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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Ward, Dorothy J. December 1989 - AN INVESTIGATION OF INLAND DEPTFORD CULTURE IN THE UPPER APALACHICOLA AREA OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Abstract: The Early Woodland Deptford cultural adaptation may be said to date from about 500 B.C. - A.D. 200 on the Gulf Coast, but enduing until about A.D. 600 on the Atlantic Coast. Generally it is referred to as chiefly a coastal adaptation with the occupation of inland sites described as small and seasonal. This thesis focuses on a large inland Deptford occupation, the Trestle Bridge site (8Jal86), on the upper Apalachicola River in Northwest Florida. Additionally the literature search resulted in a detailed environmental background of the site and its vicinity. Initial characterization of the site involved an intensive literature search, which produced conceptual Deptford models from 12 archaeologists. The models are presented and compared, and newer data, including radiocarbon dates and coastal subsistence information, are offered. A discussion of inland Deptford sites is given, and 317 documented inland Deptford sites or components in Florida, Georgia and Alabama are listed. The second step in the examination of the Tresde Bridge site included the study of surface materials collected over a 14-year period. The large stone and ceramic assemblages were classified, tabulated and described. Based on radiocarbon dates chiefly from coastal sites, and on a consensus of ceramic evidence derived over decades primarily from stratigraphic contexts, the temporal assignment at this site is judged to be continuous from Early to Late Deptford. Both continuity and stylistic changes in ceramic types through time can be demonstrated. The third step in the investigations at Trestle Bridge was excavation. Permission to test at Trestle Bridge could not be acquired. However, surface data were obtained from the Pope's Cabin Site (8Ja391), which appears to be a southern extension of Trestle Bridge. The recovered materials and data included 2 radiocarbon dates. Although Deptford ceramics and lithic remains had been recovered from the surface of 8Ja391 for at least 6 years, no Deptford artifacts or dates were confirmed from this excavation. One explanation may be that such earlier deposits were too deep to reach in the test excavation. One small early Fort Walton component and one small early historic component were confirmed from the surface of 8Jal86 and from above and below surface contexts at 8Ja391. Hundreds of years separate the Deptford and Fort Walton occupations, during which time both sites were apparently unoccupied. The literature research revealed that the lack of residents during the Weeden Island time period is unusual in the area but not totally unprecedented.
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