Browsing by Author "DePratter, Chester B."
Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item The anthropology of St. Catherines Island. 2, The Refuge-Deptford mortuary complex. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 56, pt. 1(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1978) Thomas, David Hurst.; Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Clark, George R.; DePratter, Chester B.; Lunsford, Ann Marie."Data and implications from nine burial mounds excavated by crews of the American Museum of Natural History on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, are given in this monograph. As a group, these nine sites define a surprisingly homogeneous pattern and these data comprise virtually all that is known regarding the mortuary customs practiced along the Georgia and Florida coast between ca. 1500 B.C. to A.D. 600. The sites are rather unspectacular sand mounds, which exhibit a remarkably consistent stratigraphic patterning. The skeletal materials recovered are poorly preserved, except in the rare case when shell was added to the interment. The radiocarbon evidence, consisting of 29 determinations from the nine mounds, strongly suggests a marked periodicity in the use of these sites. In all cases, the areas seem to have been visited for centuries - in some cases millenia - prior to the actual construction of the mortuary mound. Several graves were placed into this pre-mound surface, and mound-building activities occurred at all sites sometime during the first 600 years A.D. A number of intrusive burials were added shortly thereafter, and then ceremonial activities virtually ceased at all sites. Most cultural materials found inside the mounds were accidental inclusions which resulted from pre-mound sacred (and probably secular) activities. Very few deliberate grave offerings were found. The biocultural evidence suggests that the Refuge-Deptford population enjoyed good health, although they suffered from an extreme rate of dental attrition. Although the data are limited, these sites seem to reflect an egalitarian sociopolitical organization operative during Refuge-Deptford times. The relatively high proportion of bundle burials seems to suggest that the annual round of these peoples exploited both island and mainland resources. We offer a number of cautious speculations regarding the nature of ritual and symbolism during the Refuge and Deptford phases. These suggestions are a variety of hypotheses that require testing with data from both mortuary and habitation sites of this period"--P. 5.Item The anthropology of St. Catherines Island. 4, The St. Catherines period mortuary complex. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 57, pt. 4(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1982) Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Thomas, David Hurst.; DePratter, Chester B.; Grayson, Donald K."The results of archaeological excavations of two St. Catherines period burial mounds - Marys Mound and Johns Mound - by field crews from the University of Georgia and the American Museum of Natural History are presented. Analysis of the ceramics recovered from the two mortuary localities suggests that both mounds were constructed during the terminal phase of the St. Catherines period, probably during the late twelfth or early thirteenth century A.D. Study of the human skeletal remains suggests that these people were physically robust and enjoyed good health, both skeletal and dental. Analysis of nonhuman skeletal remains shows that most identified taxa are present on St. Catherines Island today. In addition, the presence of the domestic pig, Sus scrofa, in association with one iterment from Johns Mound, points to historic (Altahama) period use of this locality. Thin-section analysis of whole clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) from both sites indicates that time of harvesting or death for all specimens falls within 'late fall' to 'late spring' (November to May)"--P. 273.Item From Santa Elena to St. Augustine : indigenous ceramic variability (A.D. 1400-1700) : proceedings of the Second Caldwell Conference, St. Catherines Island, Georgia, March 30-April 1, 2007. