Tracing the Roots of Cultural Kinship: The Journey of Jaguar and Puma Tooth Pendants from Terra Firma to a Caribbean Island
Dr. Diane Wallman, Associate Professor, University of South Florida

ZOOM LINK COMING SOON

Big cats hold symbolic significance across cultures, especially in the Americas, where felids such as jaguars and pumas are revered and respected. In South American cultures, these cats are associated with traits such as strength, aggression, status, and supernatural protection. Their representations appear in various material forms. This paper traces the journey of modified canine teeth of three large felids – two jaguars (Panthera onca) and one puma (Puma concolor) - from Venezuela to the Caribbean island of Dominica between the 15th and 18th centuries. The tooth pendants were recovered from LaSoye, a 17th-18th-century Indigenous trading settlement on Dominica’s windward coast. The stories of these teeth are presented both archaeologically and through the words of Kalinago descendants of the bearers of the pendants. These objects symbolize the enduring ancestral connections between the Caribbean islands and South America, as well as the important relationship between humans and big cats.

Diane Wallman is currently an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, and is the director of the USF Historical Archaeology and Zooarchaeology Laboratories. She is a historical archaeologist with a multi-regional research program focusing on the archaeology of European colonialism and Atlantic Slavery. Her scholarship includes many articles, book chapters, and an edited volume with the University Press of Florida. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a National Geographic Explorer, and the recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation, Florida Humanities, and more.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).  

Shell Midden Landscapes of the Western Atchafalaya Basin
Dr. Jayur Madhusudan Mehta, Associate Professor in Anthropology, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Florida State University

Monumental shell works, shell middens, and earthen mounds are found throughout the interior of the Atchafalaya Basin and just inland from the margins of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Many of these sites surround Dauterive Lake, Lake Fausse Point, and Grand Avoile Cove, water bodies artificially impounded by early 20th century levee projects. The geomorphology of Bayou Teche also significantly impacted settlement dynamics in this region before modern levee building. While significant grey literature exists for this region, very little information has been published or made publicly available. This presentation situates the archaeology of the region relative to other published surveys in Petite Anse, Tensas and Yazoo Basins, the Natchez Bluffs, and the Lower Mississippi Valley, and presents on new findings from recent archaeological work in the region.

North America’s First Pots: Insights into Stallings Culture and Cuisine
Dr. Emily Bartz, Arkansas Archeological Survey and the University of Arkansas

At the intersection of clay, cuisine, and culture, pottery offers profound insights into ancient communities. In this talk, Dr. Emily Bartz explores the cultural history of the Stallings culture of the Savannah River valley, creators of North America’s earliest pottery, and their somewhat unique tradition of indirect-heat cooking. Through experimental archaeology, including stone-boiling simulations with replica vessels, she highlights the technical and cultural innovations of these early potters. Dr. Bartz will also share pioneering results from organic residue analysis, revealing what was cooked in these vessels and how these findings enhance our understanding of early culinary practices and community life in the ancient Southeast.

Dr. Emily Bartz is the station archaeologist for Pine Bluff with the Arkansas Archeological Survey at the University of Arkansas. A recent graduate of the University of Florida, she specializes in the study of ancient pottery and cooking techniques. Her research integrates experimental archaeology and organic residue analysis to uncover insights into past culinary practices and the daily lives of ancient communities of the American Southeast.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

The Long Human History of Tampa Bay
Dr. Evan Bennett

People have lived in the Tampa Bay area for far longer than there has been a bay. Much of the record of human life around the bay has been left in mounds and middens or etched on its shorelines. Too often, though, in the history of the region, these records have been ignored, treated as mere prologue, or, perhaps worst of all, mythologized. As we confront Tampa Bay’s future, it’s all the more important to remember the bay’s human history is unbroken. Historian Evan Bennett will discuss the need to – and the challenges of – pulling together archaeology and history in writing about Tampa Bay’s long past.

Dr. Evan Bennett is an associate professor of history at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where he teaches courses in Florida history, maritime history, and labor history. He was born and raised in Tampa and earned his BA and MA in history at the University of South Florida before completing a PhD in history at the College of William & Mary. His most recent book is Tampa Bay: The Story of an Estuary and Its People.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

Mapping the American Sea: A Cartographic History of the Gulf of Mexico
Rodney Kite-Powell, Director of the Touchton Map Library, Tampa Bay History Center

America’s history has been largely written as an inevitable march from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, an unstoppable manifest destiny starting with the English colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth, and ending with the California Gold Rush and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. This narrative downplays – or outright ignores – the role that the Gulf of Mexico and the states (and countries) bordering it have played throughout the last 500 years. Mapping the American Sea seeks to reset that narrative and place the Gulf States, particularly Florida, along with Mexico and Cuba, in their proper context as crucial players in the history and development of the United States and North America.

