The Roberts Island complex is an archaeological site in Citrus County, Florida, near the Gulf of Mexico, dating from the late Woodland period. It is located on an island in the Crystal River midway between the springs at the head of the river and the mouth of the river on the Gulf of Mexico. The site is a geographically separate unit of the Crystal River Archaeological State Park. The site includes three shell mounds and three middens. Two of the mounds may have had stepped sides. The Roberts Island complex was developed as the Crystal River site declined and most other ceremonial sites in the region were abandoned during the 7th or 8th century.
Roberts Island divides Crystal River and Salt River, a distributary of Crystal River, as they diverge. Both rivers are tidal. [1] The site is 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) downstream from the Crystal River archaeological site, [2] Roberts Island has Hallandale-Rock Outcrop as the primary soil type, with some areas of soil produced by prehistoric human activities. [1] Prairie hammock is the primary habitat on Roberts Island, with adjoining tidal marshes and shell mounds. The shell mounds on Roberts Island are covered by a closed canopy forest. The shell mounds on Roberts Island are believed to have mainly been created in hydric or prairie hammocks on outcrops of limestone, although some may have been created in tidal marshes along the rivers. Most of Roberts Island is largely undisturbed, although two houses remain in private hands. [3] While all of the Crystal River site is included in the site designation 8CI1, various features in the Roberts Island complex have been assigned the site designations 8CI36, 8CI37, 8CI39, 8CI40, 8CI41 and 8CI576. Roberts Island was added to the park in 1996. [4]
While the Crystal River Site (Crystal River Mounds) has been studied for more than a century (Clarence Bloomfield Moore published a description of the largest mound at the Crystal River site in 1903), [5] the mounds on Roberts Island did not attract attention from archaeologists until the 1950s, when Ripley and Adelaide Bullen reported on the features now designated as 8CI36, 8CI37, 8CI39, 8CI40, and 8CI41. The feature designated 8CI576 was first described by Gary Ellis in 1993. [6] The Florida Department of Environmental Protection regards the cultural resources of the Roberts Island complex to be comparable to those of the Crystal River site. [7]
The largest site on Roberts Island is 8CI41, an island in a marsh about 200 metres (660 ft) long by 20 to 50 metres (66 to 164 ft) wide. The island is covered almost entirely by a midden, on which Mound A was built. People apparently started living on a small island in the marsh on a surface that is now just above mean high tide, when the mean sea level in the area was about 1 metre (3.3 ft) lower than today. Radiocarbon dates indicate the initial occupation of the island started between 571 and 747. A 1 to 1.5 metres (3.3 to 4.9 ft) thick layer of shell midden was deposited on the island during a period lasting until 779 to 982. Mound A was built of oyster shell on top of the midden, apparently contemporaneous with the deposit of the top layer of the midden. The mound is flat-topped, 32 metres (105 ft) long by 29 metres (95 ft) wide at the base, and 21 metres (69 ft) long by 14 metres (46 ft) wide at the top, and is 4 metres (13 ft) high. The long axis of the mound runs north-south. There may have been a ramp descending from the top of the mound on the east side, leading to a possible plaza some 40 metres (130 ft) in length. [8]
Mound A is covered in a layer (Stratum I) of loamy sand that is very dark brown in color and contains small amounts of crushed shell. Below that is a layer (Stratum II) of loamy sand that is dark grey, with some crushed shell. The material beneath the surface layers (Stratum III) consists of intact oyster shells (valves). Pluckhahn, Thomas and Rink report that the mound shows evidence of having stepped sides. A trench excavated on one side of the mound, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) transects of the mound revealed alternating horizontal and sloped (approximately 45°) elements, with anomalies in the radar transects corresponding to breaks between Stratum II and Stratum III in the stratigraphy in the walls of the trench. The stepped anomalies in the GPR profile appeared on both the north and the south side of the mound, as well as one adjacent to the excavated trench on the west side of the mound. The GPR profile is consistent with the interior of the mound being made entirely of oyster shells. Pluckhahn, Thomas and Rink interpret that consistency to mean that the perceived steps are not the result of random placement of basket loads of shell during construction of the mound. Some of the steps were more evident that others in the sides of the excavated trench. Pluckhahn, Thomas and Rink assume there were six steps above ground level, with the lowest step 90 centimetres (35 in) wide and decreasing in width to 30 centimetres (12 in) for the last step below the top of the mound. The height of each step appears to be about 55 centimetres (22 in). Steps have not been found on other mounds on the Gulf coast of peninsular Florida. [9]
Mound A was built of oyster shells with very little other material present. Various evidence suggests the mound was constructed in a single phase. The size of the shells and isotope analysis of the shells indicate that they were all harvested in the late fall and winter. Pluckhahn, Thompson and Rink suggest that the mound may have been constructed in less than a year. While the summit was not excavated, no evidence of a structure on top of the mound was found. [10]
