Review of: Biocultural Histories in La Florida (by C. Stojanowski) more

SOUTHEASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 27(1) SUMMER 2008 deserves serious consideration by plantation researchers. variability in a population through time, and population aggregation resulting in gene flow or an increase in genetic variability through time. The foray into bioethnohistory leads Stojanowski into the second section of the book (chapters 4 and 5), in which he presents the conceptual and statistical framework by which he evaluates his hypotheses. For readers who are not completely familiar with evolutionary processes and genetics, detailed explanations of phenotypic variation, forces of evolution, and heritability are presented, with clear examples of how these relate to tooth size. The section on heritability is particularly well researched, and Stojanowski presents at least a dozen published studies and summarizes their findings. The succeeding chapter tackles an explanation of data collection and statistical methods. Stojanowski performs preliminary analyses to test for age effects and observer error, finding little evidence of age correlations or inconsistent data collection. Although the statistical analysis section is straightforward, the preliminary analysis section lacks interpretability. Scatterplot matrices of age and tooth size are difficult to understand. More important, sample populations are not mentioned or contextualized until chapter 6, even though site-specific correlations are presented here in chapter 5. Further, when the populations are listed in subsequent chapters, an MNI is given but not the sample size examined. These issues make the methods chapter problematic in terms of the logical flow of Stojanowski’s argument but ultimately do not detract from his conclusions. The final section of the book (chapters 6 through 8) applies ethnohistoric information, biological variability theory, and mathematical models to both the Apalachee and the Guale. Based on the available information, Stojanowski predicts that the Apalachee should see a decrease in genetic variability from the Late Precontact (LPC) to the Early Mission (EM) periods on account of reduced population sizes but then increase from the EM to the Late Mission (LM) periods when the Spanish ´ instituted congregacion policies. Interestingly, he found that there was no change from the LPC to the mission periods, which shows that rapid demographic collapse did not occur among the Apalachee at the same time as other native groups. Gene flow was high among the Apalachee, making it a diverse, multiethnic community that did not suffer extreme population losses like the Guale did. Based on previous bioarchaeological research, Stojanowski posits that there was an initial period of aggregation among the Guale in the early mission period followed by demographic collapse. Phenotypic variability indicates that during the EM, there was significant aggregation of Guale populations, but demographic collapse occurred in the LM. Stojanowski presents a cycle of aggregation and population decline resulting from epidemics, fugitivism, and male Biocultural Histories in La Florida: A Bioarchaeological Perspective. CHRISTOPHER M. STOJANOWSKI. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, 2005. 208 pp., figs., tables, appendix, biblio., index. $29.95 (paperback), ISBN 0-8173-5267-8. Reviewed by Kristina Killgrove In the span of about three centuries, the demographic makeup of Native American populations in the Southeastern United States was altered dramatically because of contact with European settlers. The Spanish mission system in La Florida effected change among the Native Americans, not only culturally but also biologically. Stojanowski investigates Native responses to colonialism in this book by synthesizing previous bioarchaeological research and ethnohistoric accounts and then adding a palaeogenetic component with his in-depth analysis of phenotypic variability in tooth size. By looking at synchronic variation and diachronic change in hundreds of teeth from the Apalachee and Guale peoples, Stojanowski demonstrates that different Native American groups had different responses to colonialism. The first third of the book (chapters 2 and 3) is devoted to the ethnohistoric context of La Florida, which is traditionally split into three mission populations: the Apalachee in the Florida panhandle, the Guale along the southern Georgia coast, and the Timucua in northern and coastal Florida. Three time periods are examined: Late Precontact (A.D. 1200–1400), Early Mission (A.D. 1600–1650), and Late Mission (A.D. 1650–1706). Results of contact in La Florida included an increase in diseases previously unknown to the natives, the conscription of natives into the Spanish repartimiento labor system, and the relocation and congregation of natives into new, permanent settlements around missions. Stojanowski, however, is interested in the responses of the Native Americans to colonialism and uses ethnohistoric evidence of population composition and boundaries to create his research models. Population size and reduction are estimated from the textual record, with the Guale seeing a 99 percent reduction in their numbers by the end of the mission period and the Apalachee seeing a 73 percent reduction. Although there were boundaries between groups in terms of political structure, linguistic differences, and mobility, for example, there were few barriers to gene flow. These data suggest two models for genetic variability in La Florida: demographic collapse resulting in genetic drift, the loss of genetic 152 Southeastern Archaeology sarc-27-01-10.3d 4/6/08 