Tomoka Archaeology Project Stage IIa: Distribution and Description of Anthropogenic Sediments

• Main Author: Endonino, Jon C.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Encompass 2017
• Subjects: Mount Taylor; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://encompass.eku.edu/swps/2017/faculty/25; http://encompass.eku.edu/swps_facultygallery/11

The Tomoka Mound and Midden Complex has some of the oldest Native American burial mounds in North America. Located on the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida, prehistoric hunter-gatherers of Mount Taylor culture constructed sand burial 4900-4700 years before present (BP). The Tomoka Archaeology Project (TAP) seeks to understand the origins of mound construction and the social and ecological conditions in particular. Stage IIa of the TAP characterized and determined the horizontal and vertical extent of anthropogenic (human modified) sediments across the site. Knowing the composition and distribution of subsurface deposits aids in selecting areas with the greatest potential to produce the kinds of data required for reconstructing the prehistoric environment, specifically preserved plant and animal remains which serve as proxies for past environmental conditions. Sediment cores revealed dense deposits of shell and organically enriched sediments proximate to mounds with a patchy distribution within the intervening spaces. Data on the location of deposits with preserved floral and faunal remains will aid in determining locations to investigate and sample in subsequent phases of field work.