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 90)(New York : American Museum of Natural History., 2009) Deagan, Kathleen A.; Thomas, David Hurst.; Ashley, Keith H.; DePratter, Chester B.; Saunders, Rebecca, 1955-; Waters, Gifford J.; Williams, J. Mark.; Worth, John E.; Caldwell Conference (2nd : 2007 : Saint Catherines Island, Ga.)Archaeologists have long known that important changes took place in aboriginal ceramic assemblages of the northern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coast after the arrival of Europeans. New pottery designs emerged and aboriginal demographics became fluid. Catastrophic population loss occurred in some places, new groups formed in others, and movements of people occurred nearly everywhere. Although culturally and linguistically diverse, the native inhabitants of this region shared the unwelcome encounter with Spanish people and colonial institutions, beginning in the early decades of the 16th century and continuing into the 18th century. Spanish missions and military outposts were established at native communities throughout the area, and these sites have been studied by both archaeologists and historians for decades. As a consequence, the lower southeastern Atlantic coast offers one of the most intensively studied episodes of multicultural colonial engagement in America. The Second Caldwell Conference was organized to bring researchers working in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida together to address and more precisely define aboriginal ceramic change throughout the region as a baseline for approaching a more broadly based anthropological perspective on the consequences of encounter. The scope of inquiry was restricted to late prehistoric and early historic (A.D. 1400-1700) aboriginal ceramic wares from Santa Elena (South Carolina) to St. Augustine (Florida). The primary objective was to more precisely establish the technology, form, and design of the archaeological ceramic evidence. Without devolving into semantic and/or taxonomic wrangles, we examined how well (or poorly) archaeological labels used throughout the region to identify pottery serve as reliable proxies for the physical examples of those ceramic traditions. We also attempted to define the time-space distribution of the various ceramic traditions and pottery types throughout the south Atlantic coast. Specifically, we asked: (1) Did the indigenous ceramic complexes change fundamentally with the arrival of the Spaniards? (2) Or did indigenous ceramic traditions essentially persist, and merely shifted geographically? The eight contributions of this volume examine, on a case-by-case basis, the most important aboriginal ceramic assemblages from Santa Elena southward to St. Augustine, across the region, contextualizing each assemblage with the relevant physical stratigraphy, radiocarbon dates, associations with Euro-American wares, and documentary evidence. We also attempt to situate the physical ceramic evidence from the northern Florida-Georgia-South Carolina coastline with the contemporary archaeological assemblages in the immediate interior. The volume concludes with an epilogue that summarizes the results and general contributions of the conference, relative to archaeological practice in the lower Atlantic coastal Southeast, and also to the larger cultural and methodological issues raised by these papers.Item Life among the tides : recent archaeology on the Georgia Bight : proceedings of the Sixth Caldwell Conference, St. Catherines Island, Georgia, May 20-22, 2011. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 98)(American Museum of Natural History., 2013-06-14) Thomas, David Hurst.; Thompson, Victor D.; Alexander, Clark R. (Clark Raymond), 1960-; Ashley, Keith H.; Blair, Elliot, 1981-; Cordell, Ann S.; Deagan, Kathleen A.; DePratter, Chester B.; Fitzpatrick, Scott M.; Garrison, Ervan G.; Hayes, Royce H.; Jefferies, Richard W.; Keene, Deborah Ann.; Mahar, Ginessa J.; Marrinan, Rochelle A.; Moore, Christopher R.; Napolitano, Matthew F.; Parsons, Alexandra L.; Rolland, Vicki L.; Sanger, Matthew C., 1976-; Sipe, Ryan O.; Thompson, Amanda D. Roberts.; Thunen, Robert L.; Turck, John A.; Wallis, Neill J.; Whitley, Thomas G.; American Museum of Natural History.; Saint Catherines Island Foundation.; Caldwell Conference (6th : 2011 : Saint Catherines Island, Ga.)Although this volume covers a broad range of temporal and methodological topics, the chapters are unified by a geographic focus on the archaeology of the Georgia Bight. The various research projects span multiple time periods (including Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian, and contact periods) and many incorporate specialized analyses (such as petrographic point counting, shallow geophysics, and so forth). The 26 contributors conducting this cutting-edge work represent the full spectrum of the archaeological community, including museum, academic, student, and contract archaeologists. Despite the diversity in professional and theoretical backgrounds, temporal periods examined, and methodological approaches pursued, the volume is unified by four distinct, yet interrelated, themes. Contributions in Part I discuss a range of analytical approaches for understanding time, exchange, and site layout. Chapters in Part II model coastal landscapes from both environmental and social perspectives. The third section addresses site-specific studies of late prehistoric architecture and village layout throughout the Georgia Bight. Part IV presents new and ongoing research into the Spanish mission period of this area. These papers were initially presented and discussed at the Sixth Caldwell Conference, cosponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and the St. Catherines Island Foundation, held on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, May 20-22, 2011. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Revising the ¹⁴C reservoir correction for St. Catherines Island, Georgia / David Hurst Thomas, Matthew C. Sanger, and Royce H. Hayes -- An assessment of coastal faunal data from Georgia and northeast Florida / Alexandra L. Parsons and Rochelle A. Marrinan -- Archaeological geophysics on St. Catherines Island : beyond prospection / Ginessa J. Mahar -- Paste variability and clay resource utilization at the Fountain of Youth site, St. Augustine, 8SJ31 / Ann S. Cordell and Kathleen A. Deagan -- Petrographic analysis of pottery and clay samples from the Georgia Bight : evidence of regional social interactions / Neill J. Wallis and Ann S. Cordell -- Past shorelines of the Georgia coast / Chester B. DePratter and Victor D. Thompson -- Coastal landscapes and their relationship to human settlement on the Georgia coast / John A. Turck and Clark R. Alexander -- The role of small islands in foraging economies of St. Catherines Island / Matthew F. Napolitano -- Ever-shifting landscapes : tracking changing spatial usage along coastal Georgia / Matthew C. Sanger -- A paleoeconomic model of the Georgia coast (4500-300 B.P.) / Thomas G. Whitley -- A survey of Irene phase architecture on the Georgia coast / Deborah A. Keene and Ervan G. Garrison -- Life and death on the Ogeechee : a view from the Redbird Creek village / Ryan O. Sipe -- Mission San Joseph de Sapala : mission-period archaeological research on Sapelo Island / Richard W. Jefferies and Christopher R. Moore -- The Guale landscape of Mission Santa Catalina de Guale : 30 years of geophysics at a Spanish colonial mission / Elliot H. Blair -- Missions San Buenaventura and Santa Cruz de Guadalquini : retreat from the Georgia coast / Keith H. Ashley, Vicki L. Rolland, and Robert L. Thunen -- Entangling events : the Guale coastal landscape and the Spanish missions / Victor D. Thompson, John A. Turck, Amanda D. Roberts Thompson, and Chester B. DePratter -- Island and coastal archaeology on the Georgia Bight / Scott M. Fitzpatrick.Item Native American landscapes of St. Catherines Island, Georgia. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 88)(2008) Thomas, David Hurst.; Andrus, C. Fred T.; Bishop, Gale A.; Blair, Elliot, 1981-; Blanton, Dennis B.; Crowe, Douglas E. (Douglas Edward); DePratter, Chester B.; Dukes, Joel.; Francis, Peter, Jr.; Guerrero, Debra.; Hayes, Royce H.; Kick, Maureen.; Larsen, Clark Spencer.; Licate, Camille.; Linsley, David M.; May, J. Alan.; McNeil, Jessica.; O'Brien, Deborah Mayer.; Paulk, Greg.; Pendleton, Lorann S. A.; Reitz, Elizabeth Jean, 1946-; Rollins, Harold B., 1939-; Russo, Michael, 1953-; Sanger, Matthew C., 1976-; Saunders, Rebecca, 1955-; Semon, Anna.Four deceptively simple questions have guided our long-term research into the aboriginal lifeways of St. Catherines Island: 1. How and why did the human landscape (settlement patterns and land use) change through time? 2. To what extent were subsistence and settlement patterns shaped by human population increase, intensification, and competition for resources? 3. What factors can account for the emergence of social inequality in Georgia's Sea Islands? 4. Can systematically collected archaeological evidence resolve the conflicting ethno-historic interpretations of the aboriginal Georgia coast (the so-called 'Guale problem')? Over a span of four decades, the American Museum of Natural History has addressed these four fundamental questions using a broad array of field and analytical techniques. We conducted a 20 percent probabilistic transect survey of St. Catherines Island, walking and probing for buried sites across a series of 31 east-west transects, each 100 m wide. During this initial survey we located 122 archaeological sites, which we tested with more than 400 one-meter by one-meter units. Because the transect sampling was heavily biased toward sites with marine shell, we also conducted a systematic shovel testing program. We also augmented these systematic surveys with a direct shoreline reconnaissance (mostly following the late Holocene surfaces), recording roughly 84 additional shoreline sites on