title: From Shell Midden to Midden-Mound: The Geoarchaeology of Mound Key, an Anthropogenic Island in Southwest Florida, USA.
abstract: Mound Key was once the capital of the Calusa Kingdom, a large Pre-Hispanic polity that controlled much of southern Florida. Mound Key, like other archaeological sites along the southwest Gulf Coast, is a large expanse of shell and other anthropogenic sediments. The challenges that these sites pose are largely due to the size and areal extent of the deposits, some of which begin up to a meter below and exceed nine meters above modern sea levels. Additionally, the complex depositional sequences at these sites present difficulties in determining their chronology. Here, we examine the development of Mound Key as an anthropogenic island through systematic coring of the deposits, excavations, and intensive radiocarbon dating. The resulting data, which include the reversals of radiocarbon dates from cores and dates from mound-top features, lend insight into the temporality of site formation. We use these insights to discuss the nature and scale of human activities that worked to form this large island in the context of its dynamic, environmental setting. We present the case that deposits within Mound Key's central area accumulated through complex processes that represent a diversity of human action including midden accumulation and the redeposition of older sediments as mound fill.
authors.affiliation: Center for Archaeological Sciences and Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Victor D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Marquardt
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherkinsky
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Archaeology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Amanda D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Roberts Thompson
authors.affiliation: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lee A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Newsom
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine and Ecological Science, Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Savarese
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology / Q000379:methods*; D005431:Florida; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D062312:Islands; D055110:Radiometric Dating