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THE FLORIDA

ANTHROPOLOGIST

Volume 63, Number 1
March 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

From the Editors

ARTICLES

Patterns of Degenerative Joint Disease among Males and Females at Windover (8BR246) and
Their Relationship to Grave Goods.
Rachel K. Wentz

Life and Death on the Pine Island Ridge During the Late Archaic Period.
Alison A. Elgart

Ceremonial Metal Tablet #59:
Stylistic and Compositional Analyses of a Copper Tablet from the Blueberry Site, Highlands County, Florida.
Scott E. Mitchell and George M. Luer

Ceremonial Metal Tablet #60:
Stylistic and Compositional Analyses of a Lead-Iron Tablet from the Blueberry Site, Highlands County, Florida.
George M. Luer

A Fluorite Bead from Florida.
Dan F. Morse and Phyllis Morse

OBITUARY

James Cowan Waggoner. Deborah Mullins, Neill Wallis, and Michelle LeFebvre

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Photographs
(upper left)
beginning on

of obverse (lower left) and reverse (lower right) of Metal Tablet #59 and
and reverse (upper right) of Metal Tablet #60. See the Mitchell and Luer
page 27 and the Luer article beginning on page 35 for more information.

Published by the
FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC.
ISSN 0015-3893

Cover:
obverse
article

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARY

FROM THE EDITORS

Most of our readers will recognize the Windover site, a mortuary pond dating to over 7,000 year ago, as one of Florida's most
famous and fascinating archaeological sites. Over thirty years ago, archaeologists excavated over one hundred and fifty individual
graves, with associated goods, that had preserved in the remarkable anaerobic environment at the site. Beginning as part of her
dissertation research at Florida State University and continuing to the present, Rachel Wentz has studied the male and female
Windover population for evidence of Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) within a research framework concerned with understanding
differing activities and task divisions between the genders. In this article, Wentz compares the outcome of her DJD study for the
Windover dataset to other research on DJD patterning and then combines this information with an analysis of associated burial
goods. The product is an interesting discussion of this Archaic population and the social rules affecting these men and women in
both life and death.
Staying with the study of Archaic period populations for our second article, biological anthropologist Alison Elgart examines
the remains from three mitigated archaeological sites on the Pine Island Ridge in Broward County. Due to the acidic and sandy soils
in southern Florida, bone preservation is poor and the occurrence of well-preserved Late Archaic human burials from the area is
uncommon. Although the three sites presented here had all been subjected to various levels of disturbance prior to excavation, a total
of six burials and a minimum of nineteen individuals were recorded. Elgart's article summarizes the methodological and practical
constraints of the project, presents a detailed analysis of the human remains, and then compares her findings with published data
from other known Late Archaic-Glades I populations. The articles presented here by both Wentz and Elgart add to the small but
growing body of published osteological literature for south Florida's prehistoric populations and enhance our understanding of the
pathologies, dental health, demography, lifeways, and mortuary practices of these people.
Our next two articles discuss Metal Tablets #59 and #60, both recovered from the Blueberry site in Highlands County. George
Luer, who has been studying ceremonial tablets for 40 years, and his co-author Scott Mitchell, present their analysis of the stylistic
and fabrication attributes of these intriguing artifacts. Through various surface-scanning technologies, the chemical composition
of the tablets was determined. The different metals from which both objects were made likely originated through early trade and/
or colonial shipwreck salvage along the Florida coast and then manipulated by native Floridians. Both tablets illustrate incising
and morphological traits, and their iconography are special indicators of the systems of tradition and memory among the people
who built the Blueberry Mound complex. Both tablets were recovered by members of the Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and
Historical Conservancy (KVAHC) and further demonstrate the contribution individual FAS chapters have made to our understanding
of Florida's cultural heritage.
In our final article, Dan and Phyllis Morse present a detailed description of a fluorite bead that was surface-collected from
an archaeological site on Ochlockonee Bay in Wakulla County in the early 1970s by resident Edna Knowlton. The fluorite bead
likely dates to the Mississippian Fort Walton Period. Dan and Phyllis Morse are both accomplished professional archaeologists
who, in their retirement, have continued to contribute to the field with updates on various facets of their life-long research interests.
This short article is a good example of the sort of submissions the journal would like to publish more of. In other words, what has
everyone been up to? The Editors are encouraging both the avocational and professional readership to send in short updates on
interesting projects, field schools, artifact analysis, or appropriate remembrances. All of us enjoy reading these brief updates-so
take a bit of time and share something about what you've been working on.
This issue also contains an obituary for Dr. James C. Waggoner, a promising young professional archaeologist who passed away
at the end of 2009. During the course of his too-short career, Jamie contributed a good deal to our understanding of Archaic period
peoples of the southeastern United States through his scholarly publications, professional presentations, and tireless fieldwork.
Jamie was a good friend to many readers of this journal and a member and supporter of FAS.
Lastly, mark your calendars for the upcoming annual FAS meetings in May. Hosted this year by the FAS Chapter of the
Southwest Florida Archaeological Society (SWFAS), the conference will be in Fort Myers. This year's conference is shaping up
to be another fun and informative get-together and will include the FAS reception with the FAC Stewards of Heritage Awards,
several exciting field trips, and a digital scanner artifact imagery workshop. If you have not already done so, register now by going
to www.fasweb.org and then think about turning those presentations into manuscript submissions for the journal. Disseminate that
information!

