Shell Mound Archaeology

In Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 93, pp.113-136.

This work presents new archaeological evidence, from the interior freshwater tree islands within Everglades National Park’s  Shark River Slough, that demonstrates the south Florida environment was sufficiently stable to have supported intensive occupation of interior freshwater tree islands during the Late Archaic period, suggesting much greater populations than were previously thought to exist. In the Ten Thousand Islands, she presents new evidence demonstrating a long tradition of shell ring and shell architecture spanning the Late Archaic through Woodland Transition within both the interior wetlands and southwest Florida coast. This reflects an emergence of social complexity much earlier than was previously thought.

In the final chapter of this volume, we review the history of research on the Green River Shell Mound Archaic and summarize knowledge about five research topics that Shell Mound Archaeological Project personnel have investigated. We conclude by indicating some fruitful directions for future work in the middle Green River region.

all rights reserved iii MANAGEMENT SUMMARY The St. Johns Archaeological Field School of the Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, conducted a fifth season of archaeological investigations at Hontoon Island State Park in the summer of 2005. This research was conducted under a 1A-32 Permit, 0405.72. Two projects were undertaken: (1) mapping, coring, and stratigraphic excavation of the Hontoon Dead Creek Village (8VO215); and (2) reconnaissance survey of the perimeter of Hontoon Island to complete subsurface characterization of sites previously recorded, and to locate and characterize any additional sites. Recommendations for continued investigations at Hontoon Island State Park and associated State-owned properties include remote sensing and limited testing of nonmound sites on Hontoon Island; reconnaissance survey and limited testing of small sites on the east terrace of the St. Johns; topographic mapping and limited testing of Blue Spring Oxbow Mound (8VO44); block excavations at Hontoon Island North (8VO202); and coring and testing of the swamp margins fronting the St. Johns River. iv

In 2009, an opportunity presented itself to archaeologically investigate Brown’s Complex Mound 5, a feature located on private property within the Pineland Site Complex on Pine Island, Florida. Excavations at Mound 5 during 2009 and 2010 have added to the overall temporal and spatial knowledge of the 63-acre archaeological site complex. This paper situates the findings from Mound 5 in the context of other
contemporary deposits, with a focus on the pottery and faunal assemblages. Based on the analysis of stratification, pottery, faunal remains, and radiocarbon dates, Mound 5 is determined to be a largely intact component of the Brown’s Complex dating to between
A.D. 450 and A.D. 650.

Large accumulations of ancient shells on coastlines and riverbanks were long considered the result of garbage disposal during repeated food gatherings by early inhabitants of the southeastern United States. In this volume, Asa R. Randall presents the first synthesis of the St. Johns freshwater shell sites since the late nineteenth century. Drawing on social theory, he convincingly posits that these ancient “garbage dumps” were actually burial mounds, ceremonial gathering places, and often habitation spaces central to the histories and social geography of the hunter-gatherer societies who built them.
Integrating more than 150 years of shell mound investigations, including Ripley Bullen’s crucial work, climatological records, and modern remote sensing data, Randall rejects the long-standing ecological interpretation and redefines these sites as socially significant places that reveal previously unknown complexities about the hunter-gatherer societies of the Mount Taylor period (ca. 7400–4600 cal. B.P.). Affected by climate change and increased scales of social interaction, the region’s inhabitants modified the landscape in surprising and meaningful ways. This pioneering volume presents an alternate history from which emerge rich details about the daily activities, ceremonies, and burial rituals of the St. Johns River Archaic cultures.

A nuanced understanding of the western Kentucky Green River Archaic requires reconciling the region’s rich archaeological record with the growing literature pertaining to how hunter-gatherers perceive their worlds. A dwelling perspective of the Green River Archaic involves interpreting the region’s large middens as components of animated lifeworlds saturated with meaning and composed of numerous constantly maintained relationships among people and between people and various other beings. This article explores how Green River Archaic hunter-gatherers constructed the middens through daily practices and periodic emotionally charged mortuary rites, thereby giving them meaning as persistent places and contributing to an ever-evolving, historically constituted landscape.