Rodney Kite-Powell is the Director of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center, where he joined the staff in 1995. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida and a Master of Arts from the University of South Florida – both in the subject of US history. Born and raised in Tampa, he has written and lectured extensively on the region and state. Rodney is an officer with the Philip Lee Phillips Society of the Library of Congress where he serves on the Academic Committee, and in 2019 he was named the official county historian for Hillsborough County by the Board of County Commissioners. He is the author of three books with a fourth and fifth in progress. Rodney currently lives in Tampa with his wife and two children.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

In the Footsteps of Flag and Jody: Historical Archaeology of The Yearling
Edward González-Tennant

December 12, 2024 7PM EST

The Yearling is one of the nation’s most beloved books. Set in a rapidly disappearing rural Florida, the captivating story of young Jody Baxter and his beloved pet fawn Flag is as powerful today as when it was published in 1938. However, few who read Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ Pulitzer prize-winning novel are aware of the story’s historical roots. Rawlings based her book on interviews with residents of Pat’s Island, located in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness of the Ocala National Forest. Fewer still are aware that MGM shot the 1946 film adaptation starring Gregory Peck on location in the same place. This talk presents the results of two seasons of archaeological research in Pat’s Island, which focused on excavating the Long homesite and documenting other historical resources in the area. Topics include the environmental history of the area, preliminary interpretations of the excavated materials, and ongoing efforts to commemorate this history using traditional and emerging methods.

Edward González-Tennant earned his PhD from the University of Florida (2011) for pioneering research on the 1923 Rosewood Race Massacre in Levy County. Dr. González-Tennant is currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and Director of the Laboratory of Valley Archaeology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He maintains an active research interest in Florida as well as developing new projects along the US-Mexico Borderlands of Texas.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

The Spanish Seminole: The Untold History of the Spanish Indians as Told by a Descendant
David Rahahę·tih Webb

NOVEMBER 7, 2024 7PM EST  (ONLINE EVENT REGISTRATION LINK

In the 1700s, as Florida’s Indigenous tribes were displaced, the forebears of the Miccosukee and Seminole descended along the southwestern Gulf Coast. They soon began working with Hispanic-Latino and Indigenous fishermen from various Spanish colonies, who had seasonal operations along the barrier islands, including Sanibel. Eventually, these seasonal operations became prolific year-round fisheries and communities, incorporating the fishing practices previously learned from the 6,000-year-old Calusa culture. Their productive estuarine fisheries were called ranchos, which served the same significant commercial and cultural function that the deerskin trade did for their contemporaries. The author, David Rahahę·tih Webb, is adding to our understanding of the ranchos- writing from the perspective of a descendant. His direct ancestors, Juan and Mary Montes de Oca and family, belonged to the Sanibel Island Spanish Seminole rancho community.

An educator, historian, and environmental scientist, David Rahahę·tih Webb has served several organizations in nonprofit leadership, spanning more than two decades. David is the executive director of Muddy Sneakers Outdoor Classroom, an environmental education organization serving students across North Carolina. David belongs to the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina. His culture has shaped his worldview and is central to his life. David serves as a culture keeper and historian for his community and others. He is a traditional and contemporary Native American artist, working in sculpture, beadwork, and other mediums, featured in museum exhibits and permanent collections throughout the eastern United States. He was recently awarded the Artist in Residence in Everglades fellowship. David is also a descendant of the Spanish Seminoles (Spanish Indians) living at the Sanibel Island rancho. His family included the first documented births on the Island and in southern Florida. He recently authored The Spanish Seminole: The Untold History of the Spanish Indians as Shared by a Descendant, which presents a detailed account of the Spanish Indians— their history, culture, and legacy. Sharing his love for history, the environment, and his own culture are his passions.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

Foodways of the Florida Frontier: Zooarchaeological Analysis of Gamble Plantation Historic State Park (8MA100)
Mary Maisel
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 7PM EST  IN PERSON EVENT AT: USF St. Petersburg campus Nelson Poynter Memorial Library

The Gamble Plantation sits on the banks of the Manatee River in Ellenton Florida and has been home to a wide variety of occupants since its construction in 1844. Archaeological research at the site has recovered material culture spanning the entire occupation of the estate. One of the most universal aspects of life that these many residents shared is that they all prepared, consumed, and disposed of food and food waste in the same midden on the property. This presentation will discuss the analysis of faunal remains recovered from the 2017 and 2018 excavations of Gamble Plantation, the evaluation of the perceived status of diners through the perceived quality of meat, and think broadly about what this information might suggest about social relationships on the Florida Frontier.

