SeaSonality and Human mobility along tHe georgia bigHt

240 Pages·2012·11.17 MB·English

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eaSonality and
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uman obility along
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tH e eorgia igHt
eliZabetH J. reitZ,
irVy r. Quitmyer, and
daVid HurSt tHomaS
editorS and ContributorS
American Museum of Natural History Anthropological Papers, Number 97
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2012 SEASONALITY AND HUMAN MOBILITY ALONG THE GEORGIA BIGHT 1
SEASONALITY AND HUMAN MOBILITY
ALONG THE GEORGIA BIGHT
ELIZABETH J. REITZ, IRVY R. QUITMYER,
AND
DAVID HURST THOMAS
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY
C. FRED T. ANDRUS, SARAH G. BERGH, NICOLE R. CANNAROZZI,
GWENDOLYN D. CARROLL, CAROL E. COLANINNO, BRENDAN J.
CULLETON, CHESTER B. DEPRATTER, KANDACE D. HOLLENBACH,
DOUGLAS S. JONES, DEBORAH ANN KEENE, DOUGLAS J. KENNETT,
CHARLES W. LAMBERT, J.W. MOAK, BRUCE M. SAUL, C. MARGARET
SCARRY, GREGORY A. WASELKOV, AND ELIZABETH S. WING
Proceedings of the Fifth Caldwell Conference
St. Catherines Island, Georgia
May 14–16, 2010
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Number 97, 236 pages, 80 figures, 30 tables
Issued March 6, 2012
Copyright © American Museum of Natural History 2012
ISSN 0065-9452
2 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY N O . 97
2012 SEASONALITY AND HUMAN MOBILITY ALONG THE GEORGIA BIGHT 3
CONTENTS
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Participants in the Fifth Caldwell Conference ..................................................................................... 11
Preface. ELIZABETH J. REITZ, IRVY R. QUITMYER, AND DAVID HURST THOMAS ......................................... 13
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 1. Seasonality and mobility on the Georgia Bight: why should we care?
DAVID HURST THOMAS ...................................................................................................................... 19
What’s the “Guale problem”? ......................................................................................................... 19
Conflicting views ........................................................................................................................ 19
Competing hypotheses and logical consequences ...................................................................... 20
Archaeology and the Guale problem .............................................................................................. 21
Developing multiscalar chronologies ............................................................................................. 23
The St. Catherines Island ceramic chronology: reading the hour hand....................................... 23
Radiocarbon dating: reading the minute hand ............................................................................ 23
Site seasonality: reading the second hand ................................................................................... 25
Seasonality and the Guale problem ............................................................................................ 27
But did the Jesuits get it wrong? .................................................................................................... 28
Some conclusions and implications ............................................................................................... 29
The St. Catherines Island research design .................................................................................. 31
Potential problems with proxy populations ................................................................................ 33
Chapter 2. A Bayesian chronological framework for determining site seasonality
and contemporaneity. DOUGLAS J. KENNETT AND BRENDAN J. CULLETON ......................................... 37
Bayesian essentials ......................................................................................................................... 37
Building site chronologies .............................................................................................................. 38
Trimming confidence intervals ....................................................................................................... 39
Toward building a Bayesian model for the McQueen Shell Ring .................................................. 41
A note on precision 14C and seasonality studies ............................................................................. 43
Contemporaneity and Archaic period shell rings ........................................................................... 44
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 49
Chapter 3. 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 ....................................................................... 51
Estuaries and fishes ........................................................................................................................ 52
Background premises ..................................................................................................................... 56
Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 56
Caveats ........................................................................................................................................... 61
Results ............................................................................................................................................ 64
Modern South Beach and Cumberland Sound data .................................................................... 64
Archaeological data .................................................................................................................... 71
Comparison ................................................................................................................................. 71
Discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 77
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 81
Chapter 4. Evaluating δ18O profiles of hardhead catfish and Atlantic croaker otoliths
as a method of determining seasonal use of fishes. CAROL E. COLANINNO ...................................... 83
Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 84
δ18O fractionation factors and estuarine environments ............................................................ 86
otolith
3
4 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY N O . 97
δ18O of modern otoliths .................................................................................................................. 89
δ18O of archaeological otoliths ....................................................................................................... 91
The Cannon’s Point Ring ............................................................................................................ 92
The West Shell Ring ................................................................................................................... 92
The McQueen Shell Ring ........................................................................................................... 92
The St. Catherines Shell Ring ..................................................................................................... 92
Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 92
δ18O , estuarine environments, and archaeological implications .............................................. 92
otolith
Modern δ18O : problems and areas of future research ........................................................... 92
otolith
Archaeological implications ....................................................................................................... 97
Summary and conclusions .............................................................................................................. 98
Appendix 4.1. Modern otoliths sampled for isotopic analysis ....................................................... 99
Appendix 4.2. Archaeological otoliths sampled for isotopic analysis ......................................... 100
