- Florida Archaeology, Archaeology, Historical Ecology, Coastal Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Estuarine Ecology, and 9 moreCoastal and Estuarine Sediment Transport, Palynology, palaeoecology, palynology, Quaternary, archaeobotany, Holocene sea level change, Holocene, Anthropocene, Terraforming, Zooarchaeology, and Hunters, Fishers and Gatherers' Archaeologyedit
- Florida Archaeology and Historical Ecology
@Ancient_TampaBayedit
Hurricane Ian made landfall in the low-lying, densely populated, and developed southwestern Florida coast on 28 September 2022 as a large and slow-moving category 4 hurricane. Various U.S. federal and state agencies collected a large and... more
Hurricane Ian made landfall in the low-lying, densely populated, and developed southwestern Florida coast on 28 September 2022 as a large and slow-moving category 4 hurricane. Various U.S. federal and state agencies collected a large and comprehensive data set, including pre-and poststorm airborne LIDAR topography, in situ water level and wave measurements at numerous locations before, during, and after the storm, and poststorm high-water marks over a large area. This study reports results from a series of poststorm field investigations including ground observations of beach-dune erosion and deposition, catastrophic damage to various infrastructure, and widespread distribution of non-biodegradable materials washed into the estuary and numerous mangrove islands. Hurricane Ian induced large-scale inundation in lowlying southwest Florida, submerging all the barrier islands bordering Charlotte Harbor estuary, all the islands within the estuary, and up to 5 km into the mainland. Dense tree-type vegetation limited the landward penetration of beach-dune erosion and overwash deposition along the barrier islands. Net sand-volume loss from the beach-dune system ranged 10-25 m 3 /m and was controlled by the deep submergence of the system during the peak of the storm. The extremely high storm surge of up to 5.2 m above mean sea level generated by Hurricane Ian caused severe damage to the built environments over a large area. High storm waves superimposed on the elevated water level, reaching 1.2 m at the seaward edge of vegetated dunes, contributed to the destruction along the barrier islands. Hurricane Ian distributed a tremendous amount of non-biodegradable artificial debris over a large area and into sensitive natural environments, including numerous mangrove islands, barrier-island interior wetlands, and the estuary waterbody. Measures to prevent materials such as single-use plastics, insulation fibers, and household appliances from being washed into sensitive environments should be a significant part of prestorm preparation.
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Abstract Dense mangrove swamps currently dominate tidal wetlands of the Tampa Bay Estuary System on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida (USA). Late-19th century Coast and Geodetic Survey topographical charts and Government Land... more
Abstract Dense mangrove swamps currently dominate tidal wetlands of the Tampa Bay Estuary System on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida (USA). Late-19th century Coast and Geodetic Survey topographical charts and Government Land Office surveys, however, depict wetland systems dominated by salt marsh—therefore suggesting mangrove dominance as a product of 20th century encroachment. To clarify the primary drivers of ecosystem change, this study integrates sedimentological, paleobotanical, and radiometric analyses of sediment cores collected in 2018 with analyses of aerial photography taken between 1940 and 1997. Results empirically ground truth the wetland conversions inferred through analytical comparisons of historical and modern mapping and establish a high-resolution chronology for coastal environmental change. These results showed that salt marsh and salt prairie habitats persisted within Tampa Bay study areas until the mid-20th century. Mangrove forest rapidly encroached the study areas over a 20 year interval, between 1960 and 1980, immediately following intensive ditching for mosquito control. The findings demonstrate how coastal geoengineering, mangrove autoecology, and sea-level rise interacted across the late-20th century to accelerate the creation of novel seascapes.
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Research Interests:
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Applying a coastal-geoarchaeological approach, we synthesize stratigraphic, sedimentological, mollusk-zooarchaeological, and radiometric datasets from recent excavations and sediment coring at Harbor Key (8MA15)—a shell-terraformed Native... more
Applying a coastal-geoarchaeological approach, we synthesize stratigraphic, sedimentological, mollusk-zooarchaeological, and radiometric datasets from recent excavations and sediment coring at Harbor Key (8MA15)—a shell-terraformed Native mound complex within Tampa Bay, on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida. We significantly revise the chronological understanding of the site and place it among the relatively few early civic-ceremonial centers in the region. Analyses of submound contexts revealed that the early first millennium mound center was constructed atop a platform of sand and ex situ cultural shell deposits that were reworked during ancient storm landfalls around 2000 BP. We situate Harbor Key within a seascape-scale stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental framework and show that the shellworks comprise an artificial barrier protecting the leeward estuary basin (and productive inshore wetlands) from high-energy conditions of the open bay and swells from the Gulf of Mex...