Resumo: O presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar a metodologia e os resultados das pesquisas feitas acerca da ocupação humana histórica na faixa leste da Ilha de São Francisco no Município de São Francisco do Sul/SC e seus impactos sobre os sambaquis nela existentes, por meio de diferentes fontes históricas. A pesquisa que origina este artigo visa traçar a relação entre as ocupações humanas pré-coloniais, a partir dos 29 sambaquis presentes na região, e as ocupações históricas do período colonial e pós-colonial. Os resultados indicam intensa atividade humana na região do entorno destes sambaquis por povoações históricas desde pelo menos o século XVIII até a década de 1960. Retirada de seu material para o uso na indústria da cal, lavoura e aterramento de ruas e terrenos são os principais usos dos sambaquis por essas populações históricas, acarretando a destruição parcial de 18 destes sítios arqueológicos. Palavras-chave: São Francisco do Sul. Sambaquis. Ocupação histórica.
Abstract: This article aims to present the methodology and results of the research done on the historical human occupation in the eastern range of the island of São Francisco in São Francisco do Sul/SC and their impacts on existing shell mounds, through different historical sources. The research that originates this article aims to draw the relationship between pre-colonial human occupations, from the 29 existing shell mounds in the region, and the historical occupations from colonial and post-colonial periods. The results indicate intense human activity in the area surrounding * Doutora em História (UNICAMP). Professora do programa de Pós-Graduação stricto sensu em Patrimônio Cultural e Sociedade (Mestrado) e do programa de Pós-Graduação lato sensu em

Test excavations at the Middle Archaic Baker and Late Archaic Chiggerville shell midden sites in western Kentucky confirm previous observations that chipped stone tool production debitage occurs at these sites in relatively low frequencies.  Analysis of debitage present in soil flotation heavy fractions indicates that most flakes at these sites are too small to be recovered by standard 1/4 inch mesh recovery techniques.  Comparisons of relative frequencies of debitage of various size classes indicate significant differences between the two assemblages that may relate to temporal, organizational, or site use differences.  Comparative studies such as this one have important implications for how archaeologists interpret shell midden sites and incorporate data from these sites into regional syntheses.

Archaeological investigations by the authors along the Cumberland River near Nashville in 2009 and 2010 recovered materials from stratified deposits at three archaeological sites that collectively span the Early Archaic through Early Woodland periods. A series of 29 AMS radiocarbon determinations, all but five obtained from close interval flotation sampling of stratigraphic columns, document the age of these deposits. Two shell midden deposits at sites 40DV14 and 40CH171 were dated to the Mid-Holocene, between ca. 5800 to 6200 14 C yr BP. Numerous dates were obtained from artifact bearing deposits above and below the shell midden at 40CH171, demonstrating that the site was occupied throughout the Middle Holocene and into the Late Holocene, from ca. 8000 to 4000 14 C yr BP. A third site, 40DV307, was characterized by pit features dating to the early Woodland period, ca. 2700 14 C yr BP. This research greatly expands the inventory of absolute dates from secure archaeological context in the western portion of the Middle Cumberland River valley, and demonstrates the utility of careful fine screen/flotation procedures for the recovery of datable materials from deeply stratified sites in riverine environments.

Anthropogenic coastal landscapes often incorporate shell, a durable remnant of subsistence activity. Collection, consumption, and even feasting can thus contribute to histories of site formation and mound construction. This research assesses how oyster consumption related to the creation of Mound A, a shell mound at the Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex in Citrus County, Florida, is differentiated from the instances of oyster consumption that resulted in the midden constituting the rest of the island. I compare the size of shell remains from mound and off-mound midden contexts to assess variation in the sizes represented across the samples, stratigraphic variation within each context, and evidence for directional change indicative of over-exploitation. I identify a relationship of dependence between shell size and stratigraphic depth in off-mound samples that does not appear in mound samples, suggesting a relatively short period of time for the accumulation of mound deposit oyster shells. The findings of this study point to mound construction at Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex as a distinct and deliberate activity, with the construction event likely sharing importance with the community aggregation and consumption that facilitated it.

This article is dedicated to the research of the Chalcolithic site Ardych Burun (Stavra) which is situated on the Southern coast of Crimea. The specific character of Ardych Burun is determined by the shell heap that contains shells of Ostrea edulis and Mytilus edulis. The artifacts are represented by flints, ceramics, animal bones, and tools made from marine pebbles.