Chapter 5. Late prehistoric settlement patterns: zooarchaeological evidence from Back
Creek Village, St. Catherines Island. SARAH G. BERGH ................................................................ 103
Seasonality in faunal assemblages ............................................................................................... 103
The “Guale problem” ................................................................................................................... 104
Materials and methods .................................................................................................................. 105
Results .......................................................................................................................................... 108
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 117
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 121
Chapter 6. Molluscs as oxygen-isotope season-of-capture proxies in southeastern
United States archaeology. C. FRED T. ANDRUS ............................................................................. 123
Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 125
Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) ................................................................................................. 125
Quahog, or hard clam (Mercenaria spp.) ................................................................................... 127
Coquina clam (Donax variabilis) ............................................................................................. 128
Bay scallop (Argopecten irradians) .......................................................................................... 128
Ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) ........................................................................................ 129
Stout razor clam (Tagelus plebeius) .......................................................................................... 130
Marsh clam (Rangia cuneata and Polymesoda caroliniana) .................................................... 130
Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) ............................................................................................... 131
Gastropods ................................................................................................................................ 132
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 132
Chapter 7. 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 ..................... 135
Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 136
Modern hard clams ................................................................................................................... 136
Results .......................................................................................................................................... 139
Modern cycle of incremental shell growth ............................................................................... 139
Zooarchaeological hard clams—season of resource procurement ........................................... 141
Population dynamics—modern ontogenetic age and survivorship .......................................... 141
Population dynamics—zooarchaeological mean age and survivorship ................................... 142
Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 143
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 148
Chapter 8. Validation of annual shell increments and shifting population dynamics
in modern and zooarchaeological hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria)
2012 SEASONALITY AND HUMAN CMOONBTILEINTTYS ALONG THE GEORGIA BIGHT 5
from the Litchfield Beach Region, South Carolina. DOUGLAS S. JONES,
IRVY R. QUITMYER, AND CHESTER B. DEPRATTER ............................................................................ 149
Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 151
Archaeological sites .................................................................................................................. 151
Litchfield—modern proxy ........................................................................................................ 151
Isotopic validation of incremental shell growth patterns .......................................................... 154
Ontogenetic age ......................................................................................................................... 154
Results .......................................................................................................................................... 155
Observed incremental shell growth .......................................................................................... 155
Isotopic validation ..................................................................................................................... 155
Size vs age ................................................................................................................................. 157
Mean ontogenetic age and survivorship ................................................................................... 157
Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 157
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 164
Chapter 9. Reevaluating the use of impressed odostome (Boonea impressa) as a season
of capture indicator for oysters. DEBORAH ANN KEENE .................................................................. 165
Location and environment ............................................................................................................ 165
Reproduction ................................................................................................................................ 166
Inconsistent growth patterns within populations .......................................................................... 167
Feeding habits ............................................................................................................................... 168
Current state of knowledge concerning Boonea impressa ........................................................... 169
Chapter 10. Estimating the season of harvest of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea
virginica) from the St. Catherines Shell Ring. NICOLE R. CANNAROZZI ........................................ 171
Oyster seasonality studies: a review ............................................................................................. 172
Visual methods .......................................................................................................................... 172
Geochemical methods ............................................................................................................... 173
Seasonality determination using impressed odostomes (Boonea impressa) ............................. 174
Oyster habitat on St. Catherines Island ........................................................................................ 174
Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 174
Stable isotope analysis .............................................................................................................. 174
Morphometric analysis of shell shape ...................................................................................... 176
Shell length measurements using impressed odostomes .......................................................... 177
Results .......................................................................................................................................... 177
Stable isotope geochemistry ..................................................................................................... 177
Morphometric analysis of oyster shell shape ............................................................................ 179
Shell length measurements of impressed odostomes ................................................................ 179
Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 181
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 185
Chapter 11. What can plants and plant data tell us about seasonality?
