reduction from tool production during the Mt. Taylor occupations at the Salt Springs site (8MR2322). This combination of lithic debitage analysis techniques has been applied to lithic debitage recovered during excavations. Along with the other recovered lithics, faunal, botanical, the lithic debitage demonstrated that the site was used to produce and retouch tools, suggesting seasonally short-term occupations during the Mt. Taylor period. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester, 2011. / April 25, 2011. / Lithics, Salt Springs, Archaeology, Mt. Taylor / Includes bibliographical references. / Rochelle A. Marrinan, Professor Directing Thesis; Glen H. Doran, Committee Member; Lynne A. Schepartz, Committee Member; Michael A. Russo, Committee Member.

My research focuses on the Maya (Masewal) peasants of Cayo, Belize in the villages of Bullet Tree Falls and Santa Familia. The principle aim of this thesis is to examine the livelihood strategies of the farmers within a context of social value. Values underlie social action and their expression in daily activities provides a means for the analysis of culture. Informed by this perspective, this ethnography examines issues of identity, time, land and economics in order to understand how different farmers construct a livelihood based on their internal constellation of values. This analysis incorporates both a symbolic and materialist perspective in order to provide a more holistic representation of culture. I argue that cultivation processes that Maya peasants employ in order to make a living are shaped by their cultural conception of the relationship between humans and nature. Understanding how this interaction occurs in daily life provides a glimpse of how Maya peasants enact their vision of the "good life." / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 28, 2005. / Maya, Horticulture / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Uzendoski, Professor Directing Thesis; Bruce Grindal, Committee Member; Daniel Klooster, Committee Member.

For over fifty years, archaeological research has been conducted across north Florida in an attempt to locate and identify securely the Spanish Franciscan missions established in the area from St. Augustine to Tallahassee between 1587 and 1704. A recent focus has been on the missions of Apalachee Province, located in northwest Florida, between the Aucilla and Ocklockonee rivers, especially on the activities at frontier missions, like San Pedro y San Paolo de Patale, as opposed to the better known Mission San Luis de Talimali. Two sites are thought to be associated with the Patale missions - 8LE152, the Patale site, and 8LE157, the O'Connell Mission site. It is presumed from previous research that the O'Connell site represents a later location of the Patale mission, possibly its last site and the one destroyed by Creek raiders in 1704. The positive identification of the O'Connell Mission site as a Patale location, however, has not been made. During the FSU Field School season of 1999 at the O'Connell site, Feature 118, a borrow pit with abundant aboriginal potsherds identified and excavated near the presumed convento. This feature provided an opportunity to study the native pottery during the later period of mission occupation (ca. 1690 - 1704). As a result of the subsequent analysis, which involved extensive vessel reconstruction, three new ceramic types and fifteen new varieties are proposed for the existing Jefferson Series of mission period pottery. A division of Jefferson Plain rims into eleven types, based on methods of construction and decoration, is also proposed. I conclude, from ceramic design elements, that the O'Connell Mission site was home to a small population of mixed Apalachee, Timucua and possibly Oconee people, under stress during the unsettled times which resulted from the Creek slave raids on the mission populations after 1680. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial FulfiLlment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2006. / April 20, 2006. / O'Connell Site (8LE 157), Apalachee Mission Ceramics, O'Connell Incised / Includes bibliographical references. / Rochelle A. Marrinan, Professor Directing Thesis; Glen H. Doran, Committee Member; Michael A. Uzendoski, Committee Member.

This thesis presents a detailed analysis of a St. Johns II (A.D. 900-1250) ceramic assemblage recovered from the Shields site in extreme northeastern Florida. The ceramic assemblage was recovered from activity areas immediately north and northwest of the Shields burial mound (8DU12). The study collection is comprised of two pottery types: the St. Johns and Ocmulgee III series. St. Johns ceramics represent the local tradition and Ocmulgee pottery was originally produced in south-central Georgia near the confluences of the Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Altamaha rivers. This mixed assemblage offers the opportunity to explore the maintenance of pottery traditions (i.e., paste construction, formal and stylistic characteristics). The study also examines the possible roles of pottery at this ritual/ceremonial site as well as the roles of St. Johns and Ocmulgee women potters who, through the steadfast recreation of traditional pottery vessels, reinforced and reproduced cultural identity while engaging in long distance and long-term interaction. The construction of traditional vessels was not a fragile concept to the women of this area, for, through 350 years of exchange, trade, probable intermarriage, and alliance, distinct pottery traditions persisted. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2004. / December 18, 2003. / Shields Mound, St. John Culture, Pottery / Includes bibliographical references. / Rochelle Marrinan, Professor Directing Thesis; Rebecca A. Saunders, Committee Member; Glen Doran, Committee Member.

