Vertebrate Fauna from the Refuge Fire Tower Site (8WA14): a Study of Coastal Subsistence in the Early Woodland Period Ariana Slemmens Lawson
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Vertebrate Fauna from the Refuge Fire Tower Site (8WA14): A Study of Coastal Subsistence in the Early Woodland Period Ariana Slemmens Lawson Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES VERTEBRATE FAUNA FROM THE REFUGE FIRE TOWER SITE (8Wa14): A STUDY OF COASTAL SUBSISTENCE IN THE EARLY WOODLAND PERIOD BY ARIANA SLEMMENS LAWSON A Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005 The Members of the Committee approve the thesis of Ariana Slemmens Lawson defended on August 19, 2005 ________________________ Rochelle Marrinan Professor Directing Thesis ________________________ Glen Doran Committee Member ________________________ Michael Russo Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________________________________________ Dean Falk, Chair, Anthropology Department _____________________________________________________________________ Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Rochelle Marrinan, Glen Doran, and Michael Russo comprised an incredibly patient thesis committee. Thank you for your guidance, criticism, suggestions, and humor; each is greatly appreciated. In particular, I owe a debt of gratitude to Rochelle Marrinan who initiated the agreement between the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and Florida State University’s Department of Anthropology to continue to archive and conduct research on the Refuge Fire Tower Site archaeological assemblage, and who also elicited funding from the Archaeology General Development Fund in the Florida State University Foundation for the radiocarbon dating. I am grateful to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge for the opportunity they have provided for this and future research. Thank you to David S. Phelps, whose recollections and notes regarding his own investigations of the Refuge Fire Tower Site helped in my reconstruction of the history of the site; Camm Swift who provided information about preliminary analyses of fauna from the Refuge Fire Tower Site and several other Gulf Coast archaeological sites; and James Miller and Judith Bense who participated as students in the excavation of the Refuge Fire Tower Site and provided helpful suggestions during my search for information about the site. An enormous amount of faunal data went into this thesis and I wish to thank all those students whose work contributed to this body of knowledge, including Alyssa Krause, Robert Ajwang′, Carissa Lindsley, and Nicole Valdez, who identified fauna from the Refuge Fire Tower. Previously unreported faunal identifications from Bird Hammock (8Wa52) were conducted by Margaret Averill, Allison Diefenderfer, Lynn Fister, and Amy Gusick, Cindy Maur, and Rob van Hoose. Rochelle Marrinan and Tanya Peres identified the fauna from Snow Beach (8Wa30). Thank you especially to Rochelle Marrinan for providing these valuable data. I am definitely grateful to Roger C. Smith and Robert S. Taylor, with whom I worked professionally throughout this thesis process, and who were incredibly understanding and accommodating when it came to juggling my academic and professional needs. Thank you both for your support and flexibility. Finally, thanks to Chuck, Jen, Della, Claire, Robin, Mom, Dad, Erin, and Meghan for putting up with my unprofessional rants the rest of the time. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................viii ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 The Refuge Fire Tower Site............................................................................................ 1 Zooarchaeological Potential of the Refuge Fire Tower Site........................................... 2 Goals of Thesis ............................................................................................................... 4 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 7 Regional Chronology & Culture History........................................................................ 7 Late Archaic Period .................................................................................................... 7 Woodland Period ........................................................................................................ 8 Woodland Period Subsistence....................................................................................... 14 Coastal Settlement Patterning....................................................................................... 18 Midden Types ........................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3. SITE CONTEXT ....................................................................................... 25 Modern Environment & Distribution of Resources...................................................... 25 Previous Archaeological Investigations........................................................................ 33 Surveys and Excavation............................................................................................ 33 Site Stratification & Material Culture....................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 4. ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL METHODS.................................................. 44 Sample Selection........................................................................................................... 44 Identification................................................................................................................. 46 Quantification ............................................................................................................... 46 Sample Adequacy ......................................................................................................... 49 Determinants of Seasonality ......................................................................................... 49 Radiocarbon Dating ...................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 5. RESULTS OF ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 52 Identified Taxa.............................................................................................................. 54 Mammals................................................................................................................... 54 Birds.......................................................................................................................... 57 Reptiles ..................................................................................................................... 58 Cartilaginous & Bony Fishes.................................................................................... 59 Sample Adequacy ......................................................................................................... 59 Biodiversity & Biomass................................................................................................ 60 Diversity & Equitability................................................................................................ 65 Invertebrate Fauna ........................................................................................................ 66 Botanical Remains ........................................................................................................ 68 CHAPTER 6. SITE INTERPRETATION........................................................................ 69 Taphonomic Processes & Sources of Bias.................................................................... 69 Intersite Comparisons ................................................................................................... 72 Catchment Areas........................................................................................................... 74 Prey Selection ............................................................................................................... 78 Capture Techniques ...................................................................................................... 79 Processing & Consumption........................................................................................... 84 Site Seasonality............................................................................................................. 94 Marine Catfish .......................................................................................................... 98 Seatrout ..................................................................................................................... 99 Red Drum.................................................................................................................