St. Catherines Island. By plotting the distribution of these known-age sites across the Holocene beach ridges, we have developed a detailed sequence documenting the progradation and erosion of beach ridge complexes adjacent to tidal estuaries and oceanward shorelines on the island. To evaluate the results of the 1000+ test explorations and excavations on St. Catherines Island, we have processed 251 radiocarbon determinations, including two dozen dates on 'modern' mollusks (known-age specimens collected prior to atomic bomb contamination) to compute a 'reservoir' correction factor specific to the estuaries around St. Catherines Island (of [Delta]R = -134 [+ or -] 26). The results have been compiled into a dataset of 239 radiocarbon determinations for samples from St. Catherines Island. One hundred and ten of these dates (from 31 distinct mortuary and midden sites) could be directly associated with datable ceramic assemblages, which were classified according to Chester DePratter's (1979, 1991) Northern Georgia Coast chronology .By comparing the results of typological classification with the radiocarbon evidence currently available from St. Catherines Island, we propose a slightly modified ceramic chronology for St. Catherines Island. We analyzed the seasonal growth increments in modern hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) for a 9-year interval (beginning in 1975). Mercenaria suitable for seasonal analysis were recovered from nearly 85 percent (110 of 130) of the sites identified and sampled in the island wide survey. We analyzed about 2000 individual hard clam shells recovered from these shell middens and, of these, 1771 individual specimens (or fragments) provided usable growth increment estimates, enabling us to address seasonal patterns during the 5000 years of human history. This study is reinforced by an oxygen isotope study of modern and ancient clams from St. Catherines Island. This transect survey produced an extensive and diverse set of vertebrate faunal remains collected systematically from archaeological sites tested across the entire island. Elizabeth Reitz and her colleagues analyzed this vertebrate faunal assemblage, which contains at least 586 individuals represented by 14,970 vertebrate specimens weighing 21,615 g. These materials provide a solid basis for refining hypotheses not only for St. Catherines Island, but for most coastal locations. With the exception of the first and last occupations (the St. Simons and Altamaha periods), the samples suggest a stable pattern of resource use through time, with little variation through time or across space (although the small sample sizes for each time period and circumscribed geographical setting might constrain this interpretation). She also notes the presence of numerous seasonal indicators in the vertebrate zoo archaeological samples recovered from archaeological sites on St. Catherines Island--including unshed deer antlers, juvenile deer dentition, and shark and sea catfish remains. But we also recognized the importance of examining diverse sources of seasonal information in our attempt to flesh out overall patterns of site utilization. We also include analysis of the vertebrate zooarchaeological assemblages from Meeting House Field and Fallen Tree, two additional sites intensively investigated by the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Georgia. The intensive program of mortuary archaeology has recovered the remains of more than 725 individuals from 18 archaeological sites on St. Catherines Island. More than 90 percent of these remains were analyzed by Clark Spencer Larsen and his colleagues, using a variety of microscopic, biomechanical, and stable isotopic techniques. In this monograph, we address the archaeology of St. Catherines Island using the broad- based theoretical approach known as optimal foraging theory, which is grounded in the more general paradigm of human behavioral ecology (that studies human behavior by applying the principles of natural selection within an ecological context). The broad rubric of 'optimal foraging theory' encompasses a broad range of specific models, each of which employs a unique set of simplifying assumptions and constraints, and each can be used to derive testable hypotheses about foraging behavior under certain environmental circumstances. Each model is a formal, mathematical construct and they share the key assumption that during 'economic' pursuits, the forager will operate to maximize the overall rate of energetic return. Specifically, we have employed three basic models to address the archaeology of St. Catherines Island. The diet-breadth (or prey choice) model addresses the issue of which foods should an efficient forager