Great Lakes Copper and Shared Mortuary Practices on the Atlantic Coast: Implications for Long-Distance Exchange during the Late Archaic

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Sanger ◽  
Brian D. Padgett ◽  
Clark Spencer Larsen ◽  
Mark Hill ◽  
Gregory D. Lattanzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Southeast United States ◽  
Shell Ring ◽  
Exchange Network

Analysis of human remains and a copper band found in the center of a Late Archaic (ca. 5000–3000 cal BP) shell ring demonstrate an exchange network between the Great Lakes and the coastal southeast United States. Similarities in mortuary practices suggest that the movement of objects between these two regions was more direct and unmediated than archaeologists previously assumed based on “down-the-line” models of exchange. These findings challenge prevalent notions that view preagricultural Native American communities as relatively isolated from one another and suggest instead that wide social networks spanned much of North America thousands of years before the advent of domestication.

scholarly journals Early metal use and crematory practices in the American Southeast

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (33) ◽  
pp. E7672-E7679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Sanger ◽  
Mark A. Hill ◽  
Gregory D. Lattanzi ◽  
Brian D. Padgett ◽  
Clark Spencer Larsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Shell Ring

Long-distance exchange of copper objects during the Archaic Period (ca. 8000–3000 cal B.P.) is a bellwether of emergent social complexity in the Eastern Woodlands. Originating from the Great Lakes, the Canadian Maritimes, and the Appalachian Mountains, Archaic-age copper is found in significant amounts as far south as Tennessee and in isolated pockets at major trade centers in Louisiana but is absent from most of the southeastern United States. Here we report the discovery of a copper band found with the cremated remains of at least seven individuals buried in the direct center of a Late Archaic shell ring located in coastal Georgia. Late Archaic shell rings are massive circular middens thought to be constructed, in part, during large-scale ritual gatherings and feasting events. The exotic copper and cremated remains are unique in coastal South Carolina and Georgia where Archaic-age cremations are conspicuously absent and no other Archaic copper objects have been reported. Elemental data produced through laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry shows the copper originated from the Great Lakes, effectively extending Archaic copper exchange almost 1,000 km beyond its traditional boundaries. Similarities in mortuary practices and the presence of copper originating from the Great Lakes reveal the presence of long-distance exchange relations spanning vast portions of the eastern United States and suggest an unexpected level of societal complexity at shell ring localities. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that elite actors solidified their positions through ritual gatherings and the long-distance exchange of exotic objects during the Archaic.

A Multi-proxy assessment of the impact of climate change on Late Holocene (ca 4500-3800 BP) Native American villages of the Georgia coast

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carey James Garland ◽  
Victor D Thompson ◽  
Matthew C Sanger ◽  
Karen Y Smith ◽  
Fred T Andrus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Archaic Period ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Shell Ring ◽  
Shell Rings ◽  
Georgia Coast ◽  
The Impact

Circular shell rings along the Atlantic Coast of southeastern North America are the remnants of some of the earliest villages that emerged during the Late Archaic Period (5000 – 3000 BP). Many of these villages, however, were abandoned during the Terminal Late Archaic Period (ca 3800 – 3000 BP). Here, we combine Bayesian chronological modeling with multiple environmental proxies to understand the nature and timing of environmental change associated with the emergence and abandonment of shell ring villages on Sapleo Island, Georgia. Our Bayesian models indicate that Native Americans occupied the three Sapelo shell rings at varying times with some generational overlap. By the end of the complex’s occupation, only Ring III was occupied before abandonment ca. 3845 BP. Ring III also consists of statistically smaller oysters ( Crassostrea virginica ) that people harvested from less saline estuaries compared to earlier occupations. These data, when integrated with recent tree ring analyses, show a clear pattern of environmental instability throughout the period in which the rings were occupied. We argue that as the climate became unstable around 4300 BP, aggregation at shell ring villages provided a way to effectively manage fisheries that are highly sensitive to environmental change. However, with the eventual collapse of oyster fisheries and subsequent rebound in environmental conditions ca. 3800 BP, people dispersed from shell rings, and shifted to non-marine subsistence economies and other types of settlements. This study provides the most comprehensive evidence correlations between large-scale environmental change and societal transformations on the Georgia coast during the Late Archaic period.

