Exploring Mica in Mortuary Contexts at Fallen Tree (9Li8) on St. Catherines Island, Georgia

Author(s): Thomas Blaber

Year: 2016

Summary

Recent excavations at the Fallen Tree Mortuary Complex (9Li8) on St. Catherines Island, GA have recovered over 20 shaped mica artifacts and dozens of fragments associated within three Late Mississippian adult male burials. This non-local material was purposely shaped and interred with the individuals. In this paper, I present the results of recent analysis and explore mortuary mica use at this site. I examine the location and orientation of the mica discs to help determine spatial patterns and if these pieces were attached to the body at the time of interment. In addition, I examine several unfired clay artifacts that were associated with several mica pieces and may have been used as a method of adhering the mica to the body or a garment. More broadly, these data will help our understanding of Late Mississippian trade networks and mortuary mica use.

Cite this Record

Exploring Mica in Mortuary Contexts at Fallen Tree (9Li8) on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. Thomas Blaber. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 405352)

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

General
Ceremony • Mica • mortuary

Geographic Keywords
North America - Southeast

Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.274; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -72.642; max lat: 36.386 ;