Research Interests: Archaeology, Stratigraphy, Zooarchaeology, Geoarchaeology, Coastal Geomorphology, and 10 moreCoastal and Island Archaeology, Paleotempestology, Historical Ecology, Florida Archaeology, Archaeology of shell middens, Native American history, American antiquity, Estuary Ecology, Coastal Geology, and Shell Mounds
Applying a coastal-geoarchaeological approach, we synthesize stratigraphic, sedimentological, molluskzooarchaeological, and radiometric datasets from recent excavations and sediment coring at Harbor Key (8MA15)-a shell-terraformed Native... more
Applying a coastal-geoarchaeological approach, we synthesize stratigraphic, sedimentological, molluskzooarchaeological, and radiometric datasets from recent excavations and sediment coring at Harbor Key (8MA15)-a shell-terraformed Native mound complex within Tampa Bay, on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida. We significantly revise the chronological understanding of the site and place it among the relatively few early civic-ceremonial centers in the region. Analyses of submound contexts revealed that the early first millennium mound center was constructed atop a platform of sand and ex situ cultural shell deposits that were reworked during ancient storm landfalls around 2000 BP. We situate Harbor Key within a seascape-scale stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental framework and show that the shellworks comprise an artificial barrier protecting the leeward estuary basin (and productive inshore wetlands) from high-energy conditions of the open bay and swells from the Gulf of Mexico. The sedimentary and archaeological records attest to the longterm history of morphodynamic interaction between coastal processes and Indigenous shell terraforming in the region and suggest that early first millennium mound building in Tampa Bay was tied to the recognition and reuse of antecedent shellworks and the persistent management of encompassing cultural seascapes.
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Tampa Bay is a karst-controlled estuary system on Florida's central peninsular Gulf of Mexico coast. Although previous work has reconstructed late-Pleistocene environments (ca. 20-11.5 kya) and early marine influence (ca. 8-5.5 kya) in... more
Tampa Bay is a karst-controlled estuary system on Florida's central peninsular Gulf of Mexico coast. Although previous work has reconstructed late-Pleistocene environments (ca. 20-11.5 kya) and early marine influence (ca. 8-5.5 kya) in deeper central portions of the bay, the estuarine development of the shallow inshore subbasins remains poorly understood. Across the late Holocene, Indigenous societies terraformed the coastal strand with large volumes of estuarine mollusk shell, and these anthropogenic landforms constitute coastal barriers that partially enclose marginal tidal bayous. This study integrates sediment coring and archaeological excavations to reconstruct the Holocene estuarine evolution of four inshore subbasins within Tampa Bay. This study synthesizes sedimentological, macrofossil, and archaeological data to describe and differentiate seven sedimentary facies and 18 subfacies representing weathered Miocene limestone at the base, overlain by late-Pleistocene freshwater wetland deposits, followed by Holocene estuarine sediments and late-Holocene shell-terraformed settlements. Four stratigraphic cross-sections and .100 radiocarbon assays are utilized to interpret the sequences of inshore estuary development, situate ancient shell-bearing Native settlements within a geologic and paleoenvironmental framework, and resolve elements of mid-and late-Holocene sea-level history.
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Ecological regime shifts are expected to increase this century as climate change propagates cascading effects across ecosystems with coupled elements. Here, we demonstrate that the climate-driven salt marsh–to–mangrove transition does not... more
Ecological regime shifts are expected to increase this century as climate change propagates cascading effects across ecosystems with coupled elements. Here, we demonstrate that the climate-driven salt marsh–to–mangrove transition does not occur in isolation but is linked to lesser-known oyster reef–to–mangrove regime shifts through the provision of mangrove propagules. Using aerial imagery spanning 82 y, we found that 83% of oyster reefs without any initial mangrove cover fully converted to mangrove islands and that mean (± SD) time to conversion was 29.1 ± 9.6 y. In situ assessments of mangrove islands suggest substantial changes in ecosystem structure during conversion, while radiocarbon dates of underlying reef formation indicate that such transitions are abrupt relative to centuries-old reefs. Rapid transition occurred following release from freezes below the red mangrove ( Rhizophora mangle ) physiological tolerance limit (−7.3 °C) and after adjacent marsh-to-mangrove conversio...
