Animal use in the Georgia Pine Barrens: An example from the Hartford site (9PU1)

Vertebrate remains recovered from a large fire and refuse pit at the Hartford site (9PU1), Pulaski County, Georgia, provide a rare opportunity to consider animal use in the Georgia Pine Barrens. This Middle Woodland feature is located on the upper Atlantic Coastal Plain at a site that once had a village and at least one mound. The feature was inside a large oval structure beneath the mound. The collection contains 24,143 vertebrate specimens representing the remains of a minimum of 131 individuals from 43 taxa. This large, rich, moderately diverse sample yields evidence of aquatic and terrestrial resource use, multiple seasons of deposition, human interaction with the Piedmont and coast, and selective use of deer carcasses. Although comparative data are rare, data are available from two other upper Coastal Plain sites: G. S. Lewis and Kolomoki. Data from these three sites indicate vertebrate remains are an important source of evidence of human behavior and can be abundant at sites in the Pine Barrens.