This study examines the significance of hunter-gatherer built landscapes through
an analysis of Mount Taylor period (ca. 7300–4600 cal B.P.) shell mounds along the
Middle St. Johns River in northeast Florida. Mount Taylor communities are best known
for the incipient exploitation of shellfish and other aquatic resources in the region. In
Florida and elsewhere, shell mounds are routinely interpreted as refuse accumulations,
while their repeated occupation is taken to represent long-term continuities enabled by
abundant wetland resources. Through a historiography of local research, I show that
this model of shell mound growth reflects widely held anthropological assumptions
regarding hunter-gatherer social simplicity and stasis, and obscures evidence for
change through time. I develop an alternative framework based on practice theory to
detail how shell mounds and associated places emerged as a historical process in
which communities inscribed and politicized social memories through the deposition of
shellfish and other materials within landscapes.

In order to problematize the contexts of shell mound inhabitation, I examine the
paleohydrology of the Middle St. Johns River. I also consider the evidence for continuities in subsistence, settlement, exchange relationships, and mortuary traditions
throughout the Mount Taylor period. The social and ecological contexts provide a
spatial and chronological framework for examining how Mount Taylor communities
inhabited places. Because most shell mounds were destroyed by twentieth century
land-use practices, I use historic observations and modern remote sensing data to
develop a geospatial database detailing the location and organization of Mount Taylor
places. The results of topographic and stratigraphic testing of non-mounded shell sites
are also reported. This analysis details how Mount Taylor communities established and
renewed settlements as witnessed in small-scale depositional practices. Finally, I
reconstruct the histories of six Mount Taylor shell mounds based on stratigraphic
testing.

The results demonstrate that shellfishing was initiated at a time of considerable
landscape instability by arguably diverse regional populations. After being established
as places to dwell, some preexisting settlements were reconfigured as platform mounds
upon which shellfish was deposited in ritualized sequences, while others were
converted into foundations for mortuary mounds. Through time, other shell mounds
experienced complex histories of abandonment, renewal, and transformation as well. I
argue that along the St. Johns, Mount Taylor communities routinely referenced past
places in order to construct new social histories that accommodated or denied social
and ecological change.

Mound Key was once the capital of the Calusa Kingdom, a large Pre-Hispanic polity that controlled much of southern Florida. Mound Key, like other archaeological sites along the southwest Gulf Coast, is a large expanse of shell and other anthropogenic sediments. The challenges that these sites pose are largely due to the size and areal extent of the deposits, some of which begin up to a meter below and exceed nine meters above modern sea levels. Additionally, the complex depositional sequences at these sites present difficulties in determining their chronology. Here, we examine the development of Mound Key as an anthropogenic island through systematic coring of the deposits, excavations, and intensive radiocarbon dating. The resulting data, which include the reversals of radiocarbon dates from cores and dates from mound-top features, lend insight into the temporality of site formation. We use these insights to discuss the nature and scale of human activities that worked to form this ...

An interesting new species of pulmonate land snail was collected in two shell mounds, Figueirinha II and Jabuticabeira II, from Jaguaruna municipality, Santa Catarina, Brazil. It is described here as Megalobulimus jaguarunensis sp. nov., and can be identified by its small, slightly dorsoventrally compressed, slender shell, with an elongate outline, markedly prosocline aperture and conspicuous oblique fold, as well as a protoconch sculptured by a series of strong, moderately-spaced, prosocline axial ribs.

While Archaic shell-bearing sites along the coastal margins of the Southeastern United States have been the subject of multi-year investigations, interior riverine shell-bearing sites have, with the exception of Carlston Annis on the Green River in Kentucky, garnered only limited study. Nevertheless, the combined data from coastal and interior shell-bearing sites have led to broad regional interpretations of the Shell Mound Archaic and debate between archaeologists about site construction and function. Archaic shell-bearing sites in the Southeastern United States vary widely in terms of chronologies, horizontal and vertical structure, the types of cultural features which they contain, and molluscan species composition. This has led to a growing realization that Archaic shell-bearing sites cannot -- or should not-- be lumped into a single pan- regional culture, and that the “mound vs. midden” debate presents an interpretive logjam that does not satisfactorily address local and regional variations. The specific chronologies and composition of Archaic shell-bearing sites in the Middle Cumberland River Valley constitute a unique regional phenomenon distinct from other interior riverine sites lumped within the Shell Mound Archaic paradigm.