Authority via Mobility: Interpreting Yamasee Ceramics

Author(s): Patrick Johnson

Year: 2018

Summary

Yamasees worked as non-missionized laborers in Spanish Florida, raided for Charleston traders, fought to expand Georgia, lived with Creek Indians, and worked as diplomats and traders in Pensacola. Letters, speeches, and testimony demonstrate that this mobility— often leading them to outnumber local occupants— allowed Yamasees to dictate terms to and take vengeance against other Native Americans as well as Europeans. Despite such authority, pottery assemblages demonstrate the frequent adoption of local practices. In so doing, Yamasees demonstrate that assemblages do not necessarily identify communities and that communities may gain local cohesion and regional authority by adopting new practices.

Cite this Record

Authority via Mobility: Interpreting Yamasee Ceramics. Patrick Johnson. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 444997)

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -93.735; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -73.389; max lat: 39.572 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20685