Archaeological Institute of America

Water Histories: How 8,000 Years of Fluctuating Lake Levels in North-Central Florida Affected Indigenous Land Use and Regional Interactions
2025-10-29 17:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | University of Florida, Smathers Library Room 100, 1508 Union Rd, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
Recent survey of a tract of public land on Lake Pithlachocco in Alachua County, Florida revealed an 8,000-year record of horizontal stratigraphy extending 500m from and 5m above the modern lake shore. The first half of this record reflects the mid-Holocene expansion of surface water regionally, but the second half reflects a regime of low-frequency, high-magnitude flooding to which lakeside dwellers adapted their land use. Besides affecting settlement choices, fluctuating surface water impacted the potential of regional travel by boat, connecting Lake Pithlachocco to places far afield during extreme hydroperiods and stranding it from flow during extreme droughts.