15:38:50 152 REVIEWS transiency, culminating with a bottleneck in the LM coincident with demographic collapse. Among the Guale, there was aggregation over time of distinct matrilines that were individually decimated by disease and emigration. Thus for the Apalachee, the transition from the LPC to the mission periods is marked by genetic stasis as well as stasis of the disease load of the population. The contact period Guale, on the other hand, suffered catastrophic population change because of disease, emigration, and aggregation. There was not one specific biological response to contact, but rather varied and localized responses among different Native American groups. The sociopolitical strategy of the Apalachee and their geographic location further inland likely isolated them to some extent from the political practices of the Spanish, which the Guale, who were in prolonged contact with the Spanish owing to their coastal position, could not avoid. Stojanowski’s approach to Native American history is unique and thorough. He combines information from previous bioarchaeological studies of health and disease, burial demographics, ethnohistorical texts, and palaeogenetic analyses. The populations that he has chosen to analyze range from the late precontact through the late mission periods. Genetic variability and ethnohistorical information identify three types of mission period sites: San Pedro y San Pablo de Patale, an EM Apalachee site, exemplifies a pre-collapse mission population; two sites are in the process of active demographic transition, the LM Apalachee site of San Luis de Talimali and the EM Guale site of Santa Catalina de Guale; and a population that has experienced collapse can be seen in the LM Santa Catalina de Guale de Amelia site. Stojanowski’s sampling over three time periods and of populations at three different stages of missionization allows him to make the compelling case that colonialism did not affect all native groups in the same way or at the same time. His careful model building and methodical statistical testing contributes to a noteworthy revision of the implicit effects of the colonial encounter. This work will be of particular interest to scholars of Native American studies, palaeogenetic variation, and Southeastern archaeology. Field War Project, where Dr. Saitta was a principal investigator and senior archaeologist. Dr. Saitta was my graduate school advisor at the University of Denver, and I have known him to be methodical, precise, and eloquent in his lecturing. The Archaeology of Collective Action evokes this same feeling. The book is divided into eight chapters. The author methodically expounds the philosophical and theoretical aims of the book, along with examples of collective action archaeology culminating in the discussion of the ‘‘Ludlow Massacre,’’ its background, its archaeology, and its impact. Like any class one might have taken with the author, the book is formulated for the reader to easily absorb the complicated issues. Because of this, I will review the book chapter by chapter. The focus on the philosophical is important to the overall tone of the book. The author’s desire here is to relay the understanding of archaeologist’s ‘‘dual nature’’ (p. 1) that the aim of scientific archaeology is ‘‘to parlay the facts within its domain into historical truth’’ (p. 1), juxtaposed with the realization that archaeology is executed by humans with a robust ‘‘bag’’ of indoctrinated bias. The author believes that pragmatist philosophy is necessary for a critical social archaeology. This point is illustrated in chapter 2, in which he discusses pragmatic principles as aligning with those of archaeologies of collective action. Chapter 3 relays the connective theoretical and methodological tissue for this study of collective action. Saitta illustrates the partitive theory of culture as well as the theories of culture and material culture and the former’s dependence upon the latter. The critical point made is how these theories and methodologies establish a context for an archaeology of collective action. Saitta discusses examples of archaeologies of collective action in chapter 4 within the subheadings of race, gender, and class. He has carefully selected associative examples of collective action that provides a ‘‘comparative touchstone’’ (p. 34) with the book’s primary example of the Ludlow Massacre. He cites three examples of slave collective agency, including research on South Carolina Lowcountry Colonoware pots that exposes an intent to avoid assimilation and instead ‘‘[nurture] reciprocity and community’’ (p. 37). Additionally, Saitta looks at three examples of gender, such as research concerning the expansion of women’s roles in both the private and public sphere in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia established by reformers instilling morals and shaping communal and private space. Saitta also utilizes research regarding gender roles within slave communities in Kentucky and Mississippi, revealing a cooperative nature which established a stronger communal bond. Collective resistance in terms of class can be seen in the examples he provides, such as the ‘‘industrial sabotage’’ perpetuated by workers on management (p. 41) due to the The Archaeology of Collective Action. DEAN J. SAITTA. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2007. xv + 140 pp., 23 illus., biblio., index. $24.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8130-3070-8. Reviewed by Patrick H. Morgan In 1999 and 2000, I took part in the University of Denver Archaeological Field School, the Colorado Coal 153 Southeastern Archaeology sarc-27-01-10.3d 4/6/08 15:38:50 153