Strategic Factors in Middle and Late Woodland Settlement Patterns on East Peninsula, Tyndall Air Force Base, Bay County, Florida

Summary

Data derived from archaeological investigations at Tyndall Air Force Base in northwestern Florida suggest strategic decision-making in settlement patterns during the Middle and Late Woodland periods. The installation occupies prime property on a northwest/southeast-trending peninsula that extends for 18 miles along the Gulf of Mexico and is between two and three miles wide. This small coastal stretch with minimal relief was the scene of increasingly intensive settlement beginning with the construction of burial mounds and villages by Middle Woodland Swift Creek people. In the Late Woodland period, Weeden Island occupants established larger mounds and villages in close proximity to the earlier settlements. Based on radiocarbon dates and assemblage traits, researchers believe the Weeden Island sites reflect a settlement shift by the same population. This paper examines evidence suggesting the large population centers were deliberately established at strategic locations offering both coastal prominence and vantage points for any group approaching the peninsula by water.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage