Five Centuries of Post-occupation Formation Processes: Excavations at the Dim Bay Site, Bahamas

Summary

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

SS-5, the Dim Bay site, is a prehistoric Lucayan site on the east side of San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Ongoing research reveals intricate stratigraphy in comparison to other sites on the island. While most sites on San Salvador are in protected locations on the leeward sides of dunes, SS-5 is on a low transverse dune by the beach between the ocean and an inland lake. This setting has exposed SS-5 to centuries of extreme storms, including hurricanes and surges, while erosion and changing sea levels have further shaped the site. As a result, SS-5 is composed of at least three strata: a sterile light-colored sand stratum, a darker colored loamy sand cultural horizon, and a lighter colored sand intermixed with plastic. The cultural horizon, buried under increasing amounts of sediment, represents the top of the dune at the time of occupation. This stratigraphy represents the passage of four periods of time. In this presentation, we describe research methods and findings at SS-5 with a focus on formation processes that gave the site its present form—and continue to play havoc with the sedimentology of the island as a whole and threaten the continued existence of the Dim Bay site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37286.0