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Ethnographers have ably documented the great extent and diversity of social institutions that contemporary fishers and shellfishers employ to collectively manage common property resources. However, the collective action regimes developed... more
Ethnographers have ably documented the great extent and diversity of social institutions that contemporary fishers and shellfishers employ to collectively manage common property resources. However, the collective action regimes developed among ancient maritime societies remain understudied by archaeologists. We summarize research into the development and form of collective action among the maritime societies of the western peninsular coast of Florida, USA, drawing on our own recent work in the Tampa Bay area and previous work elsewhere in the region, especially the Calusa area to the south. Archaeological evidence suggests that collective action became more important in Tampa Bay in the first centuries CE, probably owing to a marine transgression that resulted in more productive estuaries. Groups here staked claims to productive estuarine locations through the founding of villages, the building of mounds, and the construction of relatively simple marine enclosures. Historically, the...
Dense mangrove swamps currently dominate tidal wetlands of the Tampa Bay Estuary System on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida (USA). Late-19th century Coast and Geodetic Survey topographical charts and Government Land Office... more
Dense mangrove swamps currently dominate tidal wetlands of the Tampa Bay Estuary System on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida (USA). Late-19th century Coast and Geodetic Survey topographical charts and Government Land Office surveys, however, depict wetland systems dominated by salt marsh—therefore suggesting mangrove dominance as a product of 20th century encroachment. To clarify the primary drivers of ecosystem change, this study integrates sedimentological, paleobotanical, and radiometric analyses of sediment cores collected in 2018 with analyses of aerial photography taken between 1940 and 1997. Results empirically ground truth the wetland conversions inferred through analytical comparisons of historical and modern mapping and establish a high-resolution chronology for coastal environmental change. These results showed that salt marsh and salt prairie habitats persisted within Tampa Bay study areas until the mid-20th century. Mangrove forest rapidly encroached the study areas over a 20 year interval, between 1960 and 1980, immediately following intensive ditching for mosquito control. The findings demonstrate how coastal geoengineering, mangrove autoecology, and sea-level rise interacted across the late-20th century to accelerate the creation of novel seascapes.
Research Interests:
Herbaceous wetland plant resources have been widely cultivated and utilized by Indigenous peoples throughout North America since at least the early Holocene. Archaeologists and ethnographers, along with traditional knowledge holders, have... more
Herbaceous wetland plant resources have been widely cultivated and utilized by Indigenous peoples throughout North America since at least the early Holocene. Archaeologists and ethnographers, along with traditional knowledge holders, have documented and reconstructed deep histories of interaction between human communities and coastal plants that provide dietary carbohydrates, medicinal compounds, and craft fiber. On the Florida peninsula, as elsewhere, paleoethnobotanical researchers face challenging preservation conditions and, despite the ubiquity and vastness of coastal wetlands, the resident flora are conspicuously underrepresented in the archaeological record. In this study, we work toward the recognition of wetland plant use on the Gulf Coast of Florida by integrating analyses of archaeo-molluscan, microfaunal, and palynological assemblages from stratified shell-midden deposits at a village and civic-ceremonial center occupied across the first millennium AD. We identify four particular herbaceous wetland plants as likely subsistence, medicinal, and technological resources. In a brief discussion, we propose that coastal wetland flora likely played key roles within late-Holocene maritime resource intensification, civic-ceremonial aggregation, and village-coalescence.
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Herbaceous wetland plant resources have been widely cultivated and utilized by Indigenous peoples throughout North America since at least the early Holocene. Archaeologists and ethnographers, along with traditional knowledge holders, have... more
Herbaceous wetland plant resources have been widely cultivated and utilized by Indigenous peoples throughout North America since at least the early Holocene. Archaeologists and ethnographers, along with traditional knowledge holders, have documented and reconstructed deep histories of interaction between human communities and coastal plants that provide dietary carbohydrates, medicinal compounds, and craft-fiber. On the Florida peninsula, as elsewhere, paleoethnobotanical researchers face challenging preservation conditions and, despite the ubiquity and vastness of coastal wetlands, the resident flora are conspicuously underrepresented in the archaeological record. In this study, we work toward the recognition of wetland plant use on the Gulf Coast of Florida by integrating analyses of archaeo-molluscan, microfaunal, and palynological assemblages from stratified shell-midden deposits at a village and civic-ceremonial center occupied across the first millennium AD. We identify four particular herbaceous wetland plants as likely subsistence, medicinal, and technological resources. In a brief discussion, we propose that coastal wetland flora likely played key roles within late-Holocene maritime resource intensification, civic- ceremonial aggregation, and village-coalescence.