See everyone at the conference!

Deborah Mullins
Andrea White

PATTERNS OF DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE AMONG MALES AND FEMALES
AT WINDOVER (8BR246) AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO GRAVE GOODS

RACHEL K. WENTZ

Florida Public Archaeology Network, Cocoa, FL 32922
Email: rachel. wentz@myfloridahistory.org

Introduction

In 1982, during the construction of a housing project in
east central Florida, a backhoe operator removing earth from
the rim of a pond noticed a pale object in the spoil heap. That
object was the first of 168 well-preserved individuals that
were later excavated over three field seasons from the site
now known as Windover (8BR246), an Archaic mortuary
pond used for the interment of the dead. Dated to over 7,000
BP (Doran and Dickel 1988), the remains from Windover
have afforded genetic, isotopic, paleobotanical, mortuary, and
bioarchaeological analyses that have shed light on life and
health during Florida'sArchaic period (Doran et al. 1986; Smith
et al. 2002; Wentz et al. 2006; Tuross et al. 1994; Dickel 2002;
Wentz 2006). The exceptional preservation also provided for
a large assortment of grave goods, one of the largest and most
ancient assemblages of textiles in North America (Andrews et
al. 2002), and preserved human brain matter from 91 crania.
In 2006, a doctoral dissertation completed by the author
applied the Western Hemisphere Health Index (Steckel and
Rose 2002) to the Windover population to assess levels of
pathology in a hunter/gatherer population. During the course of
that research, data on occurrences of degenerative joint disease
(DJD) revealed variation in patterns of involvement between
adult males and females. An earlier analysis of mortuary
patterns based on grave goods (Hamlin 2001) assessed the role
of gender and task division among the Windover population.
The patterns of DJD were then compared and contrasted with
task division based on mortuary analysis in order to interpret
behavior within this ancient population.

Materials and Methods

The role of gender among hunter/gatherer populations
has been the subject of numerous anthropological studies
(Grauer and Stuart-Macadam 1998; Arnold and Wicker 2001;
Rosenberg 1980; Larsen 1997). Task division, differential
access to resources, and variation in levels of pathology/
biological stress can provide information about social structure
of early Native American populations. The corroboration of
skeletal and material culture analyses can further enhance this
information.
In 2001, Arnold and Wicker edited Gender and the
Archaeology of Death, exploring gender issues through
archaeological analyses. Hamlin's chapter, entitled Sharing

the Load: Gender and Task Division at the Windover Site
(p. 119-135) examined the role of gender among the people
from Windover based on grave good type and distribution.
The grave goods, which included lithics, bone and antler
tools, ornamental shell, and atlatl components (Figure 1) were
divided into five functional categories based on the work of
Penders (1997). The categories include domestic, fabricating
and processing, hunting-related/weaponry, ornamental, and
unmodified material. Hamlin attempted to identify gender
roles based on the type of artifacts found with each sex. She
examined 145 individuals (the sample included subadults). Of
the adults, 23 females had associated grave goods, 17 did not.
Of the males, 29 had associated grave goods, 17 did not. There
were 30 "sex unknown" individuals with grave goods and
29 without (these groups primarily comprised subadults). A
breakdown in the type and number of grave goods associated
with the adults is provided in Table 1.
Hamlin found a nonrandom distribution of artifacts
based on sex. Among the burials of adult males, grave goods
consisted primarily of fabricating and processing and hunting-
related/weaponry items. These included lithic projectile points,
atlatl components, antler perforators/punches, awls and drills.
Found in association with adult females were bone tubes,
turtle-shell containers, shark-tooth scrapers, shell necklaces,
and a textile bag/container. Antler projectile points were
associated with burials of both sexes. She concluded that males
appear to have been primarily responsible for hunting larger
game, the processing of faunal materials for the fabrication of
tools, as well as the procurement of non-vegetative foodstuffs;
females probably also hunted but on a smaller scale. Males
also appear to be responsible for the manufacturing of fishing
nets, based on the presence of hollow-point awls. It appears
women may have been responsible for hunting small game,
fishing, gathering, and preparing foodstuffs. Based on the
containers associated with females, they may also have been
responsible for the preparation of medicines, since there were
over 31 potential food or medicinal plants recovered through
archaeobotanical analysis at Windover (Tuross et al. 1994).
Tools associated with the production of textiles were found
with both sexes. Thus, it appears the manufacture of textiles
was a non-gendered task, although the type of textile produced
may have differed by sex (Hamlin 2001:132).
Hamlin concluded that the Windover population lacked
rigidly defined divisions of labor and that tasks were probably
often shared, as opposed to being gender-specific. Although

