Determining the use of Late Archaic shell rings using lithic data: “ceremonial villages” and the importance of stone

Abstract

ABSTRACTLate Archaic shell rings have been the focus of archaeological research for decades, yet their history, use, and function are debated. Relying on an evidentiary line rarely used in shell ring studies – the analysis of stone tools and debitage – we test prevailing theories and find that models describing the rings as circular dams intended to hold freshwater are incorrect. Instead, by tracing the origins of stone and its distribution within two shell rings on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, we posit that shell rings were places of both daily residence and intermittent gatherings. Because they have proven useful in interpreting the St. Catherines Island shell rings, we suggest archaeologists shift their sampling and recovery techniques so that representative lithic assemblages can be attained from other rings, thereby providing a better understanding of ring-builders and the Late Archaic occupation of the South Atlantic coastline.