Biocultural Histories in La Florida
Subtitle
A Bioarchaeological Perspective
This book examines the effects of the Spanish mission system on population structure and genetic variability in indigenous communities living in northern Florida and southern Georgia during the 16th and 17th centuries. Data on tooth size were collected from 26 archaeological samples representing three time periods, Late Precontact (~1200-1500), Early Mission (~1600-1650) and Late Mission (~1650-1700), and were subjected to a series of statistical tests evaluating genetic variability. Predicted changes in phenotypic population variability are related to models of group interaction, population demography and genetic admixture as suggested by ethnohistoric and archaeological data.
Results suggest considerable differences in diachronic responses to the mission environment for each cultural province. The Apalachee demonstrate a marked increase in variability while the Guale demonstrate a decline in variability. Demographic models of population collapse are therefore inconsistent with predicted changes based on population genetics, and the determinants of population structure seem largely local in nature. This book highlights the specificity with which indigenous communities responded to European contact and the resulting transformations in their social worlds.
Bio
Christopher Stojanowski is a professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at ASU. As a bioarchaeologist, he specializes in the analysis of human skeletal remains and dentition. He uses information from ancient sites to reconstruct the lives of past peoples, focusing on the Holocene skeletal record of the New World and Africa.
Praise for this book
Stojanowski's work is like man's DNA, the structure of a lifeform, but here it is the structure or glue that holds together the historic puzzle with its Apalachee, Timucua, Guale and Spanish pieces that other scholars have been trying to put together.
Keith P. Jacobi Author of "Last Rites for the Tipu Maya"
A well-written work that succinctly tackles a large and difficult topic. Stojanowski addresses, and successfully integrates, a diverse set of issues into a readable whole. The author incorporates a consideration of archaeology, history, ethnohistory, linguistics and palaeogenetics, demonstrating how they can be melded together to create a work of true anthropological significance. ... The research questions and methodologies developed by Stojanowski are adaptable and could serve as a guide for other researchers examining the effects of conquest or contact in other contexts.
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