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

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OUM246

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90- 24

90.- 18

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CENTIMETERS

Figure 1. Examples of artifacts recovered from the Windover site (Photo courtesy of G.H. Doran).

Table 1. Grave good type and distribution by sex (Hamlin 2001:131).

Females
(type/number of artifacts)

barbed antler projectile point (2)

bird-bone tube (4)

butchered faunal bone (unk quantity)

Opurtia (prickly pear) pad (1)

shark-tooth graver/scraper (1)

shell necklace (2)

textile bag/container (1)

turtle-shell container (4)

Males
(type/number of artifacts)

antler perforator/punch (2)

atlatl components (10)

bone needle (1)

deer ulna gouge/burnishing tool (2)

hollow-point awl (6)

lithic projectile point (2)

mammal canine graver/burnisher (3)

miscellaneous modified antler (1)

shark-tooth drill (2)

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2010 VOL. 63(1)

DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE AND MORTUARY ANALYSIS

there were male-only and female-only items, the artifact
assemblage appears to suggest that the tasks were not gender-
coded but that the items used to complete such tasks may have
been what Hamlin labels gender ideology rather than gender
roles (Hamlin 2001:133). Based on mortuary analysis, the
males and females at Windover were performing many of the
same tasks. This "sharing the load" implies equal distribution
of type and amount of work load, which should be reflected in
similar patterns of degenerative joint disease on the body.
Degenerative joint disease is a condition that commonly
results from mechanical wear and tear on the joints of the
skeleton due to physical activity (Hough and Sokoloff 1993). It
produces bony deposits around the periphery of joint surfaces
in the form of osteophytes and may lead to complete loss of
mobility of the joint in severe cases where bony fusion of
the joint takes place. The rate and severity of skeletal lesions
associated with degenerative joint disease have been tracked
through time in an attempt to compare mechanical stress loads
on the skeleton in relation to varying subsistence practices
(Larsen and Ruff 1991; Bridges 1991; Cohen 1989; Larsen et
al. 1992). More physically demanding lifestyles typically result
in greater incidences and levels of severity of degenerative
bony changes. However, average life span can affect rates of
degenerative joint disease within skeletal populations since
the older the individual, the greater likelihood that he or she
will display these bony changes over time.
The Western Hemisphere Health Index (Steckel and Rose
2002) was developed to evaluate health over broad geographic
areas and temporal periods. The project was organized in the
late 1980s and brought together physical anthropologists,
demographers, and economic and medical historians for a

multidisciplinary approach to evaluating the history of health
in the Western Hemisphere using data from human skeletal
remains from archaeological contexts. Over 12,000 skeletons
from archaeological sites in North, Central, and South America
make up the data set. The remains consist primarily of Native
Americans but also include Euro- and African Americans
from sites spanning the last 7,000 years of human history in
the Western Hemisphere.
The health index utilizes two components: length and
quality of life. Because estimating length of life from skeletal
populations can be problematic, quality of life is emphasized
and gauged based on the assessment of seven skeletal
indicators of health. These include infection/periosteal
reaction, trauma, linear enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia,
stature and robusticity, dental health, and degenerative joint
disease. Individuals are scored for each category, with scores
ranging from zero to 100 based on presence, absence or degree
of pathology. For example, an individual with no signs of
trauma would receive a score of 100 for that category (see
Steckel and Rose 2002, for complete scoring protocol). For the
purpose of the present research, only adult individuals reliably
sexed were included: 35 females and 43 males. Co-mingled
and juvenile remains were excluded. The age distribution is
provided in Figure 2.
Degenerative joint disease among the Windover
population was assessed using protocol set forth in the Western
Hemisphere Health Index. There are eight fields of analysis
for DJD; the most severely affected joint/element from each
field is recorded and given a numerical value between zero
and five (scoring values differ depending on joint/element
being scored). The areas surveyed include shoulder/elbow,

Figure 2. Age distribution of Windover study population.

