Doctoral Dissertation Research: Places of Gathering: Orange Pottery Variability and the Social Scale of Late Archaic Shell Mound Interaction in Northeast Florida

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Under the guidance of Dr. Kenneth Sassaman, Zackary Gilmore will analyze ancient pottery from Florida to investigate the role of large-scale, monumental places in facilitating social interaction among culturally diverse groups of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Important archaeological places exist worldwide where disparate groups gathered together for purposes of exchange, ritual, and monument construction. Frequently, the interaction fostered by these places produced new types of social formations and affected the historical trajectories of entire regions. Between 7200 and 3500 years ago, the inhabitants of Florida's St. Johns River Valley built dozens of mounds out of freshwater shellfish remains. Evidence suggests that these places were at the center of pivotal regional developments including the construction of early monumental architecture, the adoption of pottery technology, and the establishment of sedentism and distinct tribal identities. Despite this fact, little agreement has been reached regarding even their most basic functions and meanings within the societies that built and inhabited them. This research is designed to identify the types and scales of social interaction engaged in during the construction and use of shell mounds at the Silver Glen Run (SGR) complex in northeast Florida. Occupied for most of the past 7,000 years, between 2,500 and 2,000 B.C., this complex's inhabitants constructed two of the region's largest shell mounds and deposited hundreds of pottery vessels associated with one of the continent's earliest ceramic technologies. To better understand the economic and social importance of the complex, this project employs two complementary types of pottery analysis. First, related sourcing techniques (Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis [INAA] and petrography) will be used to characterize the chemical and mineralogical constituents of the SGR sherds. Comparing these results to clay reference samples with known source locations will help determine the geographic origins of the various constituent groups who gathered at SGR. Second, technological and stylistic analysis will reveal the intended functions (cooking, serving, storage, etc.) for which vessels were manufactured, along with the social conditions (e.g., small domestic meal vs. large communal feast) in which they were used. Together, these analyses provide the opportunity to gain a more nuanced understanding of the role played by this and similar sites in the social histories of Florida's prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Beyond its direct archaeological significance, this research contributes to undergraduate education by providing opportunities for volunteer participation in the sorting and cataloging of archaeological pottery. It is also inter-institutional in nature, bringing together resources and expertise from three public research institutions, as well as a private organization. Technological analysis will be conducted at the University of Florida (UF). The petrographic analysis will be conducted at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) and INAA at the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center. All of these will make use of extant collections at the FLMNH. In addition, this research will compile and analyze data that will be disseminated to public and private organizations on whose land the Silver Glen Run complex is located. Results of the investigations will be made available in the form of presentations, technical reports, and other printed materials that will make the institutions more knowledgeable and effective stewards of the considerable archaeological resources under their control. Results and raw data will also be made publicly available on the LSA website (http://www.anthro.ufl.edu/LSA/).