Integrating Vertebrate and Invertebrate Season of Capture Data from Ring III of the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex (9MC23), Georgia, USA

Seasonal movement and subsistence are important aspects of coastal research. This extends to those practiced by Late Archaic people of the Georgia coast (USA) who formed shell rings. Researchers have attempted to reconstruct coastal lifeways by documenting seasonal harvest patterns associated with shell ring formation. The Sapelo Island Shell Ring complex (9Mc23), Sapelo Island, Georgia, was subject to research investigating seasonal patterns of deposition and site formation processes. A number of invertebrate specimens used as seasonal proxies indicate highly seasonal ring deposits, while other deposits evidence multiple seasons of formation. Despite a multi-proxy approach, researchers have not explored the stratigraphic distribution of vertebrate fauna from these rings. We examine vertebrate remains from two contexts excavated within Ring III of the Sapelo Island Shell Ring complex: a 1 × 1 m excavation unit and a 25 × 25 cm column sample. Using vertebrate data, we note fluctuations in the archaeofaunal profile that may signal seasonal patterning. Among these samples, there is both an uneven distribution of fauna and the frequency of size classes for a selected fish species through the stratigraphic column indicating that ring occupants used resources during multiple seasons.