Shell Mound Architecture and Cooperative Mass Oyster Collection on the Central Gulf Coast of Florida, USA

Summary

Coastal fisher-gather-hunters often have a deep connection among their ritual practices, economic systems, and the built environment. Emerging trends and traditions of cooperation within forager communities can have lasting impacts on group social organization and can be instrumental in the development of early villages. The Crystal River region of the Gulf Coast of Florida, U.S.A provides an interesting locale to explore the intersection between shell mound architecture and cooperative mass capture of estuarine resources. To so do, we combine our recent research on the temporality of village life and monument construction, habitat exploitation practices, and ethnographic example in order to model the emergence of cooperative systems in the context of these larger traditions (e.g., monument construction). The results from our recent research provide insight into patterns of behavior that are suggestive of habitual cooperation at multiple temporal and spatial scales.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Archaeological Perspectives on the Evolution of Forager Cooperation

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15137