Towasa Diaspora: Ignoring the European Presence as a Response to Colonization

Summary

Discovery of a small Muskogee-tradition component at site 1BA664, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in Orange Beach, Alabama, is tentatively identified as a fishing and hunting camp of the Towasas, radiocarbon dated to ca. 1700. Propelled westward by British and Creek slaving raids in 1705 that destroyed their towns in north Florida, the Towasas have never before been linked to an archaeological site assemblage. Artifacts from site 1BA664 suggest minimal acquisition of European technology, despite a century of contact with Spanish colonists, and site placement suggests avoidance of colonists and colonial settlements. Towasa archaeology seems to reflect their concerted effort to avoid entanglements with colonizers, which contributed to their minimal representation in the written colonial record.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Culture Change and Persistence among North American Indigenous Peoples in the Contact Zone   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 328