Site 8CI40 (Crystal River 6/CR-6) is a small island northeast of Mound A, almost completely covered by a rectangular mound. Mound B is smaller and lower than Mound A, 56 metres (184 ft) long and 30 metres (98 ft) wide at the base, with a flat top 40 metres (130 ft) long and 18 metres (59 ft) wide. The Bullens described 8CI40 as a temple mound, [a] with steep sides and a flat top 40 feet (12 m) by 60 feet (18 m). [15] The mound was constructed of oyster shell, and is about the same age as Mound A. The top of the mound is occupied by a house built in the 1950s. Similar to Mound A, Mound B has two relatively thin surface layers. Stratum I is composed of very dark brown loamy sand, but includes many historic and more recent artifacts connected to the 20th century house on the mound. Stratum II, as in Mound A, consists of dark grey loamy sand with some crushed shell. The core of Mound B, similar to the core of Mound A, consists of intact oyster shells. Pluckhahn, Tomas and Rink report evidence of steps on the sides of Mound B, although less distinct than those they found on Mound A. Each step appears to be 1 metre (3.3 ft) wide and 20 centimetres (7.9 in) high. Radiocarbon dates and the composition of ceramics found indicate that the construction of Mound B was contemporaneous with Mound A, in or around the 11th century A.D. [16]
Site 8CI36 is a small island southeast of Mound A, with a rectangular mound about 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height. Mound C is 33 metres (108 ft) long and 26 metres (85 ft) wide at the base, and 25 metres (82 ft) long and 17 metres (56 ft) wide at the top. Mound C was also constructed with oyster shells. The period when Mound C was constructed has not been established. The distance from the center of Mound A to the center of Mound B is 93 metres (305 ft), from the center of Mound A to the center of Mound C is 103 metres (338 ft), and from the center of Mound B to the Center of Mound C is 145 metres (476 ft). Pluckhahn, Thomas and Rink suggest that the (approximate) isosceles triangle formed by the three mounds, along with the similar ages of the mounds, indicate that they formed an "integrated architectural complex." The three mounds surround the area that may have been a plaza on the east side of Mound A. [17] [18]
8CI36 (Crystal River 2/CR-2) is a shell midden 75 feet (23 m) in diameter. 8CI37 (Crystal River 3/CR-3) is a shell midden 150 feet (46 m) in diameter. Weeden Island and Safety Harbor pottery have been found in 8CI37. 8CI39 (Crystal River 5/CR-5) is described as a narrow shell ridge. Deptford, Weeden Island and Safety Harbor pottery have been found in 8CI39. [15]
A ceremonial center at the Crystal River site originated very early in the current era, likely at some time between 69 and 225. It became a major ceremonial center, described as the southern-most major ceremonial location associated with the Hopewell tradition, but it declined by the 7th or 8th century and had been abandoned as a ceremonial center by the 10th century, although some people continued to live on part of the site. The pottery traditions at the Crystal River site were substantially continued at Roberts Island, indicating a gradual shift of population and ceremonial importance from the Crystal River site to the Roberts Island site. However, ceremonial feasts at Roberts Island were dominated by oysters and other bivalves, while meat from mammals, which had been made up almost half the food at feasts at Crystal River, almost disappeared in feasts at Roberts Island. [19] [20]
A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics, and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation.
The Weeden Island cultures are a group of related archaeological cultures that existed during the Late Woodland period of the North American Southeast. The name for this group of cultures was derived from the Weedon Island site in Old Tampa Bay in Pinellas County.
Crystal River State Archaeological Site is a 61-acre (250,000 m2) Florida State Park located on the Crystal River and within the Crystal River Preserve State Park. The park is located two miles (3 km) northwest of the city of Crystal River, on Museum Point off U.S. 19/98.
Horr's Island is a significant Archaic period archaeological site located on an island in Southwest Florida formerly known as Horr's Island. Horr's Island is on the south side of Marco Island in Collier County, Florida. The site includes four mounds and a shell ring. It has one of the oldest known mound burials in the eastern United States, dating to about 3400 radiocarbon years Before Present (BP). One of the mounds has been dated to as early as 6700 BP. It was the largest known community in the southeastern United States to have been permanently occupied during the Archaic period.
Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin counties.
The Cades Pond culture is defined as a Middle Woodland Southeast period archaeological culture in north-central Florida, dating from around 100 to 600 CE.
The Belle Glade culture, or Okeechobee culture, is an archaeological culture that existed from as early as 1000 BCE until about 1700 CE in the area surrounding Lake Okeechobee and in the Kissimmee River valley in the Florida Peninsula.
