Leon-Jefferson Culture

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The Leon-Jefferson Culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in Leon and Jefferson counties in north Florida in the Southeastern United States from approximately 1100-1550 AD.

The Leon-Jefferson Culture was a part of the Fort Walton Culture and appeared to come about due to contact with the major Mississippian centers to the north and west. The Leon-Jefferson has its own designation because of ceramic traditions associated with both Apalachee Fort Walton and Lamar Creek (Eastern Georgian) cultures. Like other Mississippian people, Leon-Jefferson peoples practiced mound building, intensive agriculture, made pottery in a variety of vessel shapes and had hierarchial settlement patterns that reflected other Mississippian societies. It appears that the Lamar Creek people moved south and assimilated with the Apalachee at some point.

Anhaica, near Tallahassee's city center, served as the capitol of Apalachee Province and the Lake Jackson site 3 miles to the north was a Southeastern Ceremonial Complex and a major Fort Walton period site.

The northwest Florida Region also encompasses the Letchworth Mounds of Jefferson County as well as Tallahassee's Lake Jackson mound. It is generally defined as encompassing the Florida Panhandle east from the Ochlockonee River to the Aucilla River. Frequently, there are cultural differences between the inland groups who relied on the inland resources of what are now Leon and Jefferson counties and those who utilized coastal resources.