Anchoring in the Gulf: Trans-Species Dwelling and Building in Gulf Coast Florida

Summary

Drawing inspiration from the work of Tim Ingold, I seek to find the middle ground of phenomenology, ecology, and materiality in describing how humans dwell and make their worlds among the various other communities around them. In the Lower Suwannee River Valley, Florida, human and oyster communities have interacted and intersected with another for millennia. Like people, oysters dwell and build creating their Umwelt, a concept introduced by Von Uexküll. This resulted in communities numbering in the millions. When the Umwelten of oysters and people are juxtaposed, it is argued that oysters ‘anchored’ people differentially throughout the history of the region. These oyster communities are argued to represent Heideggarian Buildings, as they are locations which make sites for several coastal Umwelten, people included. Prior to 1500 BC, human communities relocated their dead to keep pace with the rising sea, emplacing oyster shell midden during the process. After an occupational hiatus, changes in human building and dwelling after 750 BC were a direct result of inhabiting an area already full of history, including past interactions with oyster beds. Florida Gulf Coast peoples in the Lower Suwannee in many ways defined themselves through relationships with the oyster communities with which they interacted.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21423