A New History of Community Formation and Change at Kolomoki (9er1)

Abstract

We present a revised chronology for the Kolomoki site (9ER1) in Georgia, occupied primarily during the Middle and Late Woodland periods (ca. 200 BC to AD 1050). The considerable extent of the site has been noted for more than a century but came into sharper focus with the archaeological investigations by Sears (1956) and Pluckhahn (2003). The site includes at least nine mounds, a large central plaza, and a discontinuous habitation area nearly a kilometer in diameter. Previous interpretations assumed gradual and incremental changes in the community plan. We present a greatly revised chronology, based on new investigations in some of the lesser-known portions of the site and a doubling of the number of absolute dates. Bayesian modeling of these and previous dates reveals that, far from the gradualist assumption of previous work, the community at Kolomoki was dynamically transformed several times in its history, reaching its greatest spatial extent and formal complexity in two relatively short-lived phases. In these intervals, the village incorporated permanent residents and visitors into a single community in which daily face-to-face interactions were minimized even as communal identity was celebrated.

Reconsidering the Chronology: Carbonized Food Residue, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Dates, and Compositional Analysis of a Curated Collection from the Upper Great Lakes

“…While European colonialism has been the context of many investigations of regional and interregional interaction, exchange, and migration in North America, examining these topics in precontact contexts is likewise informative, especially when returning to reassess previous archaeological interpretations using current methods (e.g., Comstock and Cook 2018; Pluckhahn et al 2018; Price et al 2007; Slater et al 2014; Trabert et al 2017; Tubbs 2013). For example, a recent AMS dating of curated Early and Middle Woodland ceramics highlights previously unrecognized complexity in the development of Kansas City Hopewell, once thought to be an example of simple migration from the Havana-Hopewell heartland (Keehner and Adair 2019).…”

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

“…Another large basin probably representing an additional semi-subterranean structure was encountered near the edge of the site's plaza (Pluckhahn 2003:171). The Block A structure is rectangular and measures about 2.5 × 3 m, excluding its entrance ramp (Pluckhahn 2011:187). Posthole diameters along the northern edge of the structure's basin were large (>15 cm), indicating that the superstructure was built using rigid posts (Pluckhahn 2003:155).…”

“…This pattern of large, closely spaced structures lacking interior storage is characteristic of the Middle Woodland period north of the Gulf Coastal Plain in the Piedmont and Appalachian Mountains (Steere 2017:90–91). The lack of interior storage in the Block A structure at Kolomoki may also represent the organization of labor and storage at a level beyond the individual household (Pluckhahn 2011:188–189). In contrast, the house at Letchworth contains several interior storage features and does not seem to have other buildings nearby based on remote-sensing data.…”

“…Unfortunately, archaeological evidence for pre-Mississippian domestic architecture is lacking along the Gulf Coastal Plain, particularly in northern Florida and adjacent parts of Georgia and Alabama: this area was the heartland of the Swift Creek and Weeden Island ceramic exchange networks and mortuary traditions during the Woodland period. A few notable examples of houses dating to the Early (1000–1 BC), Middle (AD 1–500), and Late Woodland (AD 500–1000) periods have been found (Milanich 1973, 1974; Pluckhahn 2003, 2011; Shelby et al 2014), but these are few and far between. Twenty years ago, the state of research on Woodland period domestic architecture in this area was summed up by archaeologists who observed that “little evidence for domestic architecture has been found” (Anderson 1998:283), “no discernable architectural patterns have been noted” (Stephenson et al 2002:346), and “architectural data for the Woodland period in the region is sketchy at best” (Pluckhahn 2003:156).…”

“…The few examples of Middle and early Late Woodland architecture from northwest Florida and surrounding areas have rarely been synthesized or compared to identify similarities and differences in their construction and layout (but see Pluckhahn 2011). In this article, I present the first evidence of domestic architecture from Letchworth (8JE337), a large Woodland period ceremonial center in northwest Florida, and compare it with structures from other nearby ceremonial centers.…”