Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Set Details

Jump to Files

GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession:

ANT-GCED-2112

Research Theme:

Anthropology (Directed Study)

Contributors:

Carey J. Garland, Victor Thompson, Matt Sanger, Karen Smith, Fred Andrus, Nathan Lawres, Katharine Napora, Carol Colaninno, Matthew Compton, Sharyn Jones, Carla Hadden, Alexander Cherkinsky, Emmy Deng, Thomas Maddox, Isabelle Lulewicz

Title:

Shell geochemistry and environmental instability along the Georgia Coast during the Late Archaic Period (5000 - 3800 BP)

Abstract:

This dataset includes stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) data collected from eastern oysters (n=19) (Crassostrea virginica) and hard clams (n=59) (Mercenaria spp.) from the Late Archaic (ca. 50000-3500 cal. BP) Sapelo Shell Rings on Sapelo Island, Georgia. A total of 1064 isotope samples were collected and analyzed from these shells. The data are part of a larger project reconstructing paleo-climate and Native American adaption and resilience in the context of climate instability along the South Atlantic coast of North America during the Late Archaic Period. Shell isotope samples were collected by multiple researchers over the last decade. Carey Garland added to and cleaned the data between June 2020 and December 2021. The dataset was structured to include site name, location, and provenience (e.g., unit, level, etc.) associated with each shell analyzed, as well as all raw isotope data. The original database contains sensitive information, such as the specific location of archaeological sites. If a professional archaeologist needs site location information, they can contact the Georgia Archaeological Site File.

DOI:

10.6073/pasta/4a7b654d265cca39fabaac3f4aeb55b2

Key Words:

archaeology, chemistry, GCE, Holocene, humans, isotopes, LTER, Sapelo Island

LTER Core Area:

Population Studies

Research Themes:

Anthropology, Chemistry

Study Period:

01-Jun-2020 to 01-Dec-2021

Study Sites:

Sapelo -- Sapelo Island, Sapelo Island, Georgia

» Download Geographic Coverage: Google Earth

Publications:

Garland, C.J., Thompson, V.D., Sanger, M., Smith, K.Y., Andrus, C.F., Lawres, N.R., Napora, K., Colaninno, C.E., Compton, J.M., Jones, S., Hadden, C.S., Cherkinsky, A., Maddox, T., Deng, Y.-T., Lulewicz, I.H. and Parsons, L. 2022. A Multi-proxy assessment of the impact of environmental instability on Late Holocene (4500-3800 BP) Native American villages of the Georgia Coast. PLOS One. (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258979)

Garland, C.J. and Thompson, V. D. 2023. Collective action and shellfish harvesting practices among Late Archaic villagers of the South Atlantic Bight. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 69:10. (DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101483)

Downloads:

Data Table: ANT-GCED-2112 (Main data table for data set ANT-GCED-2112, 1065 records)

Access: Public (released 14-Jan-2022)

Metadata: Text (ESA FLED), XML (Ecological Metadata Language)

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [112.66kb], Text File [101.85kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [29.17kb], MATLAB (Variables) [NaNkb], Text Report [118.74kb]

Column List:(hide)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Site	none	string	Site name
2	Location	none	string	Name of island
3	Provenience	none	string	Provenience information such as unit, feature (F), and level (LVL)
4	Species	none	string	Mollusk species
5	Sample identification number	none	string	Sample identification number
6	Oxygen_18	ppt	floating-point	Oxygen Isotope values
7	Carbon_13	ppt	floating-point	Carbon Isotope Values

Statistics:

Generate script code to retrieve data tables for analysis in: MATLAB, R, SAS, SPSS

Citation:

Garland, Carey J. 2021. Shell geochemistry and environmental instability along the Georgia Coast during the Late Archaic Period (5000 - 3800 BP) . Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/4a7b654d265cca39fabaac3f4aeb55b2

» Help about file formats, technical specifications and file versioning