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

Author(s): Victor Thompson; C. Fred T. Andrus

Year: 2011

Summary

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.

Cite this Record

Evaluating Mobility, Monumentality, and Feasting at the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex. Victor Thompson, C. Fred T. Andrus. American Antiquity . 76 (2): 315-344. 2011 ( tDAR id: 366745) ; doi:10.6067/XCV89W0GM3

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Late Archaic • Sapelo Shell Ring Complex

Material
Fauna • Hard shell clam • Mercenaria mercenaria • Shell • Shellfish seasonality analysis • Shell midden

Site Name
9 MC 23 • Sapelo Shell Ring Complex

Site Type
Ceremonial • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Feasting • Midden • Shell Midden

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Architectural Documentation • Collections Research • Geophysical Survey • Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Cannon's Point Shell Ring Site • complex societies • Composite Resistance Survey • depositional analysis • Excavation Data • Feasting • Groves' Creek Site • Growth Band Analysis • Isotopic Analysis • King's Bay Collection • MIdden • Mobility Patterns • Monumenatility • Monumental Architecture • Occupation • Oysters • Seasonal / Permanent Occupation • Shell Deposit • Shellfish • Shell-Ring Model • St. Simons Island • Statistical Analysis • Storage • Topographic Analysis • Year Round Occupation

Geographic Keywords
Georgia • Georgia Coast • McIntosh County (County) • Sapelo Island

Temporal Keywords
Late Archaic • Sapelo Shell Ring Complex

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: -4500 to -3000 (South Eastern U.S. Shell Ring Sites)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -81.326; min lat: 31.37 ; max long: -81.15; max lat: 31.57 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Victor Thompson

Sponsor(s): David C. Crass; Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Atlanta, GA

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
2011-AmAntiquity-Mobility-monumentality-middens-Sapelo-Is-Thom... 1.21mb Apr 3, 2015 Apr 3, 2015 8:51:00 AM Public
File provided by Victor Thompson, lead author of the article