Approximate range of Deptford culture at maximum extent, 500 BCE - 200 CE, with Atlantic region in red and Gulf region in gold[1]
TheDeptford culture (800BCE—700 CE) was anarchaeological culture in southeastern North America characterized by the appearance of elaborate ceremonial complexes, increasing social and political complexity,mound burial, permanent settlements, population growth, and an increasing reliance oncultigens.
Deptford is named for the Deptford area nearSavannah, Georgia. The culture is defined by the presence of sand-tempered pottery decorated with the impressions of carved wooden paddles that were pressed against the vessels before they were fired. The sand-tempering distinguishes Deptford ceramics from the fiber-tempered ceramics of the late-ArchaicStallings Island/St. Simons,Orange, andNorwood cultures that preceded it. Other contemporary cultures of the southeastern United States also produced paddle decorated ceramics.[2]
The Deptford culture was oriented to the coast. From Georgia it spread along the Atlantic coast, reaching Cape Fear, North Carolina to the north and the mouth of the St. Johns River to the south. The Deptford culture also spread along the Gulf of Mexico coast, reaching from thePerdido River on the western border of Florida toTampa Bay on the lower west coast of Florida. Deptford culture appeared in Florida around 500 BCE. The Deptford culture in the Gulf region (Florida Panhandle, southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia) evolved into theSwift Creek andSanta Rosa-Swift Creek cultures around 200 CE, while the culture in the Atlantic coastal region continued until about 700.[3] TheCades Pond culture developed from the Deptford culture after 100 CE in an inland region previously used seasonally by Deptford people.[4]
In the easternFlorida Panhandle the Deptford culture has been divided into an early Deptford period, in which fiber-tempered and Deptford series ceramics are found together, a middle Deptford period, with only Deptford series ceramics present, and a late Deptford period with both Deptford series and Swift Creek series ceramics present.[5]
Archaeological sites associated with the Deptford culture include:
Many Deptford culture sites along the Gulf coast may now be under water, or eroded by rising water levels, as the sea level along the coast of the Florida Panhandle has risen approximately 80 inches (2.0 m) in the last 2,000 years.[23]
Early Deptford ceramics appear to have been developed in Georgia around 2,600 years ago out of theEarly Woodland Refuge phase (near Savannah), and spread north intoSouth Carolina andNorth Carolina and south intoFlorida. Deptford ceramics continued to be made and found onMiddle Woodland sites in the southeastern U.S. until about600 BCE. Occupation for theAtlantic coastal plain of Georgia and the Carolinas seems to have followed a seasonal pattern of wintershellfish camps on the coast, then inland occupation during the spring and summer fordeer hunting, and fall fornut gathering.[24]
From the Early through the Middle Woodland periods, the extensive, low-lying coastal environment of the South Atlantic coast, stretching fromNorth Carolina to northern Florida, was used by numerous Deptford hunter-gatherer bands who lived seasonally within a variety of ecosystems and took advantage of seasonally available foods.
Along theGulf Coast, the Deptford culture continued the seasonal existence throughout the Middle Woodland. Settlements in this geographical area lacked permanence of occupation, although the cultures here participated in the Hopewellian trading network to a limited extent and constructed numerous low sandburial mounds. These sand burial mounds along coastal Georgia and Florida (noted atCanaveral National Seashore andCumberland Island National Seashore, for instance), as well as in the Carolinas, are believed to represent local lineage burial grounds rather than the resting place of an elite individual.
In northwestern Florida, the Early Woodland Deptford culture evolved in place to become theSwift Creek andSanta Rosa-Swift Creek cultures.[25] Trade items recovered from burial mounds includecopper panpipes, ear ornaments, stoneplummets, and stonegorgets. These show this area's incorporation within theHopewellian Interaction Sphere by about 1,900 years ago.