The Caloosahatchee culture is an archaeological culture on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida that lasted from about 500 to 1750 AD. Its territory consisted of the coast from Estero Bay to Charlotte Harbor and inland about halfway to Lake Okeechobee, approximately covering what are now Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. At the time of first European contact, the Caloosahatchee culture region formed the core of the Calusa domain.
Mound Key Archaeological State Park is a Florida State Park, located in Estero Bay, near the mouth of the Estero River. One hundred and thirteen of the island's one hundred and twenty-five acres are managed by the park system. It is a complex of mounds and accumulated shell, fish bone, and pottery middens that rises more than 30 feet above the waters of the bay.
The Garden Patch is a Middle Woodland archaeological site in Horseshoe Cove, near Horseshoe Beach, Florida, off County Road 351. For a major part of its occupation, the site was a ceremonial center associated with the Swift Creek and Weeden Island cultures. On April 25, 1991, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Mount Royal (8PU35) is a U.S. archaeological site close to where the St. Johns River exits from Lake George in Putnam County, Florida. It is located three miles (5 km) south of Welaka, in the Mount Royal Airpark, off County Road 309 on the eastern bank of the St. Johns River. The site consists of a large sand mound and several nearby middens.
Dismal Key is a small island, part of the Ten Thousand Islands archipelago in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The island is artificial, constructed by people of the Glades culture. Construction of the island proceeded in stages over some 1,500 years following the end of the Archaic period in Florida. Occupation probably ended a couple of centuries before the arrival of Europeans in Florida. Dismal Key was occupied by several hermits in the 20th century.
The St. Johns culture was an archaeological culture in northeastern Florida, USA that lasted from about 500 BCE until shortly after European contact in the 17th century. The St. Johns culture was present along the St. Johns River and its tributaries (including the Oklawaha River, and along the Atlantic coast of Florida from the mouth of the St. Johns River south to a point east of the head of the St. Johns River, near present-day Cocoa Beach, Florida. At the time of first European contact, the St. Johns culture area was inhabited by speakers of the Mocama, Agua Fresca and Acuera dialects of the Timucua language and by the Mayacas.
The Deptford culture was an archaeological culture in southeastern North America characterized by the appearance of elaborate ceremonial complexes, increasing social and political complexity, mound burial, permanent settlements, population growth, and an increasing reliance on cultigens.
The Safety Harbor culture was an archaeological culture practiced by Native Americans living on the central Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula, from about 900 CE until after 1700. The Safety Harbor culture is defined by the presence of Safety Harbor ceramics in burial mounds. The culture is named after the Safety Harbor site, located close to the center of the culture area. The Safety Harbor site is the probable location of the chief town of the Tocobaga, the best known of the groups practicing the Safety Harbor culture.
Fort Center is an archaeological site in Glades County, Florida, United States, a few miles northwest of Lake Okeechobee. It was occupied for more than 2,000 years, from 450 BCE until about 1700 CE. The inhabitants of Fort Center may have been cultivating maize centuries before it appeared anywhere else in Florida.
Shell rings are archaeological sites with curved shell middens completely or partially surrounding a clear space. The rings were sited next to estuaries that supported large populations of shellfish, usually oysters. Shell rings have been reported in several countries, including Colombia, Peru, Japan, and the southeastern United States. Archaeologists continue to debate the origins and use of shell rings.
The Mount Taylor period or Mount Taylor culture was a pre-ceramic archaeological culture in northeastern Florida in the middle to late Archaic period. The Mount Taylor period lasted from approximately 5000 or 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE. Most archaeological sites associated with the culture are in the middle and upper parts of the St. Johns River valley, with related sites occurring along the east coast of Florida, and at a few other places in Florida. The Mount Taylor culture emerged from the regionally undifferentiated middle Archaic culture in Florida, and was succeeded by the late Archaic Orange period.
Morgan Mounds is an important archaeological site of the Coastal Coles Creek culture, built and occupied by Native Americans from 700 to 1000 CE on Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Of the 45 recorded Coastal Coles Creek sites in the Petite Anse region, it is the only one with ceremonial substructure mounds. These indicate that it was possibly the center of a local chiefdom.
Tony's Mound (8HN3) is a prehistoric to historic period archaeological site located on Dixie Dyke Road, south of Clewiston in Hendry County, Florida. Tony's Mound is one of two monumental earthwork complexes built in southern Florida by the Glade cultures around 1000 BCE using unique and distinct sand ridges, causeways and mounds. The other site is Big Mound City, twenty-five miles to the northeast in Palm Beach County. The ritual complex was first described in print by Ross Allen in the 1948. Aerial photography showed a site consisting of nine raised causeways radiating from an immense plaza and central flat mound/midden on privately owned land used for cattle ranching.