In this dissertation, I evaluate the socio-political and economic changes during the transition from the Late Copper Age to the Early Bronze Age in South Moravia (Czech Republic). This part of prehistory has been envisioned as a period of intensification of the metal economy and long-distance exchange that led to a rise of social inequality and the centralization of power. To assess this model, I explore two main processes: 1) changes in vertical social differences; and 2) changes in gender relations. I approach the two processes primarily from the perspective of mortuary analysis and formulate three main research hypotheses: 1) vertical social differences became more institutionalized over time; 2) institutionalization of vertical social differences primarily followed the "big man strategy"; and 3) gender inequality decreased over time. For each of the three hypotheses I specify series of expectations for patterns in the archaeological record. This research is designed to take advantage of multiple lines of evidence that can be divided into four main tiers. First, I investigate two large Late Copper Age and two large Early Bronze Age cemeteries in detail. Second, I compare the general Late Copper Age and Early Bronze Age samples, which consist of a total of 429 burials. Third, I investigate the differences between Early Bronze Age burials in settlement pits (n=70) and cemeteries (n=125). Fourth, I explore the distribution of hoards and hilltop settlements and the size of all the settlements to evaluate population parameters. The institutionalization of vertical social differences was limited because only a few lines of evidence support the hypothesis. On one hand, the mortuary treatment of children and individuals who were buried in settlement pits supports the institutionalization of vertical social differences. On the other hand, spatial distribution of burials, differences among females and among males, secondary mortuary practices, individuality of leaders, and the nature of features in settlements do not support this hypothesis. The strategies of ambitious individuals tended towards the big man model rather than the great man model. The presence of large quantities of metal in burials and hoards suggests that the manipulation of exchange, rather than spiritual activities and warfare provided the means for aggrandizers to raise above others. Gender inequality decreased over time. Male-specific forms of body treatment, artifacts, and grave characteristics diminished over time, while female funerals became elaborate. I argue that the elaboration of female burials in the Early Bronze Age is unlikely to reflect their husbands' status only but is an indicator of the status of females themselves. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2007. / March 19, 2007. / Mortuary studies Gender, Central Europe, Social inequality / Includes bibliographical references. / William A. Parkinson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Daniel J. Pullen, Outside Committee Member; Clarence C. Gravlee, Committee Member; Joseph R. Hellweg, Committee Member; Lynne A. Schepartz, Committee Member.

This thesis presents the results of a regional cave survey in the San Francisco Hills near the lowland Maya site of Cancuén, Petén, Guatemala. The survey was a component of the Cancuén Archaeology Project directed by Dr. Arthur Demarest of Vanderbilt University. The project investigated eleven caves through a combination of surface collection and excavation. The study was divided into North and South regions reflecting the natural landscape. The North Area is comprised of tall, tower-like hills that contain the caves Hix Pec, Cueva de las Tinajas, China Ochoch, Ventana Maya, Torre Quib, and Torre Hun. The South Area is defined as a low, hilly region that is naturally separated from the large hills to the north by a swampy area. The caves investigated in the south region include Saber, CHOC-05, Ocox, and Cabeza de Tepezquintle. The analysis of recovered artifacts used a gift-giving economic framework to place cave ritual in the context of social theory. The ceramics revealed that the caves were utilized by highland and lowland Maya populations from the Middle Preclassic through the Late Classic periods. The heaviest utilization occurred during the Early Classic period, but no substantial Early Classic period populations are known in the Cancuén region. I use the works of Mauss (2000), Weiner (1992), and Levi-Strauss (1969), to argue that the Maya economy was largely dependant on obligatory ritual gift-giving transactions with supernatural beings that inhabited caves. The gods required the Maya to perform rituals continually in exchange for the gift of the world. I use the principle of mimesis, or mimicry, to explain how the physical objects left in caves were transformed into offerings to the supernatural realm through their destruction. Offerings to the prehistoric equivalent of the modern Earth Lord were the most vital transactions for the success of the ancient Maya economy because his permission must be granted to harvest the resources necessary for production, such as stone, wood, and food. Activities associated with gift-giving, such as ancestor worship and pilgrimage, resulted in the development of social relations between the ritual participants. Today, the caves continue to be imbued with sacred power for many communities in the surrounding region. The continual ritual utilization of these caves adds to the life histories of those places. This thesis is an attempt to understand a part of that history. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2006. / May 8, 2006. / Ritual Economy, Social Organization, Pilgrimage, Economic Anthropology, Ritual, Archaeology, Caves, Guatemala, Speleoarchaeology, Popol Vuh, Ethnography, Reciprocity, Maya Deities, Earth Lord, Ancestor Worship, Ancient Maya, Symbolic Anthropology, Mimesis, Gift-Giving, Cave Ritual / Includes bibliographical references. / Mary Pohl, Professor Directing Thesis; J. Kathryn Josserand, Committee Member; Michael Uzendoski, Committee Member.

