History, Complex Hunter-gatherers, and the Mounds and Monuments of Crystal River, Florida, USA: A Geophysical Perspective

ABSTRACT

Crystal River (8CI1) is one of Florida's most famous archaeological sites. Yet, after over a century of investigations, its place in the history of Florida and the southeastern United States is not well understood. Crystal River is an important example, in terms of world archaeology, of a monumental landscape constructed by complex hunter-gatherer-fishers along the coast of the southeastern United States. Here, we present the results of our remote sensing program at the site. This research includes topographic mapping, a resistance survey, and ground-penetrating radar transects over various architectural components at the site. These data lend insight into the scale and rapidity of landscape modification at the site, as well as information on the location of previous archaeological excavations and modern disturbances. Further, the data illustrate the potential of shallow geophysical survey to the investigations of shell architecture.

Keywords:

• ground penetrating radar
• resistance survey
• shell architecture
• Southeastern United States

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A number of individuals and institutions made this research possible. First, we thank Nick Robins (Park Manager, Crystal River Archaeological State Park) for his support.For permission to work at the park, we also thank Parks Small (Chief, Bureau of Natural and Cultural Resources), Dr. Ryan J. Wheeler (Chief, Bureau of Archaeological Research and State Archaeologist), and William Stanton (Archaeologist, Bureau of Natural & Cultural Resources). We are indebted to Chris (Paula) Carpenter, Jamie Gridwain, Mike Petellat, and Leroy Smith, the staff of Crystal River State Archaeological Park. Rich Estabrook of the Florida Public Archaeology Network provided crucial logistical support. The University of South Florida Office of Research through the New Researcher Grant Program, in part, supported this work. Both the University of South Florida and University of West Florida Departments of Anthropology provided additional support. The Bureau of Natural and Cultural Resources of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection provided space for us to camp. Our field crew Amanda Roberts, Nick Laracuente, Sarah Mitchell, Adrienne Sams, the USF Field School, and the UWF Field School all, ultimately, made the research possible. We thank Dr. Lawrence Conyers and an anonymous reviewer for their thoughtful comments and critique of this article. As always, the authors are solely responsible for all errors, omissions, and mistakes.