Planktonic linkages among marine protected areas on the south Florida and southeast United States continental shelves

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1234-1247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A Hare ◽  
Harvey J Walsh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
South Florida ◽  
The South ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Southeast United States ◽  
Continental Shelves

One proposed benefit of marine protected areas (MPAs) is increased larval export, potentially increasing recruitment in unprotected areas. Because most marine species have planktonic larvae, information regarding planktonic transport is needed to evaluate the benefit of larval export. We used satellite-tracked drifters to define planktonic transport routes and rates from three MPAs along the south Florida and southeast United States (US) continental shelves. Drifter tracks indicated both long-distance transport and local retention. A probability model was developed based on drifter releases. The region was broken into zones; zone-specific residence times and movements between zones were defined from the drifter tracks. Transport out of the region in association with the Loop Current – Florida Current – Gulf Stream was the most frequently observed outcome, yet retention was high in the lower Florida Keys and on the Georgia shelf. From the model results, long-distance planktonic transport and local retention are the endpoints of a continuum rather than a dichotomy. Further, the outcome of planktonic transport is spatially heterogeneous with some regions exhibiting more retention and others exhibiting more export. The spatial aspects of planktonic transport described here should be considered in designing MPAs with fishery management objectives in the south Florida and southeast US shelf ecosystems.

No evidence of increased demersal fish abundance six years after creation of marine protected areas along the southeast United States Atlantic coast

2016 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan M Bacheler ◽  
Christina M Schobernd ◽  
Stacey L Harter ◽  
Andrew W David ◽  
George R Sedberry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Demersal Fish ◽  
Fish Abundance ◽  
Southeast United States

scholarly journals Antibody Prevalence of Select Arboviruses in Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) in the Great Lakes Region and Atlantic Coast of the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 1247-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Pedersen ◽  
Sarah N. Bevins ◽  
Randall M. Mickley ◽  
Scott C. Weaver ◽  
Dustin M. Arsnoe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Antibody Prevalence ◽  
Cygnus Olor ◽  
Mute Swans

scholarly journals Ecosystem stability and Native American oyster harvesting along the Atlantic Coast of the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (28) ◽  
pp. eaba9652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Thompson ◽  
Torben Rick ◽  
Carey J. Garland ◽  
David Hurst Thomas ◽  
Karen Y. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Eastern Oyster ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oyster Reefs ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
The Stability

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an important proxy for examining historical trajectories of coastal ecosystems. Measurement of ~40,000 oyster shells from archaeological sites along the Atlantic Coast of the United States provides a long-term record of oyster abundance and size. The data demonstrate increases in oyster size across time and a nonrandom pattern in their distributions across sites. We attribute this variation to processes related to Native American fishing rights and environmental variability. Mean oyster length is correlated with total oyster bed length within foraging radii (5 and 10 km) as mapped in 1889 and 1890. These data demonstrate the stability of oyster reefs despite different population densities and environmental shifts and have implications for oyster reef restoration in an age of global climate change.

Evidence for Early Long-Distance Obsidian Exchange and Watercraft Use from the Southern Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia and Peru

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Stanish ◽  
Richard L. Burger ◽  
Lisa M. Cipolla ◽  
Michael D. Glascock ◽  
Esteban Quelima
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Ceramic Analysis ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Exchange Network

Excavations at two sites on the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca, called Ch'uxuqullu and Titinhuayani, discovered significant preceramic (ca. 2000 B. C.) through Formative period (up to ca. A. D. 400) occupations. Excavation data indicate that there was a continuous occupation from the first known settlements on the island up to the present day. The early occupations on the island were culturally linked to the populations on the mainland, as indicated by ceramic analysis and the presence of nonlocal obsidian from the Colca Valley source, 275 km to the northwest. Our excavation data also reveal that there was a brisk exchange network between the island and mainland beginning at least during the Formative period, and probably earlier during the end of the Late Archaic period. Furthermore, paleoenvironmental data indicate that the island has been isolated from the mainland during most or all of the human occupation. The Lake Titicaca region of Peru and Bolivia was characterized by a system of exchange that relied, in part, on watercraft beginning at least by 1600 B. C.

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