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THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

hip/knee, vertebrae (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar each
scored separately), temporomandibular joint, wrist, and hand.
For example, shoulder and elbow scoring values are provided
below:

Shoulder and Elbow
0 = Joints not available for observation
1 = Joints show no sign of degenerative disease
2 = Initial osteophyte or deterioration of the joint surfaces
3 = Major osteophyte formation and/or destruction of the joint
surface, such as eburnation
4 -Immobilization of the joint due only to degenerative
disease
5 = Systemic degenerative disease (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis)

Scoring criteria for the hip/knee follow the same
numerical values. Scoring criteria for the vertebrae require the
presence of four or more thoracic and two or more cervical
and lumbar for each category to be assessed. Scoring for
the temporomandibular joint, wrist and hand are scored
as not observable (0), no degenerative joint disease (1), or
degenerative joint disease present (2). Only two individuals
had DJD of the wrist and one of these individuals also had
involvement of the hand (both females aged 51 and 64 years of
age). Table 2 shows the number of observations per category.

Results

Rates of degenerative joint disease among Windover males
and females were low compared to the rest of the populations
within the WHHI database (Windover males 85.5, females
90.3; total dataset mean score of 79.00; total dataset median

Table 2. Number of observations per element/joint
scored.
Females (n=32) Males (n= 43)
Shoulder/Elbow 30 41
Hip/knee 26 40
Cervical 23 35
Thoracic 20 29
Lumbar 18 22

score of 79.85), as reflected in higher scores among Windover
adults compared to scores for other populations within the
dataset. Males had a slightly lower score than females, which
could be indicative of greater activity levels, as reflected in
trauma scores as well (males trauma scores were 69.7 versus
73.8 for females). The percentage of individuals affected with
DJD is provided below in Figure 3.
The highest percentage of females had DJD of the
shoulder/elbow joints (40%). The highest percentage of males
had involvement of the lumbar vertebrae (44%). The second
most frequent area of involvement was cervical vertebrae for
females and thoracic vertebrae for males. The lack of DJD
affecting the wrists and hands among females was surprising
considering the elevated rates involving shoulders/elbows,
although females did have higher rates of traumatic injury
to the hands compared to males (15% of females versus 6%
in males). Men had much higher rates of DJD of the hip/
knee than females. Males had a greater number of cases of
major osteophyte formation, with 11 males versus 6 females
exhibiting significant levels of DJD on one or more joint/
element.

Figure 3. Percentage of males and females with degenerative joint disease.

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WENTZ DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE AND MORTUARY ANALYSIS

Discussion

The higher rates of DJD affecting shoulders and elbows
among the females could be related to the repeated stress
associated with food processing. The processing of palm fibers
for textiles could also have contributed to the elevated rates of
involvement of the shoulders/elbows among females, since this
involves working the palm leaves (through rubbing or rolling)
in order to break down the fibers. The higher rates of lumbar
involvement among males could be caused from carrying
heavy loads, for instance during hunting of larger game (deer)
or the seasonal relocation of settlements (seasonality of site
based on archaeobotanical analyses [Tuross et al., 1994]). It
could also be caused by the repetitive motions of processing
hides, as reflected in the recovery of fabricating/processing
tools with males.
Although canoes have not been found in association with
the people from Windover, they have been recovered from sites
dating to 5,120 BP in Florida (Newsom and Purdy 1990). The
use of canoes to traverse central Florida's extensive waterways
may have been a factor in degenerative joint disease among
this population, if canoes were present during the Archaic
period. Lai and Lovell (1992) found increased rates of vertebral
osteophytosis and osteoarthritis as well as osteoarthritis of the
shoulder and elbow joints associated with carrying, lifting,
and paddling of canoes among Canadian fur traders. It is
possible that transportation via canoes (with males responsible
for carrying the canoes and females charged with paddling)
accounts for the higher rates of vertebral involvement in males
and higher rates of shoulder/elbow joints in females.

Conclusions

The purpose of this research was to bring together two
forms of analyses in order to gain a clearer understanding of
life among Florida's Archaic peoples. The analysis of grave
goods revealed a population in which everyday tasks were
shared among males and females, with all members working
together to insure group survival. Males hunted larger game,
fabricated tools and fishing nets, and procured non-vegetative
food stuffs. Females hunted small game, gathered and prepared
foodstuffs, and possibly prepared medicines. Both sexes were
associated with the production of textiles.
Although these tasks were shared and all members played
important roles (based on grave good analyses), patterns
of degenerative joint disease reveal variation in types and
levels of activities. Males had higher rates of DJD of the
lumbar vertebrae; females had higher rates of the shoulder/
elbow. Males also had higher rates of DJD of the hip/knee
than females. Males had higher numbers of joints/elements
exhibiting major osteophyte formation. Although there were
a larger number of males in the >50 age category (24 versus
17 females), the number of observations in each of the most
involved categories (lumbar vertebrae for males; shoulder/
elbows for females) were comparable (see Table 2). In fact,
there were a smaller number of observations in the shoulder/
elbow category among the females than there were among