Mary S. Maisel is an archaeologist living and working in Tampa, Florida. Mary holds a Master’s in Applied Anthropology from The University of South Florida, specializing in zooarchaeology with additional skills in human skeletal excavation and analysis. Mary currently works with Archaeological Consultants Inc., Sarasota, Florida. In South Florida, Mary has worked on the Fort Brooke estuary cemetery, Reflections of Manatee’s “Archaeology of Freedom” at Manatee Mineral Springs Park, and several sites featured on 60 Minutes (Grave Injustice). She has previously been employed by the Smithsonian Institution’s Arctic Studies Center where she worked as a field tech and administrative associate. During her time with the Smithsonian, Mary worked at archaeological sites in Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec, Canada as well as Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, USA.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

Discoveries from the Garrison
Kelsey Kreiser

The Garrison Neighborhood, established in 1896, was the first Black-owned neighborhood in Tampa. Until the 1940s the neighborhood flourished with Black-owned businesses, schools, and churches. Despite this, few mentions of the neighborhood exist in archaeological reports of the area. Downtown Tampa’s archaeological requirements prioritizes the National Register eligible Fort Brooke site, leaving this unique Black neighborhood underutilized in the study of Tampa’s diverse early pioneers. Since 2016 Stantec has been excavating portions of the Garrison, including the Caesar Street School, an African Methodist Episcopal Church, storefronts, and numerous residences. Through the artifact assemblages of these sites a greater understanding can be gleaned of life in this important Tampa neighborhood.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).

New 3D Digital Studies on the Roman Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina (Sicily)
Davide Tanasi, Department of History at the University of South Florida

3D digitization for the study of archaeological heritage and the global dissemination of knowledge has proven to be extremely beneficial to the discipline. These digital approaches are increasingly used to drastically change archaeologists’ and art historians’ perspective on Roman villas, their decorative apparatus, and the artefacts found within them. The villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina (Sicily) is one of the most important examples of late Roman villas with its 2500 m2 of well-preserved mosaic floors and long use-life. Yet, the site is characterized by significant conservation issues, a relatively poor understanding of its later use-phases, a great deal of untapped legacy data, and relatively poor accessibility from a digital perspective. Thus, 3D visualizations hold great deal of potential to contribute to iconographic and architectural studies, monitoring changes in the physical state of the mosaics, and the recontextualization of legacy data, while contributing to the availability of globally accessible Roman material culture online. This presentation highlights methodological best practices in 3D digital imaging and visualizations developed around the emblematic case study of the Roman Villa del Casale. The project is part of the Archaeological Heritage in Late Antique and Byzantine Sicily (ArchLABS) initiative, an international and interdisciplinary research program focusing the reassessment of the entire site based on new excavations, innovative studies on its architecture, and analysis of its legacy data. A new season of digital explorations at the Villa were carried out in 2022 and 2023 as part of the ArchLABS campaigns, completed the 3D digitization of the villa through terrestrial LiDAR and digital photogrammetry and created digital replicas of legacy data from the 1950s excavations for the virtual recontextualization of artifacts in the rooms they were found. Preliminary findings offer promising evidence for advancing best practices in 3D digitization for the study of Roman villas.

Davide Tanasi is a professor in the Department of History at the University of South Florida, where he is also founder and director of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Institute for Digital Exploration and scientific director of the Mediterranean Diet Archaeology Project with the Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment. He is an archaeological scientist specialized in archaeology of ancient Sicily and Malta, with research areas of interest in pottery and glass technology, bio-archaeology, biomolecular archaeology, 3D digital imaging applied to archaeology and cultural heritage study. In that field, he has authored over 170 articles and several books and special issues of journals including the recent volume Archaeology of the Mediterranean during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (University Press of Florida 2023). He is currently P.I. of the HADES project (Heloros Advanced Digital Exploration and Surveying) at the Greek city of Heloros in Sicily and Co-P.I. of the ArchLABS project (Archaeological Heritage in Late Antique and Byzantine Sicily) for the remote sensing study and excavation of the Roman Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina, in Sicily, and Co-P.I. of Melite Civitas Romana project for the archaeological excavation of the Roman Domus at Rabat, in Malta.

This monthly Archaeology Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education (AWIARE).