harvest from all those available on St. Catherines Island. Diet-breadth models predict that foragers will optimize the time spent capturing prey, and employ the simplifying assumptions that all resources are randomly distributed (without patches) and that 'capture/handling' and 'search' times represent the sum total of all time spent foraging. We also apply the patch choice model, which, combined with the central limit theorem, predicts that foraging effort will correlate directly with efficiency rank order, meaning that foragers should spend more time working the higher-ranked patches and less time in patches with lower energetic potential. Finally, we likewise employ the central place foraging model to investigate the time/energy spent processing resources at temporary camps before transport to a residential base. We find central place foraging theory to be useful for addressing the role and location of the residential base as a locus for provisioning offspring and mates or potential mates. This monograph also reports the results of optimal foraging experiments conducted over a 2-year period on St. Catherines Island, specifically addressing procurement and return rates for key marine and terrestrial resources that would have been available to aboriginal foragers on St. Catherines Island.Item Seasonality and human mobility along the Georgia Bight : proceedings of the Fifth Caldwell Conference, St. Catherines Island, Georgia, May 14-16, 2010. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 97)(American Museum of Natural History., 2012-03-06) Reitz, Elizabeth Jean, 1946-; Quitmyer, Irvy R.; Thomas, David Hurst.; Andrus, C. Fred T., 1967-; Bergh, Sarah G.; Cannarozzi, Nicole R.; Carroll, Gwendolyn Denise.; Colaninno, Carol E.; Culleton, Brendan.; DePratter, Chester B.; Hollenbach, Kandace D.; Jones, Douglas S.; Keene, Deborah Ann.; Kennett, Douglas J.; Lambert, Charles W.; Moak, J. W.; Saul, Bruce M.; Scarry, C. Margaret.; Waselkov, Gregory A.; Wing, Elizabeth S.; American Museum of Natural History.; Saint Catherines Island Foundation.; Caldwell Conference (5th : 2010 : Saint Catherines Island, Ga.)Some of the most enduring and fundamental questions in archaeology relate to site seasonality. During which seasons did people occupy coastal archaeological sites? Why is "seasonality" important to our understanding of human behavior? What does this knowledge tell us about life in dynamic estuarine systems? What methods and technologies are available to address key issues of seasonality? Archaeological seasonality is uniquely linked to settlement patterns, resource availability, environmental relationships, anthropogenesis, landscapes, and social complexity. Archaeologists working in coastal settings typically recover multiple biological proxies that are well suited to explicating questions of human seasonal behavior. The Fifth Caldwell Conference was convened to discuss and report on practiced methods for reading the seasonality record found in common biological proxies. These researchers spoke of how they are applying various methods grounded in the natural sciences to estimate seasonality with particular reference to the archaeology of St. Catherines Island and the Georgia Bight. These methods include stable isotope analysis, ¹⁴C dating, longitudinal studies of animals (molluscs and fishes), zooarchaeology, and archaeobotany. The research shows that all plant and animal remains found in a midden contain a record of human behavior. The authors of these 13 chapters agree that multiple indicators of site seasonality provide the most robust picture of the annual settlement cycle. These papers were initially presented at the Fifth Caldwell Conference, cosponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and the St. Catherines Island Foundation, held on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, May 14-16, 2010. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Seasonality and mobility on the Georgia Bight : why should we care? / David Hurst Thomas -- A Bayesian chronological framework for determining site seasonality and contemporaneity / Douglas J. Kennett and Brendan J. Culleton -- Interpreting seasonality from modern and archaeological fishes on the Georgia coast / Elizabeth J. Reitz, Bruce M. Saul, J.W. Moak, Gwendolyn D. Carroll, and Charles W. Lambert -- Evaluating [delta]¹⁸O profiles of hardhead catfish and Atlantic croaker otoliths as a method of determining seasonal use of fishes / Carol E. Colaninno -- Late prehistoric settlement patterns : zooarchaeological evidence from Back Creek Village, St. Catherines Island / Sarah G. Bergh -- Molluscs as oxygen-isotope season-of-capture proxies in southeastern United States archaeology / C. Fred T. Andrus -- Annual incremental shell growth patterns in hard clams (Mercenaria spp.) from St. Catherines Island, Georgia : a record of seasonal and anthropogenic impact on zooarchaeological resources / Irvy R. Quitmyer and Douglas S. Jones -- Validation of annual shell increments and shifting population dynamics in modern and zooarchaeological hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) from the Litchfield Beach region, South Carolina / Douglas S. Jones, Irvy R. Quitmyer, and Chester B. DePratter -- Reevaluating the use of impressed odostome (Boonea impressa) as a season of capture indicator for oysters / Deborah Ann Keene -- Estimating the season of harvest of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) from the St. Catherines Shell Ring / Nicole R. Cannarozzi -- What can plants and plant data tell us about seasonality? / C. Margaret Scarry and Kandace D. Hollenbach -- Making a case for coastal subsistence seasonality / Gregory A. Waselkov -- Discussion / Elizabeth S. Wing.Item Trend, tradition, and turmoil : what happened to the southeastern Archaic? : proceedings of the Third Caldwell Conference, St. Catherines Island, Georgia, May 9-11, 2008. (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 93)(American Museum of Natural History., 2010) Thomas, David Hurst.; Sanger, Matthew C., 1976-; Anderson, David G., 1949-; DePratter, Chester B.; Gibson, Jon L.; Kidder, Tristram R.; Marquardt, William H.; Marrinan, Rochelle A.; Russo, Michael, 1953-; Sassaman, Kenneth E.; Saunders, Joe.; Saunders, Rebecca, 1955-; Schwadron, Margo.; Thompson, Victor D.; American Museum of Natural History.; Saint Catherines Island Foundation.; Caldwell Conference (3rd : 2008 : Saint Catherines Island, Ga.)The late Archaic of the American Southeast is typically described as a time of population growth, innovative developments in subsistence strategies, and increased social complexity. Although it is difficult to generalize, many early Woodland communities are characterized as relatively small scale, fairly mobile foragers organized into unranked or minimally ranked lineages and clans. Early Woodland groups also seem to be more socially isolated than their late Archaic predecessors, with a decline in regional exchange networks. The papers in this volume were presented at a conference entitled "What Happened in the Late Archaic?" which was co-sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and the St. Catherines Island Foundation and held on St. Catherines Island (Georgia), May 9-11, 2008. The Third Caldwell Conference invited the participants to engage the appropriate archaeological data from the American Southeast, specifically addressing the nature of change during the late Archaic-early Woodland transition. This volume consists of a dozen substantive papers, followed by three discussant contributions. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Trend, tradition, and transition at the end of the Archaic / Tristram R. Kidder -- "Nothing but the river's flood" : late Archaic diaspora or disengagement in the lower Mississippi Valley and southeastern North America / Jon L. Gibson -- The two rings of St. Catherines Island : some preliminary results from the St. Catherines and McQueen shell rings / Matthew C. Sanger and David Hurst Thomas -- Two late Archaic period shell rings, St. Simon's Island, Georgia / Rochelle A. Marrinan -- The Archaic above Choctawhatchee Bay : hydrodynamics, adaptation, and abandonment / Rebecca Saunders -- Prehistoric landscapes of complexity : Archaic and Woodland period shell works, shell rings, and tree islands of the Everglades, South Florida / Margo Schwadron -- Shell rings and other settlement features as indicators of cultural continuity between the late Archaic and Woodland periods of coastal Florida / Michael Russo -- "What happened to the southeastern Archaic?" : a perspective from St. Catherines Island / David Hurst Thomas -- Leaving the rings : shell ring abandonment and the end of the late Archaic / Matthew C. Sanger -- The rhythms of space-time and the making of monuments and places during the Archaic / Victor D. Thompson -- Getting from the late Archaic to early Woodland in three middle valleys (those being the Savannah, St. Johns, and Tennessee) / Kenneth E. Sassaman -- Late Archaic? : what the hell happened to the middle Archaic? / Joe Saunders -- Thoughts on the late Archaic-early Woodland transition on the Georgia and South Carolina coasts / Chester B. DePratter -- Mounds, middens, and rapid climate change during the Archaic-Woodland transition in the southeastern United States / William H. Marquardt -- The end of the southeastern Archaic : regional interaction and archaeological interpretation / David G. Anderson.