C. MARGARET SCARRY AND KANDACE D. HOLLENBACH .................................................................... 187
Using plants in analyses of seasonal resource use and mobility .................................................. 187
Optimal foraging models .......................................................................................................... 187
Operational chains .................................................................................................................... 189
Seasonal plant use in the Georgia Bight ....................................................................................... 193
Spring ........................................................................................................................................ 194
Summer ..................................................................................................................................... 197
Fall ............................................................................................................................................ 197
Winter ....................................................................................................................................... 197
Final thoughts ............................................................................................................................... 197
6 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY N O . 97
Chapter 12. Making a case for coastal subsistence seasonality. GREGORY A. WASELKOV .................. 199
Habitat analysis ............................................................................................................................ 203
Statistical analysis ........................................................................................................................ 205
Chapter 13. Discussion. ELIZABETH S. WING ...................................................................................... 207
References .......................................................................................................................................... 211
TABLES
1.1. Comparison of northern Georgia coast and St. Catherines Island chronologies ......................... 24
2.1. Radiocarbon dates from McQueen Shell Ring, N243E233 ......................................................... 40
3.1. Summary of archaeological sites and vertebrate collections ....................................................... 57
3.2. Seasonal total length ranges for high-ubiquity taxa from South Beach ...................................... 63
3.3. Total catch by year for North Beach and South Beach ................................................................ 64
3.4. Mean catch per unit effort by year for North Beach and South Beach ....................................... 65
3.5. Fishes with ubiquity ≥ 0.25, North Beach and South Beach data combined .............................. 65
3.6. Fishes collected from South Beach with ubiquity ≥ 0.25 ........................................................... 66
3.7. Seasonal ubiquity of fishes collected from South Beach ........................................................... 68
3.8. Comparison of archaeological and modern South Beach fish diversity ..................................... 68
3.9. Ubiquity of fishes identified in some Georgia Bight archaeological collections ........................ 72
4.1. Modern hardhead catfish otolith season of capture and estimated season of capture ................ 90
4.2. Modern Atlantic croaker otolith season of capture and estimated season of capture ................. 90
4.3. Archaeological otolith estimated season of capture ................................................................... 93
5.1. Fish size regression formulas ................................................................................................... 109
5.2. Back Creek Village, Midden A: species list ............................................................................... 110
5.3. Back Creek Village, Midden B: species list ............................................................................... 111
5.4. Back Creek Village, Midden C: species list ............................................................................... 112
5.5. Back Creek Village, Midden D: species list .............................................................................. 113
5.6. Back Creek Village, Midden F: species list ............................................................................... 114
5.7. Back Creek Village, Midden G: species list .............................................................................. 115
5.8. Back Creek Village, Midden H: species list .............................................................................. 116
5.9. Back Creek Village: summary .................................................................................................... 117
7.1. Modern and zooarchaeological survivorship data of Mercenaria spp. sampled
from St. Catherines Island, St. Simons Island, and Kings Bay, Georgia .................................... 146
8.1. Radiocarbon dates for hard clams (M. mercenaria) from Litchfield
Beach shell middens ..................................................................................................................... 153
8.2. Descriptive statistics of ontogenetic age of modern and zooarchaeological
hard clams from the Litchfield Beach region .............................................................................. 153
9.1. Size classes formulated by Russo (1991) ................................................................................... 167
10.1. Seasonal divisions and sample sizes for modern and archaeological impressed odostomes ....... 179
11.1. Decisions, activities, and artifacts associated with hickory nut use ........................................ 190
11.2. Plants identified from sites along the Georgia and Carolina coasts ........................................ 195
FIGURES
[Preface] Participants in the Fifth Caldwell Conference .................................................................... 12