Between 1968 and 1972, B. Calvin Jones, an archaeologist for the State of Florida, Division of Archives, History and Records Management, discovered and investigated site 8JE106, which he identified as the site of the seventeenth century Spanish Mission San Miguel de Asile. This mission was one in a chain that stretched from St. Augustine into the Panhandle of Florida. Site 8JE106 is located just to the west of the Aucilla River in Lamont, Florida. Based on historical documentation, the Aucilla River is considered to be the traditional dividing line between Timucua and Apalachee Indian Provinces in northern Florida, with Apalachee to the west and Timucua to the east. Historical documentation also suggests that San Miguel de Asile was a Timucuan mission. If the Aucilla River were the dividing line for the Apalachee and Timucuan provinces, one would expect that a Timucuan San Miguel de Asile would be located on the eastern side of the Aucilla River. This idea is contradictory to Jones' assumptions. This thesis indicates that while the presence of a Spanish mission site can be confirmed at 8JE106, archaeological and documentary evidence suggests that the mission present at the site was not San Miguel de Asile. This study consists of a systematic analysis of the artifacts Jones recovered from 8JE106 between 1968 and 1972. This analysis was undertaken to gain additional information about the site and its inhabitants, both aboriginal and European. Documentary evidence was used to address mission location and identity. Jones' site excavation maps, field notes and photographic documentation were used to analyze the archaeology Jones performed at the site. This data recovered from 8JE106 have never been formally analyzed for the benefit of researchers. The collections have remained untouched for over 30 years, while researchers have argued the sites' cultural and mission identity. Piecing together information from the excavation record has at times been difficult, but it is encouraging to show that a researcher can take artifacts that were excavated over 30 years ago and offer new information that is beneficial to a topic of such significance. These data, and historical documentation, lead to several conclusions. The archaeological site 8JE106 is not the location of the seventeenth-century Timucuan mission of San Miguel de Asile. Ceramic collections from 8JE106 suggest an Apalachee affiliation for the site. Available historical information suggests that 8JE106 might be a location for the Apalachee mission San Lorenzo de Ivitachuco. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2006. / November 7, 2006. / San Miguel de Asile, Anthropology, Archaeology, Spanish Missions / Includes bibliographical references. / Rochelle Marrinan, Professor Directing Thesis; Glen Doran, Committee Member; Bruce Grindal, Committee Member.

The examination of skeletal material in the archaeological record provides information as to the lifestyles of past populations. The analysis of skeletal fractures allows inferences to be made concerning the level of conflict, the types and rates of traumatic injury sustained, and the knowledge and application of care and treatment within a population. The skeletal remains from Windover (8BR246) provide a rare glimpse into the lifestyle of the people of Florida's Archaic period. Dated to over 7,000 BP, the exceptional preservation and broad population profile allow a detailed analysis of some of the earliest remains from North America. This research documents the presence, location, and frequency of skeletal fractures, which provide a mechanism for examining the lifestyle of people living in eastern central Florida, several millennia prior to European contact. What this research shows is a population lacking evidence for frequent conflict, a population exhibiting average accident potentials of adults and low accident potentials of sub-adults, a homogeneous pattern of traumatic injury, and a low occurrence of sub-adult trauma. The high frequency of well aligned, well healed fractures indicate the people of Windover had some knowledge of treatment of injuries and provided care and attention to those sustaining skeletal fractures. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2003. / July 7, 2003. / Knowledge Of Treatment, Skeletal Fractures / Includes bibliographical references. / Glen H. Doran, Professor Directing Thesis; Rochelle A. Marrinan, Committee Member; Michael W. Warren, Committee Member.

