St. Johns Archaeological Field School

Department of Anthropology

University of Florida

June 28 – August 6, 2010

A nine-credit field practicum in all aspects of archaeological field work, including reconnaissance survey, site mapping and testing, and stratigraphic excavation. Evening laboratory sessions and lectures provide additional training in analysis, research design, and regional archaeology. Students also gain experience in the use of electronic survey equipment and other hi-tech applications in mapping and surveying. 

The St. Johns River valley of northeast Florida was home to prehistoric hunter-gatherers for over 11,000 years. Some 6500 years ago, certain groups began to harvest the rich shellfish resources of the river and mound the inedible remains in locations of repeated occupation. Most of these shell mounds were mined for road fill years ago, but many still preserve information of scientific value.  Notably, the earliest occupations occurred when water levels were well below present-day elevations and evidence for these occupations has since been inundated by rising water.  The mining operations that destroyed so many shell mounds in Florida did not generally affect the inundated deposits, which contain some of the best preserved archaeological materials in the region. The 2010 field school will return to the western shore of Lake George for a fourth year after a five-year stint on Hontoon Island.  In the 19th century, Jeffries Wyman described the shell deposits at the mouth of Silver Glen Run, which drains into Lake George, as the largest in all of northeast Florida.  The U-shaped outline in the diagram to the left shows the extent of the deposits Wyman observed in 1871.  Although this massive deposit was mined for shell in 1923, portions of its basal deposits remain intact below the present-day surface. This year we will expand our efforts to document the southern ridge of the mound. We will also continue work at a presumed village site to west of the mound, where, in 2009, we found evidence of large shellfish processing pits (see below) that we suspect were used to prepare food for mound-related feasting.

Accommodations for field school are provided courtesy of our host organization for the five-week field session (July 5 - August 6). Beyond the fee for nine undergraduate credit hours (ANT 4123/4124), students will pay their share of communal subsistence and equipment costs (estimated at about $400). One additional week of lab orientation in Gainesville (June 28 - July 2) is mandatory. The St. Johns Archaeological Field School is directed by Dr. Kenneth E. Sassaman. Several of Dr. Sassaman’s graduate students (Asa Randall, Zack Gilmore, Jason O’Donoughue, and Paulette McFadden) supervise field school students on different aspects of the research and training. Click here for an application form. Due date for applications is March 31, 2010. Students will be notified about admission decisions by April 15, 2010.