1.1. The randomized transect research design employed in the island-wide
survey of St. Catherines Island ...................................................................................................... 22
1.2. Interpolated estimates of incremental growth stages for the modern control
sample of Mercenaria collected from St. Catherines Island ......................................................... 26
1.3. Position of growth surface within major increments at time of harvest: modern
control sample of Mercenaria collected between 1975 and 1984 on St. Catherines Island ......... 29
2012 SEASONALITY AND HUMAN CMOONBTILEINTTYS ALONG THE GEORGIA BIGHT 7
1.4. Map of probable seasonality on St. Catherines Island during the Irene period .......................... 30
2.1. Hypothetical seasonality and settlement data .............................................................................. 39
2.2. Calibrated results of a sequence of two 14C dates on hickory nuts from
McQueen Shell Ring using OxCal 3.01 ........................................................................................ 42
2.3. Calibrated results of a sequence of three 14C dates on Mercenaria shells
from McQueen Shell Ring using OxCal 3.01 ................................................................................ 42
2.4. Profile of the N243 trench north wall, McQueen Shell Ring, showing the
depositional sequence discussed in the text (courtesy of Matt Sanger) ........................................ 42
2.5. Schematic cross section of a hypothetical Mercenaria valve showing annual growth
increments and three 14C dates used in a defined sequence to wiggle match the terminal date ......... 45
2.6. Two sequences incorporating the most reliable 14C dates from the Archaic
in St. Catherines Shell Ring ........................................................................................................... 47
2.7. A phase of nested sequences incorporating the most reliable 14C dates
from the Archaic in McQueen Shell Ring ..................................................................................... 48
3.1. Location of sites mentioned in this study .................................................................................... 53
3.2. Monthly total catch, North and South beaches ............................................................................ 54
3.3. Map of St. Catherines Island, showing North and South beaches ............................................... 58
3.4. Aquatic biological sampling stations in Cumberland Sound (modified
from DEIS, 1978: D-187) .............................................................................................................. 59
3.5. Comparison of archaeological and South Beach fish diversity ................................................... 66
3.6. Abundance and biomass values for Cumberland Sound (DEIS, 1978: D-456) .......................... 69
3.7. Overall abundance for Cumberland Sound (DEIS, 1978: D-487) .............................................. 69
3.8. Seasonal percentages of fish biomass at Stations D and E, Cumberland
Sound (DEIS, 1978: D-458) .......................................................................................................... 69
3.9. Seasonal variations in fish diversity at Stations D and E, Cumberland
Sound (DEIS, 1978: D-489) .......................................................................................................... 70
3.10. Abundance of star drum (Stellifer lanceolatus) individuals per season .................................... 70
3.11. Comparison of South Beach and archaeological fish ubiquity .................................................. 76
3.12. Seasonal ubiquity of selected fish taxa in the South Beach collection ...................................... 76
3.13. Number of seasons in which fishes with archaeological ubiquity ≥ 0.68 are present
at Station E, Cumberland Sound (DEIS, 1978: D-438–D-445) .................................................... 77
3.14. Seasonal aspects of mean total length (in cm) of star drum (Stellifer lanceolatus)
in the South Beach collection ........................................................................................................ 78
4.1. Map of study area showing location of shell rings ...................................................................... 85
4.2. Cross section of hardhead catfish otolith, FLMNH-EA 11341 .................................................... 86
4.3. Cross section of Atlantic croaker otolith, FLMNH-EA 11319 .................................................... 87
4.4. Temperature and salinity measurements for Sapelo Island Marsh Landing ................................ 88
4.5. Annual cycle of temperature oscillation and salinity fluctuations for the McQueen
Inlet of St. Catherines Island, average and constant ...................................................................... 89
4.6. Annual cycle of temperature oscillation and salinity fluctuations for the McQueen
Inlet of St. Catherines Island, recorded ......................................................................................... 89
4.7. Modern hardhead catfish and Atlantic croaker δ18O ........................................................... 91
otolith
4.8. δ18O profile through ontogeny for selected archaeological otoliths ........................................... 95
4.9. Archaeological δ18O of an Atlantic croaker approximately 18.5 years of age ..................... 96
otolith
5.1. Location of Back Creek Village on St. Catherines Island, Georgia .......................................... 106
5.2. Topographic map of Back Creek Village showing the location of the
middens excavated in 2008 .......................................................................................................... 107
5.3. Richness, diversity, and equitability estimates for Back Creek Village, presented
for each midden and for the site as a whole ................................................................................. 118
