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Archaic Period Canoes from Newnans Lake, Florida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ryan J. Wheeler ,
James J. Miller ,
Ray M. McGee ,
Donna Ruhl ,
Brenda Swann  and
Melissa Memory
Ryan J. Wheeler
Affiliation:
Panamerican Consultants, Inc., 2026 Chuli Nene, Tallahassee, FL 32301
James J. Miller
Affiliation:
Bureau of Archaeological Research, 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250
Ray M. McGee
Affiliation:
5814 NW 31st Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32653
Donna Ruhl
Affiliation:
Environmental Archaeology Laboratory, Florida Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 117800, Gainesville, FL 32611
Brenda Swann
Affiliation:
Bureau of Archaeological Research, 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250
Melissa Memory
Affiliation:
Navajo National Monument, HC-71 Box 3, Tonalea, AZ 86044-9704
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Abstract

Low lake levels, due to drought in spring and summer 2000, revealed the decayed remnants of over 100 dugout canoes buried in the sediments of Newnans Lake near Gainesville, Florida. Radiocarbon assays revealed that 41 of 55 canoes studied were from the Late Archaic period, dating between 2300 and 5000 B.P. Analysis of canoe form and comparison to the small number of other known Florida Archaic period canoes correct previous ideas about early canoes. Patterns of wood choice and manufacturing techniques known from younger canoes were in place during the Late Archaic. The Archaic period canoes from Newnans Lake are indistinguishable from canoes produced in later periods and are not the crude, short, blunt-ended type thought to represent the earliest dugout canoes. Thwarts or low partitions on almost half of the Archaic canoes studied confirm a long temporal span to the canoe-making tradition of peninsular Florida. Middle and Late Archaic groups had boat-building and related technologies in place 7,000 years ago and were expanding into areas with newly emerging freshwater resources created by higher water tables.

Resumen

Resumen

Los niveles bajos de lago, causados por la sequía de la primavera y el verano del 2000, sacaron a la vista los restos podridos de más de 100 canoas ahuecadas (dugout canoes) que estaban enterradas en el sedimento del lago Newnans cerca de Gainesville, Florida. El proceso de análisis de radiocarbono indicó que 41 de las 55 canoas que se estudiaron datan del periodo Arcaico Tardío, con una antigüedad de entre 2300 y 5000 a.p. El análisis de la forma de las canoas, combinado con la comparación con la pequeña cantidad de otras canoas encontradas del periodo Arcaico en la Florida corrige las ideas antes sostenidas sobre canoas tempranas. Patrones de selección de madera y técnicas de manufactura que se conocen de canoas más tempranas se manifiestan durante el Arcaico Tardío. Las canoas del periodo Arcaico que se encontraron en el lago Newnans no se distinguen deaquellas fabricadas en periodos subsecuentes, y no exhiben los supuestos rasgos de las canoas ahuecadas más tempranas, que se suponen que eran cortas, despuntadas y sin labrar. La presencia de bancadas, o tabiques bajos en casi la mitad de las canoas estudiadas del periodo Arcaico confirma una larga extensión temporal a la tradición de elaboración de canoas en la Florida peninsular. Hace 7000 años los pueblos del periodo Arcaico Medio al periodo Arcaico Tardío contaban con tecnologías de construcción de embarcaciones y otras té cnicas relacionadas. Debido a estas ya se extendían hacia zonas emergentes de recursos de agua dulce, productos de un nivel freático más alto.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 68 , Issue 3 , July 2003 , pp. 533 - 551
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2003

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