THE MILL COVE COMPLEX: DAILY LIFE, FEASTING, AND FARAWAY CONNECTIONS
Located near the mouth of the St. Johns River in northeastern Florida, the Mill Cove Complex was one of the most significant Indigenous communities in Florida 1,000 years ago. While daily life centered around the exploitation of estuarine resources, these fisher-hunter-gatherers also engaged in long-distance interactions that resulted in the acquisition of copper, stone, and other minerals. This presentation reviews the results of excavations at Mill Cove by the University of North Florida since 1999, and contextualizes the site within northeastern Florida and beyond.
Keith Ashley is an archaeologist and associate professor of Anthropology at the University of North Florida. He is actively involved in archaeological excavations with UNF students throughout northeastern Florida. Presently, he is exploring the involvement of St. Johns fisher-hunter-gatherers in the broader world of farmers throughout the Southeast during the tenth through thirteenth centuries CE. He is also researching the 16th and 17th century social landscape of the Indigenous Timucua-speaking Mocama.