Archeological studies Dr. Victor D. Thompson University of Georgia

Baldwin Hall, Rm 265B Department of Anthropology University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602 USA

vdthom@uga.edu http://anthropology.uga.edu/people/faculty/thompson_victor/ Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project

Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-3636 USA

gcelter@uga.edu https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/ Dr. Victor D. Thompson University of Georgia

Baldwin Hall, Rm 265B Department of Anthropology University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602 USA

vdthom@uga.edu http://anthropology.uga.edu/people/faculty/thompson_victor/ Principal investigator John A. Turck University of Georgia

Department of Anthropology 250A Baldwin Hall, Jackson St. University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-1619 USA

jaturck@uga.edu Graduate research assistant 2026

We are particularly interested in the distribution of shell deposits left by the Native American occupants, because such deposits affect soil chemistry and landform exposure, and therefore may mediate high-marsh ecosystem processes by affecting the quality and quantity of water reaching the high marsh. Other legacy effects on current ecosystems might be mediated by changes in soil nutrient structure and permeability associated with fire, latrines, and seafood processing. V. Thompson and his students and colleagues have performed archeological surveys of four hammocks to date. Surveying these areas involves shovel test probes at 20 meter intervals. All sites are mapped and drawn according to standard archaeological procedures using GPS and a total station. All observable human modification to the landscape such as existing historic structures, canals, fences indicating livestock, etc. are also included. Thompson is also currently working on a database that includes reconnaissance information on over 100 islands.

Question 4: What are the underlying mechanisms by which proximity of marshes to upland habitat drives ecosystem change along lateral gradients in the intertidal zone? (more information)

LTER NSF Georgia Little Sapelo Island Mary Hammock Patterson Island Sapelo Island GCE canals historic marsh Native American Overall geographic extent of the research project -81.282950 -81.278834 31.398877 31.395295 2006-01-01 2012-11-01

National Science Foundation grant numbers OCE-9982133 and OCE-0620959

estuary marsh complex UGA Marine Institute - The University of Georgia Marine Institute is located on the southern end of Sapelo Island, a barrier island off the central Georgia coast. -81.282950 -81.278834 31.398877 31.395295 Areas used for archeological sampling. https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/resources/projects/archeologyQ4.png Thompson, V.D., Turck, J.A. and DePratter, C. 2013. Cumulative Actions and the Historical Ecology of Islands along the Georgia Coast. Pages 79-95 in: Thompson, V.D. (editor). The Archaeology and Historical Ecology of Small Scale Economies. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Turck, J.A., Thompson, A.R. and DePratter, C. 2013. Entangling Events: The Guale Landscape and the Spanish Missions. In: Thompson, V.D. and Thomas, D.H. (editors). Life among the Tides: Recent Archaeology of the Georgia Bight. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Thompson, V.D., Turck, J.A., Thompson, A.R. and DePratter, C. 2013. Entangling Events: The Guale Landscape and the Spanish Missions. Pages 423-437 in: Thompson, V.D. and Thomas, D.H. (editors). Life among the Tides: Recent Archaeology of the Georgia Bight. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Turck, J.A. and Alexander, C.R. Jr. 2013. Coastal Landscapes and their Relationship to Human Settlement on the Georgia Coast. Pages 169-189 in: Thompson, V.D. and Thomas, D.H. (editors). Life Among the Tides - Recent Archaeology on the Georgia Bight. American Museum of Natural History—Scientific Publications, New York, NY. http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/6435 Turck, J.A. and Thompson, V.D. 2013. Presentation: Sea Level Fluctuations, Landscape Evolution, and the Late Archaic Population of the Georgia Coast. 70th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Tampa, FL. Turck, J.A. 2012. Where Were All of the Coastally Adapted People During the Middle Archaic Period in Georgia, USA? Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. 7:404–424. (DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2011.652763) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2011.652763 Turck, J.A. 2011. Geoarchaeological analysis of two back-barrier islands and their relationship to the changing landscape of coastal Georgia, U.S.A. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens, GA. 239 pages. http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/uploads/GCEPub667_Turck_PhD_2011_20120125T93415.pdf Thompson, V.D. and Turck, J.A. 2010. Island Archaeology and the Native American Economies (2500 B.C.–A.D. 1700) of the Georgia Coast. Journal of Field Archaeology. 35(3):283-297. (DOI: 10.1179/009346910X12707321358991) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/009346910X12707321358991 Thompson, V.D. and Turck, J.A. 2009. Adaptive Cycles of Coastal Hunter-Gatherers. American Antiquity. 74(2):255-278. ANT-GCED-2005 - Oyster Paleobiology along the South Atlantic Coast of the United States https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/dataset_details.asp?id=718