This thesis introduces the reader to two Maya theater groups who reside and work in the highland town of San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. What follows is an analysis of how indigenous theater, in the context of these two groups, addresses contemporary social issues, reinterprets history, and is used to invent new cultural traditions. One theater group, called FOMMA, is an all-female theater group who performs works regarding social problems that affect women in highland Maya communities. These problems include domestic abuse, alcoholism, an absence of pre-natal care, as well as a lack of education regarding contraceptive options. FOMMA's theater addresses these problems by becoming a stage for social activism, where parody is used as a theatrical tool which critiques current social norms by calling audience attention to the exaggerated characters that embody these issues. Lo'il Maxil is another Maya theater group that uses the stage as a platform for the preservation of Maya cultural traditions. This group dramatizes oral and written Tzotzil, Tzeltal, and Quiché Maya myths and folktales in order to (re)create history. By performing aspects of shared cultural memories to their indigenous audiences, the members of Lo'il Maxil open up a dialogue with the communities they perform in to enact social changes. These changes include an increase in literacy in indigenous Maya languages by the members of highland communities and an increased awareness of the importance of preserving highland Maya cultural heritage in the face of globalization. Through the use of theater, both groups espouse their particular agendas while coinciding on a common goal of creating new cultural traditions. These 'new' traditions may include an increase in education and job opportunities for indigenous women, an increase in literacy and computer competency, and an emphasis on the importance of cultural maintenance and preservation. The promotion of change encourages and maintains an atmosphere of social activism where both audience members and actors are involved in crafting a new tradition of what it means to be 'Maya' in the twenty-first century. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2007. / November 5, 2007. / Lo'il Maxil, Maya, Chiapas, Theater, FOMMA / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Uzendoski, Professor Directing Thesis; Joseph Hellweg, Committee Member; Robinson Herrera, Committee Member.

One of the most pressing concerns facing archaeologists and cultural resource managers in the twenty-first century is how to protect cultural resources for meaningful research and future investigation while ensuring access to citizens who, in many cases, own the resource. In the face of the failure of legislation to protect cultural resources, public education and outreach programs appear to be the most effective tools available to managers. Maritime cultural resources are interpreted for the public with the aim of encouraging access, educating visitors, and preserving the resource. These are fine goals which, in most cases, are met. The problem, however, is that while interpreted in situ maritime resources often are promoted as underwater or open-air museums, they rarely are managed as such. Museological techniques and, especially, the theoretical approach of the New Museology can effectively be applied in the establishment and management of underwater archaeological preserves, shipwreck parks, and maritime heritage trails. This dissertation examines the history and new approaches of museology to provide a theoretical background, and explores existing preserve, park, and trail programs to provide an overview of current practices. Knowledge gained from practical experience together with the theoretical approach of New Museology is applied to the public interpretation of in situ maritime cultural resources. The result, the Cayman Islands Maritime Heritage Trail, is presented as a case study for the use of museum theory and working models in creating new heritage attractions. Strategies and issues in creating preserves, parks, and trails, both theoretical and practical, are discussed. This research contributes to the field of submerged and maritime cultural resource management a comprehensive, scholarly discussion of practical and theoretical strategies used in public interpretation of in situ maritime cultural resources and the testing of these strategies through a real-world case study. This dissertation provides cultural resource managers and archaeologists with a theoretical framework for increasing the perceived value of their resources through public involvement and effective interpretation, and with a practical reference for initiating and sustaining successful public outreach programs through heritage tourism at maritime historical sites. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Anthropology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 31, 2005. / Underwater Archaeology, Museum Studies, Heritage Tourism, Cultural Resource Management / Includes bibliographical references. / Cheryl Ward, Professor Directing Dissertation; Sally McRorie, Outside Committee Member; Allys Palladino-Craig, Outside Committee Member; Michael Uzendoski, Committee Member; Glen Doran, Committee Member; Roger Smith, Committee Member; Margaret Leshikar-Denton, Committee Member.