Postmarital Residence Practices in the Windover Population: Sex-Based Dental Variation as an Indicator of Patrilocality

Abstract

This study examines postmarital residence patterns at the Windover site, an Early Archaic occupation located in east-central Florida. Residence patterns are assessed using a population genetics model based on isolation by distance and migration matrix methods. Variation in nonmetric dental traits is examined among a group of 40 adult males and 43 adult females. The sex with the higher within-group variance is considered the more mobile sex, thereby providing a possible reflection of residential patterns. Results indicate that females are almost twice as variable as males, thus suggesting patrilocality. However, this result is not statistically significant at the .05 probability level. Additional lines of evidence are assessed in conjunction with dental data. Specifically, ethnographic data indicate that subsistence and sexual division of labor are important factors related to social organization, including residence. Although these lines of evidence can be used to support the dental data and patrilocality, they are not conclusive. Future studies of activity patterns, disease, mortuary remains, and material culture may help to clarify the issue of postmarital residence patterns at Windover.