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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Mitchell, Scott E. 1996. The importance of aquatic resources at five archaeological sites in the Okeechobee region of South Florida.
Abstract: The primary goal of this research is to explore the importance of freshwater aquatic resources to the late prehistoric cultures of interior south Florida. The role of vertebrate and invertebrate animals as a stable food source is investigated by comparing faunal data from five late prehistoric middens located in varying environmental settings within the Okeechobee Region. Based on these results, the importance of aquatic resources in prehistory within the interior regions of south Florida is discussed. Possible ties between aquatic resources and the development of sedentism in Florida are also discussed. Original faunal data are presented from the Blueberry site (8HG678), a late Belle Glade period midden located in an upland setting on the eastern flank of the Lake Wales Ridge. These results are compared to published data from four approximately contemporaneous midden sites in areas of lower relative elevation to the Blueberry site: the Orange Hammock site (8HG20) situated on the Kissimmee River, the Taylor Creek site (8OB23) located at the northern terminus of Lake Okeechobee, the Big Circle Mound Group (8HN3) near the western boundary of the Everglades, and the Ortona site (8GL80) located on a sandy upland near the Caloosahatchee River. The results of this research suggest that aquatic vertebrates, primarily bony fish and turtles, were most heavily relied upon as a source of edible meat at these five sites. An exception is found in the Ortona sample, which exhibited higher percentages of biomass from mammals. In addition, faunal assemblages from each of the five sites reflected local environmental settings such as river shores, hardwood hammocks, or well drained uplands. While these conclusions are preliminary, faunal evidence suggests that aquatic resources were important to the prehistoric inhabitants of the Okeechobee Region. Aquatic vertebrates such as fish, turtles, and amphibians appear to have been relied upon often as a primary source of meat at some sites even when upland resources were accessible.
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