Geophysical and Archaeological Explorations of the Center of the Creighton Island Shell Ring (9MC87), Georgia, USA

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Creighton Island Shell Ring (9MC87) is one of several Late Archaic shell rings, circular or “U”- shaped deposits of shell and soil, in coastal Georgia. Radiocarbon dates suggest the shell ring was constructed in at least two phases: constructed initially around 2000–1810 BC, and ceasing around 1920-1730 BC, indicating rapid construction and slightly post-dating the abandonment of other Late Archaic shell bearing sites in the region. Magnetic gradiometry and soil resistance surveys conducted at the shell ring identified multiple anomalies related to the shell ring morphology as well as features within the center. Ground truthing confirmed the presence of features detected in the center of the ring. However, unlike many other shell ring sites that have relatively shell-free interiors, archaeological excavations revealed that the Creighton Island shell ring interior contains an approximately 30 cm thick deposit of whole and broken oyster shell. Preliminary analysis of the ceramic assemblage suggest that this thick shell lens was deposited during the Woodland period, suggesting significant site re-use following the Late Archaic period. This paper presents results from these interior ring excavations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35900.0