CULTURAL RESPONSES TO STRESS: PATTERNS OBSERVED IN AMERICAN INDIAN BURIALS OF THE SECOND SEMINOLE WAR

Archaeological excavation of the Quad Block site produced important information on Seminoie society during a period of conflict and relocation. Documentary, artifactual, and demographic evidence date a U. S. military cemetery containing both American Indians and non-Indians to the Second Seminoie War and reveal that the majority of the Indians were Seminoles. In addition, behavioral patterns reflecting both the strengthening and dissolution of Seminoie cultural practices are observed in the deposition and distribution of grave goods. Even though the grave goods for sub-adult burials are entirely of Euro-American manufacture, their frequency matches expectations for traditional ranked societies. Standardized military procedure and a shared conservation ethic in an economically isolated frontier society may explain the uniformity of burial patterns for all adults, whether American Indian or non-Indian.