males (30 versus 41), yet females still had a greater number of
individuals exhibiting DJD within this category.
By comparing the analysis of grave goods to patterns of
degenerative joint disease among the adults from Windover,
we have observed how different lines of analysis produce
variations in our interpretation of culture. Although the people
of Windover were probably working together to accomplish
everyday tasks, their skeletal remains exhibit variation in the
levels and patterns of wear and tear. Whether this was due to
males and females performing tasks that were not apparent
in the distribution of grave goods or they were performing
similar tasks but to varying degrees are unknown. What we do
know is that the activities performed in life among this hunter/
gatherer population affected the sexes in different ways. They
may have been "sharing the load", but that load was distributed
in differing ways between the sexes.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Glen Doran for his generous access
to the Windover population and associated artifacts. Thank
you for always being there as a sounding board and mentor.

References Cited

Andrews, Rhonda L., James M. Adovasio, Bruce Humphrey,
David C. Hyland, Joan S. Gardner, and Deborah G. Harding
2002 Conservation and analysis of textile and related
perishable artifacts. In Windover: Multidisciplinary
Investigations of an Early Archaic Florida Cemetery,
edited by Glen H. Doran, pp. 121-165. University
Presses of Florida, Gainesville.

Arnold, Bettina and Nancy L. Wicker
2001 Gender and the Archaeology of Death. Altamira
Press, New York.

Bridges, Patricia A.
1991 Degenerative Joint Disease in Hunter-Gatherers and
Agriculturalists from the Southeastern United States.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 85:379-
392.

Cohen, Mark N.
1989 Health and the Rise of Civilization. Yale Press, New
Haven.

Dickel David N.
2002 Analysis of Mortuary Patterns. In Windover:
Multidisciplinary Investigations of an Early Archaic
Florida Cemetery, edited by Glen H. Doran 73-96.
University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Doran, Glen H. and Dave N. Dickel
1988. Multidisciplinary Investigations at the Windover
Site. In Wet Site Archaeology, edited by B.A. Purdy,
pp. 263-289. Telford Press, Caldwell.

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Doran, Glen H., Dave N. Dickel, William E. Ballinger, Jr., O.
Frank Agee, Philip J. Laipis, and William W. Hauswirth
1986 Anatomical, Cellular and Molecular Analysis of 8,000
Year-Old Human Brain Tissue from the Windover
Archaeological Site. Nature 323:803-806.

Grauer, Ann L., and Patricia Stuart-Macadam
1998 Sex and Gender in Paleopathological Perspective.
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Hamlin, Christine
2001 Sharing the Load: Gender and Task Division at the
Windover Site. In Gender and the Archaeology of
Death, edited by B. Arnold, N.L. Wicker, pp. 119-
135. Altamira Press, New York.

Hough, Aubrey J. and Leon Sokoloff
1989 Pathology of Osteoarthritis. In Arthritis and Allied
Conditions, 12"' edition, edited by D.J. McCarty
and W.J. Koopman, pp. 1571-1594. Lea & Febiger,
Philadelphia.

Lai, Ping, and Nancy C. Lovell
1992 Skeletal Markers of Occupational Stress in the
Fur Trade: a Case Study from a Hudson's Bay
Company Fur Trade Post. International Journal of
Osteoarchaeology 2: 221-234.

Larsen, Clark S.
1997 Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Behavior from the
Human Skeleton. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

Larsen, Clark S., Christopher B. Ruff, M.J. Schoeninger, and
D.L. Hutchinson
1992 Population Decline and Extinction in La Florida. In
Disease and Demography in the Americas, edited by
John W. Verano and Douglas H. Ubelaker, pp. 25-39.
Smithsonian Press, Washington.

Larsen, Clark S., and Christopher B. Ruff
1991 Biomechanical Adaptation and Behavior on the
Prehistoric Georgia Coast. In What Mean These
Bones, edited by M.S. Powell, P.S. Bridges, A.M.
Wagner Mires, pp. 102-113. University of Alabama
Press, Tuscaloosa.

Newsom, Lee A., and Barbara A. Purdy
1990 Florida Canoes: A Maritime Heritage from the Past.
Florida Anthropologist 43: 164-180.

Penders, Tom E.
1997 A Study of the Form and Function of the Bone and
Antler Artifacts from Windover Archaeological Site
(8BR246), Brevard County, Florida. Unpublished
Masters Thesis, Florida State University, Department
of Anthropology, Tallahassee.

