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FASA Colloquium
March 25, 2016 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- Hayley Singleton, “Midden among the mounds: An Ongoing Study of Faunal Remains from a Platform Mound and Adjacent Midden at the Garden Patch Site” This paper presents on the faunal composition of a platform mound and adjacent village midden as a means of understanding subsistence, feasting, and ceremony at the pre-Columbian Garden Patch site, a Middle Woodland (ca. AD 100 to 500) multi-mound center located on the northwest gulf coast of Florida. The vertebrate faunal remains from the dense midden of Area X are compared to those of adjacent Mound II, a platform mound constructed of alternating lenses of shell midden and sand. The results of faunal analysis from both contexts highlight the extensive use of marine resources from the neighboring marsh and shallow gulf waters. A series of radiocarbon dates aligned with the stratigraphic distribution of faunal remains within Area X and Mound II suggest the rapid construction of Mound II coincides with use of Area X kitchen midden. Given the contemporaneity and proximity of the two assemblages, a comparison between the two contexts allows for an evaluation of the composition of mound strata in terms of potential feasting episodes.
- Sharlene O’Donnell, “Zooarchaeological Findings and the Importance of Seascape at Weeden Island Archaeological Site (8PI1)” Many indigenous and non-indigenous communities throughout the world depend on coastal and riverine environments for their livelihood and subsistence. The seascape is a setting of daily activities, and these communities have a detailed knowledge of their surrounding environment, the tides, and the seasons that influence their decisions for catchment locations of habitat-specific faunal assemblages. For this paper, ethnographic research, zooarchaeology, biological salinity tolerances, GIS mapping, and Tampa Bay seasonal salinity data is used to recognize the importance of seascape for the people inhabiting Weedon Island, Florida during the Safety Harbor time period (AD 900 – AD 1725).