5.4. Relative frequencies of final growth phases for hard clams (Mercenaria spp.)
from Back Creek Village, presented for each midden and for the site as a whole ...................... 119
5.5. Fish size estimates for selected fishes from Back Creek Village, presented for the
site as a whole and for each midden ............................................................................................. 120
8 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY N O . 97
6.1. Examples of taxa described in this chapter ................................................................................ 124
6.2. Idealized representation of seasonal δ18O oscillations in a mollusc through ontogeny ............ 125
6.3. Bisected oyster hinge in reflected light showing irregular alternating dense gray
and chalky white banding ............................................................................................................ 126
6.4. Bisected quahog valve in reflected light showing regular alternating light and dark bands ........ 128
6.5. Sequential δ18O data from R cuneata valve (0608.2) collected from
Chocolatta Bay where it enters Mobile Bay ................................................................................ 130
6.6. Archaeological Unionidae clam valve ....................................................................................... 131
7.1. Radial cross section of a hard clam (Mercenaria campechiensis) to expose
its growth increments and a back-lit thin section showing the alternating
opaque and translucent shell growth increments ......................................................................... 137
7.2. The location of the translucent and opaque shell growth structures showing a count
of the ontogenetic age of a specimen ........................................................................................... 138
7.3. Six-part division of translucent and opaque annual shell growth increments
in hard clams (Mercenaria spp.) shells ........................................................................................ 138
7.4. The relationship of sea surface temperature (°C) and monthly formation of translucent
and opaque growth in modern hard clams collected live from St. Catherines Island
and Kings Bay .............................................................................................................................. 140
7.5. Seasonal growth frequency patterns of modern hard clams (Mercenaria) collected
live from St. Catherines Island, 2007–2008 ................................................................................ 142
7.6. Growth frequency profiles of zooarchaeological hard clams collected
from St. Catherines Island and Cannon’s Point, representing the Archaic period ...................... 143
7.7. A comparison of shell length to ontogenetic age of modern and zooarchaeological
hard clams from St. Catherines Island ......................................................................................... 144
7.8. Survivorship curves characterizing modern and zooarchaeological hard clams
from St. Catherines Island, Cannon’s Point, and Kings Bay ....................................................... 144
7.9. Mean age and 95% confidence intervals plotted for modern and zooarchaeological
hard clams from St. Catherines Island, Cannon’s Point, and Kings Bay .................................... 145
8.1. Thin, radial cross section of hard clam (M. mercenaria) shell viewed under transmitted
and direct light ............................................................................................................................. 150
8.2. Location of the Litchfield Beach archaeological shell middens ................................................ 152
8.3. Monthly frequency of specimens forming translucent or opaque shell growth
increments from March 2005 to March 2007 in hard clams collected from the estuary
at Litchfield Beach ....................................................................................................................... 156
8.4. Percentage of translucent and opaque incremental shell growth identified in modern
and zooarchaeological hard clams from the Litchfield Beach region ......................................... 157
8.5. Variation in oxygen (18O/16O) and carbon (13C/12C) isotopic composition in the translucent
and opaque growth increments of modern hard clams from the Litchfield Beach region .......... 158
8.6. Oxygen (18O/16O) and carbon (13C/12C) isotopic composition of the translucent
and opaque growth increments from zooarchaeological hard clams (M. mercenaria)
from the Litchfield Beach region ................................................................................................. 159
8.7. Oxygen (18O/16O) and carbon (13C/12C) isotopic composition of the translucent and opaque
growth increments from zooarchaeological hard clams (M. mercenaria)
from the Litchfield Beach region ................................................................................................. 160
8.8. A comparison of age versus anterior-to-posterior (A/P) shell length in modern
hard clams (M. mercenaria) from the Litchfield Beach estuary ................................................ 161
8.9. The mean ontogenetic age and 95% confidence interval around the mean of modern
and zooarchaeological hard clams (M. mercenaria) from the Litchfield Beach region ............. 161
8.10. Survivorship curves of modern and zooarchaeological hard clams (M. mercenaria)
from the Litchfield Beach region ................................................................................................. 162
9.1. Drawing of Boonea impressa ..................................................................................................... 166
9.2. Length distribution data from Wells (1959) ............................................................................... 168
9.3. Season of capture for Grove’s Creek site shells using Russo method ...................................... 169