Graduation Year
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Anthropology
Major Professor
Thomas J. Pluckhahn, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Diane Wallman, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Robert H. Tykot, Ph.D.
Keywords
platform mounds, pXRF, shell midden, Tampa Bay archaeology, Woodland period
Abstract
Cockroach Key (100-1000 CE) has one of the tallest platform mounds (Mound A) in Tampa Bay and all of prehistoric Florida; however, little is known about what the surface was used for. This research uses a forward-looking approach (following the ideas of Pauketat and Kassabaum) of interpreting mound-summit practices to avoid pre-Mississippian platform mound misconceptions of surfaces serving primarily as elite residences. Recent GPR investigations on the mound-summit revealed a circular pattern of anomalies hypothesized as a structure. These results are tested by the sampling of artifacts from a small diameter auger (18 auger samples) and elemental distributions based on soil chemistry. This research identifies to what extent the top of mound A was utilized for and what activities/practices occurred, which provided a sense of community for the Indigenous population of Cockroach Key.
Scholar Commons Citation
Burchfield, Chandler O., "Mound-Summit Practices at Cockroach Key (8HI2) Through the Lens of Practice Theory" (2022). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/9312
