A Combined Bayesian and Zooarchaeological Approach to Understanding Local Histories of Socio-Ecological Adaptation in Southwestern Florida, USA

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Zooarchaeology and Technology: Case Studies and Applications" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We present current research at the Pineland Site Complex (8LL33, etc.), a large shell midden-mound site in southwestern Florida occupied by the Calusa from around AD 50 up to historic contact. This well-preserved and well-studied archaeological site provides new insights into the relationship between subsistence practices of populations living along the Gulf Coast and the onset of the Little Ice Age (AD 1250-1850). In this paper we combine Bayesian statistical analyses of radiocarbon dates with zooarchaeological analyses of a recently excavated water-logged midden to provide a high-resolution view of what changes occurred during the Little Ice Age. Our research illustrates the potential of Bayesian analysis of multiple radiocarbon dates in combination with zooarchaeological analysis to provide insight into the relationship between the analyzed contexts and the larger site and environmental histories. Such micro-scale temporal perspectives are necessary in order to provide more detailed understanding of variations that occur within complex socio-ecological systems such as these.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Zooarchaeology and Technology: Case Studies and Applications   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23596