Woodland-period mound building as historical tradition: Dating the mounds and monuments at Crystal River (8CI1)

Changes in monumental architecture are fundamental to the theory and practice of archaeology in eastern North America, yet we have rarely examined these changes at spatial and temporal scales commensurate with the lived experience of the people of the past. The problem is exemplified by the transition from conical burial mounds to truncated pyramids, or platform mounds. We report a combined total of 24 radiocarbon dates (10 reported here for first time) and four OSL dates from mounds at the Crystal River site (8CI1) in west-central Florida, among the most diverse Woodland-period mound complexes in the US Southeast. We then review the results of Bayesian modeling of mound construction episodes indicated by geophysical survey, small-diameter coring, and reviews of previous excavation. Finally, we synthesis the modeled start dates for mound construction episodes into a five-phase Bayesian model that allows us to approach mound building at Crystal River as a form of historical tradition characterized by both stasis and rapid change in architectural form.