The identification and significance of Apalachicola for the origins of the Creek Indians in the Southeastern United States

Apalachicola was a Hitchitee community that was considered the capital of the Creek Nation during the seventeenth and eighteenth century in the Southeastern United States. The role of this community in the formation of the southeastern political and cultural geography is paramount because of their coalescence with emigrant Muscogee people. In this article, I synthesize 10 years of research at the site and clarify the population history of this community. The research demonstrates the formation of the Creek culture area in the material record. Pottery surface decoration becomes measurably homogenous and I interpret this pattern as a result of that cultural development.