Shell Ring

The arrival of Spanish missionaries on the Georgia and Florida coasts in the mid-16th century began what is known as the Mission period (1568-1684), a time of sustained interaction between the Spanish and many coastal Indian polities. At the time of Spanish contact, much of the central and northern Georgia coast was occupied by Muskogean-speaking people known as the Guale (Worth 2004a). Sapelo Island, one of the Georgia "barrier" islands, is the site of at least one Spanish mission, the...

In 2004, University of Kentucky archaeologists started a new research project designed to assess the nature, intensity, and extent of Mission period activity in and around Shell Ring II in the northern portion of the Sapelo Shell Ring complex (9Mc23) (Jefferies and Thompson 2005) (Figure 3). We have employed a diversified data recovery strategy incorporating geophysical survey, shovel probing, soil auguring, metal detector survey, and test unit excavation (Jefferies and Moore 2009).

This paper examines the formation and changing use of circular shell-bearing sites (i.e., s.hell rings) in the southeastern United States to provide information on the role of circular village organization and monument construction among hunter-gatherer groups.

The electrical resistivity pseudosection provides information about variation in soil moisture content and texture at multiple depths along a vertical axis through the ground. A series of pseudosections were collected on Ring 3 at the Sapelo Island Shell Ring site. These show both horizontal and vertical changes in the ring composition. Two-dimensional inversion of these pseudosections suggests that Ring 3 is made up of discrete concentrations of shell rather than layered shell ani soil.

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 growth band of clams (Mercenaria spp.) and stable oxygen isotope ratios of clam and oyster shells (Crassostrea virginica) at the Sapelo Island Shell Ring complex located on the Georgia coast, USA. The...

Correspondence about increased visitation to the Shell Ring site

The Sapelo Shell Ring complex, located on Sapelo Island, Georgia, consists of three large circular shell mounds and numerous smaller amorphous shell middens. Today, one of the rings is highly visible; however, the two other rings and the nonring middens have little surface relief and are virtually invisible. In fact, the location and very existence of the two other rings has been debated for some time. Recent geophysical survey, however, has located the subsurface re­mains of the two...

Proposed Research for Testing Project of Sapelo Island Shell Project

Excavations at the Sapelo Island Shell Ring complex in Georgia produced a voluminous assemblage of St Simons pottery and a small amount of pottery that appears to be of the Thorn's Creek type. Known mainly from South Carolina, Thorn's Creek ceramics have not been found this far south along the Georgia Coast (Williams and Thompson 1999:125-126). In this study, we investigate whether the ceramics found at Sapelo are more closely related to South ...

Report/Correspondence on the 2010 Mapping- and Survey Fieldwork

Archaeological field investigations focused on the area north of Shell Ring II, containing evidence for Guale/Spanish interaction

Newspaper Article - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Working Papers on the Sapelo Shell Ring _ Site (9Mcl23): Geophysics, Ceramic. Analysis, and Zooarchaeology

Images of Shell Pile Excavation

Images of Shipwreck 1

Images of Shipwreck 2

Images of Shipwreck 3