Determining the habitats of mollusk collection at the Sapelo Island shell ring complex, Georgia, USA using oxygen isotope sclerochronology

C. Fred T. Andrus; Victor D. Thompson

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.002

Integrating Vertebrate and Invertebrate Season of Capture Data from Ring III of the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex (9MC23), Georgia, USA

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology ◽

10.1080/15564894.2018.1458763 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 560-583 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Carol E. Colaninno ◽

J. Matthew Compton

Keyword(s):

Sapelo Island ◽

Ring Complex ◽

Shell Ring

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Evaluating Mobility, Monumentality, and Feasting at the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex

American Antiquity ◽

10.7183/0002-7316.76.2.315 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 315-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 72

Author(s):

Victor D. Thompson ◽

C. Fred T. Andrus

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Growth Band ◽

Sapelo Island ◽

Oxygen Isotope Ratios ◽

Shell Matrix ◽

Ring Complex ◽

Shell Deposition ◽

Shell Ring ◽

Shell Rings ◽

Georgia Coast

Two of the most salient anthropological questions regarding southeastern shell ring sites are related to the season(s) that they were occupied and whether or not the deposits represent monumental constructions and/or feasting remains. This paper addresses these questions through the analysis of growth band of clams (Mercenaria spp.) (N = 620) and stable oxygen isotope ratios of clam and oyster shells (Crassostrea virginica) (N = 58) at the Sapelo Island Shell Ring complex located on the Georgia coast, USA. The season of death and the samples' position in the shell matrix at Sapelo provide important information on the rate of shell deposition and the season(s) the site was occupied. These data support the view that at least some portion of the human population at Sapelo occupied the site year-round. Additionally, while it appears that two shell rings at the site formed through the gradual deposition and accumulation of daily subsistence, other areas evidence short term, large-scale, shellfish processing and may lend credence to the view that at some point shell rings become monuments, commemorating rituals and gatherings.

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Rare pre-Columbian settlement on the Florida Gulf Coast revealed through high-resolution drone LiDAR

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1911285116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (47) ◽

pp. 23493-23498 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Terry E. Barbour ◽

Kenneth E. Sassaman ◽

Angelica Maria Almeyda Zambrano ◽

Eben North Broadbent ◽

Ben Wilkinson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Gulf Coast ◽

Oyster Shell ◽

Marine Gastropods ◽

Florida Gulf Coast ◽

Regional Demand ◽

Political Economies ◽

Ring Complex ◽

Shell Ring ◽

Ring Architecture

Drone-mounted, high-resolution light detection and ranging reveals the architectural details of an ancient settlement on the Gulf Coast of Florida without parallel in the Southeastern United States. The Raleigh Island shell-ring complex (8LV293) of ca. 900 to 1200 CE consists of at least 37 residential spaces enclosed by ridges of oyster shell up to 4 m tall. Test excavations in 10 of these residential spaces yielded abundant evidence for the production of beads from the shells of marine gastropods. Beads and other objects made from gulf coastal shell were integral to the political economies of second-millennium CE chiefdoms across eastern North America. At places as distant from the coast as the lower Midwest, marine gastropods were imported in raw form and converted into beads and other objects by craftspeople at the behest of chiefs. Bead making at Raleigh Island is exceptional not only for its level of production at the supply end of regional demand but also for being outside the purview of chiefly control. Here we introduce the newly discovered above-ground architecture of Raleigh Island and outline its analytical value for investigating the organization of shell bead production in the context of ancient political economies. The details of shell-ring architecture achieved with drone-mounted LiDAR make it possible to compare the bead making of persons distributed across residential spaces with unprecedented resolution.

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EXPLORING THE GUALE VILLAGE AND SPANISH MISSION OCCUPATIONS AT THE SAPELO SHELL RING COMPLEX THROUGH BAYESIAN ANALYSIS

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/rdc.2020.42 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Victor D Thompson ◽

Richard W Jefferies ◽

Christopher R Moore

Keyword(s):

Native American ◽

Bayesian Analysis ◽

The United States ◽

Critical Periods ◽

Mission Period ◽

Ring Complex ◽

Degree Of Certainty ◽

Shell Ring ◽

Southern Georgia ◽

Georgia Coast

ABSTRACT Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon (14C) dates in North American archaeology is increasing, especially among archaeologists working in deeper time. However, historical archaeologists have been slow to embrace these new techniques, and there have been only a few examples of the incorporation of calendar dates as informative priors in Bayesian models in such work in the United States. To illustrate the value of Bayesian approaches to sites with both substantial earlier Native American occupations as well as a historic era European presence, we present the results of our Bayesian analysis of 14C dates from the earlier Guale village and the Mission period contexts from the Sapelo Shell Ring Complex (9MC23) in southern Georgia. Jefferies and Moore have explored the Spanish Mission period deposits at this site to better understand the Native American interactions with the Spanish during the 16th and 17th centuries along the Georgia Coast. Given the results of our Bayesian modeling, we can say with some degree of confidence that the deposits thus far excavated and sampled contain important information dating to the 17th-century mission on Sapelo Island. In addition, our modeling of new dates suggests the range of the pre-Mission era Guale village. Based on these new dates, we can now say with some degree of certainty which of the deposits sampled likely contain information that dates to one of the critical periods of Mission period research, the AD 1660–1684 period that ushered in the close of mission efforts on the Georgia Coast.

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