Rethinking the Estero Island Site: A possible satellite village of Mound Key

Abstract

Dating sediments from island and coastal archaeological sites can prove challenging due to numerous factors. New information on the natural habitats and geochemistry of marine mollusks, as well as Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates, can help archaeologists generate new interpretations, not just for newly investigated sites, but also for older collections and datasets. Using the Estero Island Site, a large shell midden mound in southwest Florida, as a case study, we show that these new techniques and perspectives can add value to previously excavated collections. Specifically, our reinterpretation of the dates suggests that this site was occupied more recently than previously posited and that it may have played a larger role than formerly thought in the regional development of Calusa political complexity.