Rosenberg, E.M.
1980 Demographic Effects of Sex-Differential Nutrition. In
Nutritional Anthropology: Contemporary Approaches
to Diet and Culture, pp. 181-204. Redgrave, New
York.

Smith, David G., Becky K. Rolfs, Frederika Kaestle, Ripan S.
Malhi, Glen H. Doran
2002 Serum Albumin Phenotypes and a Preliminary
Study of the Windover mtDNA Haplogroups and
their Anthropological Significance. In Windover:
Multidisciplinary Investigations of an Early Archaic
Florida Cemetery, edited by G.H. Doran, pp. 241-
249. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Steckel, Richard H. and, Jerome C. Rose
2002 The Backbone of History: Health and Nutrition in the
Western Hemisphere, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

Tuross, Noreen, Marilyn L. Fogel, Lee Newsom, and Glen H.
Doran
1994 Subsistence in the Florida Archaic: The Stable-
Isotope and Archaeobotanical Evidence from the
Windover Site. American Antiquity 59: 288-303.

Wentz, Rachel K., Bryan Tucker, John Krigbaum, and Glen
H. Doran
2006 Gauging Differential Health Among the Sexes at
Windover (8BR246) Using the Western Hemisphere
Health Index. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz,
101 (II): 77-83.

Wentz, Rachel K.
2006 A Bioarchaeological Assessment of Health from
Florida's Archaic: Application of the Western
Hemisphere Health Index to the Remains from
Windover (8BR246). Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, Florida State University, Department of
Anthropology, Tallahassee.

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

LIFE AND DEATH ON THE PINE ISLAND RIDGE
DURING THE LATE ARCHAIC PERIOD

ALISON A. ELGART

Department ofBiological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Boulevard South, Fort Myers, FL 33965
E-mail: aelgart@fgcu.edu

Bioarchaeological studies present an opportunity for the
study of demographics, life history of individuals, health, and
trauma in a prehistoric population (Buikstra 2006; Larsen
2003). Skeletal elements record evidence of development, age,
healed trauma, and wear from cumulative effects of everyday
use. The depositional environment of southern Florida is not
conducive to bone preservation, therefore the incidence of
nearly intact human burials from the Archaic period is fairly
rare. Analysis of individuals in a Late Archaic period cemetery
in Broward County, Florida offers a rare glimpse of life in this
period.
This study will focus on excavations from three sites, the
Zachar site (8BD2147), Hiatus #1 (8BD3282), and Hiatus
#2 (8BD3283), located on the Pine Island Ridge, which is
situated in central Broward County approximately 10 miles
inland from the Atlantic Ocean (Figure 1). Prior to drainage
efforts during the early twentieth century, this area was located
within the eastern Everglades, and in prehistoric and historic
times, the Pine Island Formation, also known as Long Key,
was a tree island surrounded by water. The formation is
composed of Pleistocene-era sandy knolls and ridges, which
may be relict wind-blown dunes (Carr 1990). Extending about
3.5 miles from east to west at elevations of 8-29 ft, the ridge
is the highest natural elevation in Broward County. At least
25 archaeological sites are located on the ridge, dating from
the Middle Archaic to the Seminole periods. It is one of the
densest areas of prehistoric and historic sites in the eastern
Everglades.
The elevated Pine Island Ridge was an ideal location for
prehistoric occupation in the Everglades, as long ago as 6000
years. B.P. It supported climax pine forests and oak and tropical
hammocks, and was a sizable upland area, unlike many other
small, diffuse tree islands. These uplands would have been in
direct association with fresh water marshes and ponds, creating
a highly diverse environment (Carr and Sandler 1992). Carr
(1990) postulates that the ridge served as a waypoint during
canoe travel from the Everglades to the Atlantic Coast from
his analysis of the East Midden site (8BD 1113), located on the
Pine Island Ridge 1.3 miles (2.1 km) east of 8BD3282. After
determining that it was a multi-component site, composed of a
Late Archaic cemetery and a Glades I-II period midden, Carr
concludes that the site was used sporadically as a small camp
from the Late Archaic through the Glades period (Carr 1990).
Later in time, the Tequesta utilized the ridge, and in historic
times, the Seminoles used Pine Island to camp and trade.

Materials and Methods

A Phase III excavation was conducted at the Hiatus 1
(8BD3282) and Hiatus 2 (8BD3283) sites, also known as Long
Lakes, by the Archaeological & Historical Conservancy in
2001-2002 as mitigation for a housing development. Much of
a later-period, denser site (8BD2147) located east of 8BD3282
was preserved, although a part of that site had been destroyed
by a driveway. Radiocarbon dates on charcoal from a feature
at 8BD3283 yielded a date of 3050 40 B.P., and faunal bone
from another feature dated to 2540 40 B.P., corroborating a
Late Archaic date for the site. Diagnostic artifacts from the site
include Middle to Late Archaic period chert projectile points
and possible Deptford Simple Stamped and St. Johns Check
Stamped pottery. Artifacts, therefore, suggest a Late Archaic
to early Glades I period occupation.

