Using Neutron Activation Analysis to evaluate social connections during a period of transformative social change in the American Southeast

Abstract

Major changes marking the social transformation between the Middle (A.D. 200 to 650) and Late (A.D. 650 to 1000) Woodland periods throughout much of the American Southeast include settlement reorganization and shifts in ritual practices and material culture. In the Lower Suwannee region of Florida’s northern Gulf Coast, this transformation entailed the abandonment of major population and ritual hubs (i.e., civic-ceremonial centers) and the resettlement of the region in small-scale, dispersed, and diverse villages. Historically, large-scale social transformations such as this are accompanied by a reorganization of connections among social groups; however, the results of Neutron Activation Analyses of 300 domestic pottery vessels from 12 sites in the Lower Suwannee demonstrate that regional connections among communities did not change significantly between the Middle and Late Woodland periods, even as many other aspects of practice and culture were transformed.