Research Interests:
Stanley Mound (8MA127) is a disturbed sand burial mound constructed in present-day interior Manatee County, Florida, within the headwaters of the Myakka River drainage. While the Stanley Mound was tested in 1975 as part of a larger... more
Stanley Mound (8MA127) is a disturbed sand burial mound constructed in present-day interior Manatee County, Florida, within the headwaters of the Myakka River drainage. While the Stanley Mound was tested in 1975 as part of a larger compliance survey, the site and its surrounding landscape remain poorly understood. Subsequent visits noted a paucity of geo-spatial and archaeological data and documented a pressing need for conservation measures. We report the results of survey testing and stabilization efforts at Stanley Mound carried out through a collaboration between USF Applied Anthropology, FPAN West-Central, and Florida State Parks. Our survey incorporated LiDAR mapping, Total Station mapping, and shovel testing with a re-analysis of the artifact assemblage recovered in 1975.
In this paper we redefine the morphology of the mound, report a newly identified activity area, and describe the conservation program currently being implemented by Florida State Parks to preserve the site. Our study demonstrates the value of heavily looted and previously excavated sites to contemporary research interests, and suggest that continued archaeological work within the interior central Gulf Coast may contribute meaningfully to studies of complex monumentality and regional interaction in Precolumbian Florida.
In this paper we redefine the morphology of the mound, report a newly identified activity area, and describe the conservation program currently being implemented by Florida State Parks to preserve the site. Our study demonstrates the value of heavily looted and previously excavated sites to contemporary research interests, and suggest that continued archaeological work within the interior central Gulf Coast may contribute meaningfully to studies of complex monumentality and regional interaction in Precolumbian Florida.
Research Interests: Prehistoric Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, Late Woodland (Archaeology in Northeastern North America), Southeastern Archaeology (Archaeology in North America), Cultural Heritage Management, and 5 moreArchaeological Conservation, Florida Archaeology, Protohistory, Field Archaeology, and LiDAR for Landscape Archaeology
While seldom integrated within coastal archaeological research in Southeastern North America, vegetation histories derived from palynological data offer valuable records of ancient landscape transformations driven by climatic flux,... more
While seldom integrated within coastal archaeological research in
Southeastern North America, vegetation histories derived from
palynological data offer valuable records of ancient landscape transformations
driven by climatic flux, sea-level oscillations, and
anthropogenic modifications. In this paper, we develop a paleo-historical-
ecological reconstruction from preliminary analyses on fossil
pollen assemblages preserved within marsh, hammock, and shellmidden
soils at the Crystal River site (8CI1), a mound center on
Florida’s west-central coast occupied throughout the first millennium
AD. When contextualized alongside paleoenvironmental
records from western Florida and farther afield, our analysis suggests
that the nature and timing of late-Holocene climatic changes
varied little between different sub-regions of Florida’s Gulf Coast,
but also that manifestations of eustatic sea-level flux may have been
highly localized.
Southeastern North America, vegetation histories derived from
palynological data offer valuable records of ancient landscape transformations
driven by climatic flux, sea-level oscillations, and
anthropogenic modifications. In this paper, we develop a paleo-historical-
ecological reconstruction from preliminary analyses on fossil
pollen assemblages preserved within marsh, hammock, and shellmidden
soils at the Crystal River site (8CI1), a mound center on
Florida’s west-central coast occupied throughout the first millennium
AD. When contextualized alongside paleoenvironmental
records from western Florida and farther afield, our analysis suggests
that the nature and timing of late-Holocene climatic changes
varied little between different sub-regions of Florida’s Gulf Coast,
but also that manifestations of eustatic sea-level flux may have been
highly localized.
Research Interests:
Coastal archaeologists and historical ecologists are taking an increasingly robust interest in marine shell assemblages recovered from coastal villages and civic-ceremonial sites. These assemblages must be quantified before archaeologists... more
Coastal archaeologists and historical ecologists are taking an increasingly robust interest in marine shell assemblages recovered from coastal villages and civic-ceremonial sites. These assemblages must be quantified before archaeologists can make assessments of biomass flows and subsistence contributions. We present the results of an experimental allometric study on Melongena corona snails collected from the mangrove dominated shoreline of Weedon Island Preserve, Florida, USA. Our analysis produced regression constants for predicting
tissue weight estimates from four independent linear shell metrics, including: length, aperture-length, height, and width. This study is unique in its integration of field and laboratory experimentation, and in the large sample size used to develop allometric constants. To exemplify the utility of our regression models, we apply our allometric constants to a late-Precolumbian (ca. 895–1268 CE) marine shell assemblage excavated from the Weeden Island site (8PI1), Pinellas County, Florida, USA.
tissue weight estimates from four independent linear shell metrics, including: length, aperture-length, height, and width. This study is unique in its integration of field and laboratory experimentation, and in the large sample size used to develop allometric constants. To exemplify the utility of our regression models, we apply our allometric constants to a late-Precolumbian (ca. 895–1268 CE) marine shell assemblage excavated from the Weeden Island site (8PI1), Pinellas County, Florida, USA.