Field Methods

Human bone was encountered during Phase III excavations.
In accordance with Florida Statute 872.05, when human
remains were discovered on the site, the State Archaeologist,
the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, and the Seminole
Tribe of Florida were notified. Because no other option was
available, permission was granted to excavate the burials and
reinter them at 8BD2147. Most of the burials at 8BD2147 and
8BD3283 had been disturbed previously. The parcel had been
at times an active cattle pasture and farmland, and some of
the upper layers of soil were lost. When potential burials were
identified, all bone material in a horizontal stratum was cleared,
mapped, and photographed in situ. All loose soil was removed
and screened with a 1/8 in steel mesh. In addition, the width,
the length, and the depth of the burial pit were measured and
the orientation of each bone was taken before it was removed
piece by piece or in chunks of soil if it were friable.
One of the burials found at site 8BD2147 was uncovered
while monitoring construction activity. Ground scraping was
ceased, and when permission was granted to excavate the
burial, a five-foot square unit was set up and the methodology
outlined above was followed.

Laboratory Methods

An osteological and dental analysis was conducted
using methods from Bass (1995), Steele and Bramblett

VOL. 63(1) THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST MARCH 2010

VOL. 63(1)

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

MARCH 2010

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Figure 1. Star indicates location of Pine Island Ridge in Broward County, Florida.

(1988), Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994), and Hillson (1996).
Dental nomenclature follows Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994).
Assessment of age was determined from dental eruption, dental
wear, and epiphyseal fusion, where possible. Sex assessment
followed standard techniques (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994:16-
17; Bass 1995:85-87). Measurement standards follow Steele
and Bramblett (1988) and Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994).
Measurements were taken using Mitutoyo digital sliding
calipers and tape measures. Stature calculation was possible in
two burials, and was determined by regression equations listed
in Bass (1995:233). Anomalies and pathological conditions
were identified and scored by standards from Buikstra and
Ubelaker (1994) and Ortner (2003). The minimum number
of individual (MNI) was calculated for each site. All human
remains have been reburied within site 8BD2147.

Results

Human Remains at the Zachar Site (8BD2147)

Scattered cranial fragments and a few long bone fragments
were all that remained of the burial excavated from site
8BD2147. Black dirt midden was present above the burial, and

the bones were distributed throughout the unit with a major
concentration in the southeast quadrant. The cranial and long
bone fragments that were excavated were poorly preserved
and most did not articulate with one another, suggesting that
the burial was previously disturbed. A reconstruction of the
cranium from the 116 fragments was impossible, and only 15
long bone fragments were found.

Human Remains at the Hiatus #1 Site (8BD3282)

No intact burials and very few human remains were
uncovered at site 8BD3282. An adult tibia shaft and teeth
from a juvenile were all that were found. All of the incisors
exhibit heavy shoveling, which is a trait frequently found in
individuals of Asian ancestry (of which Native Americans are
derived). Minimally, the remains of one adult and one child
were found at site 8BD3282.

Human Remains at Hiatus #2 Site (8BD3283)

The westernmost site, 8BD3283, contained the majority
of the human remains documented during the Phase III
excavations. The southern end of the site, where the

2010 VOL. 63(1)

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT LONG LAKES ESTATES, BROWARD COUNTY

330E 350E 370E 390E

E I

I I
II

I Burial #3 I Burial
- 7 F2Burial

A HaHuman Tooth

urial #4 Human Femur
I - ----- ---

F-3213
F-64

DI
0

-- +-

D Phase II & III Test Units
G Archaeological Feature

do Human Remains/Grave
Site Boundaries (estimated)

0 12 feet
N

Figure 2. Site 8BD3283, showing location of human remains, units, and features. Map created by D.J.
Webb Graphic Design.

concentration of human remains was located, was designated
as a cemetery (Figure 2). A nearly complete secondary burial,
two commingled burials, and random human elements were
located in the cemetery. Many of the remains were subadult.
One primary burial (Burial 3) was found in a more central
location in the site (Figure 2), one disturbed burial was
located on the western edge of the site, and isolated teeth,
cranial fragments, and long bone fragments were found in the
northwest quadrant of the site.
Burial #2 (Feature 74). A secondary, bundle burial,
designated Burial #2, was surrounded by midden with a high
density of faunal bone. The burial feature itself was contained
within light gray sand, and two adult femoral shaft fragments
not belonging to Burial #2 were found outside the tightly
bundled mass. The feature was located at a depth of 44 cm
below datum (cmbd) to 67 cmbd. The remains of a total of four
individuals were found within the burial pit and the immediate
area around it.
Many elements were missing from the burial pit
(Appendix A), such as most of the cranium, vertebrae, ribs,
fibulae, metacarpals, and metatarsals. Whether these elements

were lost before burial or were displaced as a result of farming
activity cannot be ascertained, but it does appear that most of
the burial pit was undisturbed. The scapula and innominates
were present but were friable.
The individual in Burial #2 was determined to be
approximately 16-18 years old 24 months. Age was
estimated by examining stages of epiphyseal union of the
right scapula, humerus, ulna, radius, femur, and tibia, and the
presence of mandibular third molars. The presence of a wide
sciatic notch, a ventral arch, and subpubic concavity in the
innominates indicate that the individual was female.
Twenty teeth, including four still within the sockets of
the left mandibular body, were recovered from Burial #2.
The lower left second molar was lost ante-mortem and there
are four caries insults located on the occlusal surface of three
mandibular molars and the right maxillary canine. The upper
incisors are heavily shoveled, indicative of Asian ancestry, and
two supernumerary teeth are present.
All upper limb bones are present, although most are
missing the distal or proximal portion. Both humeri have large
septal apertures in the olecranon fossa, which is a normal,

-285N

- 260N

235N

210N

- -185N

ELGART

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

discrete trait rather than a pathological one. Hrdlicka (1922)
notes that 70% of female Native Americans possess septal
apertures, more than any other regional group.
The humerus, ulna, radius, and femur were measured
(Appendix B). Except for the ulna, the maximum lengths were
all estimates since proximal or distal portions are missing. A
stature of 158.2 + 4.7 cm (5 ft 2 in) was estimated from the
ulna.
Burial #5. Burial #5 was uncovered on the southwest side
of the cemetery, but little of it was excavated in situ. What
remained of the burial was fragmentary, and more remains
were discovered in the spoil pile from the baulk. The unit was
dug to a depth of 42 cmbd, and a bone pin was collected from
disturbed midden surrounding the burial.
It was ascertained through dental analysis that the burial
contained a child approximately 6-8 years old 24 months.
Teeth are the most well-represented elements. Twenty-four
teeth, some still in the mandibular crypt and others just
erupting, are present (Appendix A). The individual still has
deciduous lower canines and molars and deciduous upper first
and second molars as well as permanent lower first molars.

Other elements of the permanent dentition have not erupted,
but premolar and canine crowns are present. Very little of the
rest of the skull was found and it could not be reconstructed.
Sex could not be determined due to the fragmentary nature
of the burial and the fact that sex is difficult to determine in
children.
The post-cranial material is fairly scarce. There are
fragments of the vertebrae, ribs, and a clavicle and there are
shafts of one humerus, two ulnae, one femur, and one tibia.
There are twelve elements of the hands present as well. Burial
#5 contained only one individual.
Burial #6. Burial #6 was located on the northern edge of
the cemetery. This commingled burial was disturbed by salvage
archaeological techniques, so most of the human elements
found were out of context. The substrate was loose light gray
sand. Only right temporal and parietal cranial sections were
found in situ at a depth of 50-53 cmbd.
Evidence of four individuals, determined by duplicate
mandible fragments, cranial sections, and teeth, was present
(Appendix A). The most complete individual is a child 6-7
years old 24 months; the age was determined through dental

Figure 3. Human remains from Burial #6: a) and b) posterior cranium and mandible from 6-7 year old
24 months, c) frontal bone and upper face from young adult.

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT LONG LAKES ESTATES, BROWARD COUNTY

analysis of the complete mandible, containing deciduous
incisors, canines and molars, and permanent canines and
second molars in the crypt. Another mandible fragment and
teeth belong to a young child, approximately 4-6 years of
age 24 months. Loose teeth and a duplicate mandibular
fragment belong to a child aged approximately 9-11 years
old 24 months. Finally, the fourth individual, a young adult,
is represented by cranial fragments, a mandibular fragment,
teeth, and an ulnar shaft (Figure 3).
In situ occipital fragments from the back of the skull
suggest that the cranium of the most intact individual faced
north when buried. Enough of the cranium was recovered,
including fragments of both temporal bones, most of the right
and left parietal, the mid section of the frontal, one nasal, most
of the orbital rim and the right zygomatic, to reconstruct the
cranium (Figure 3). There is a duplicate facial bone from the
older 9-11 year-old child.
As for post-cranial material, the vertebrae, ribs, hands,
feet, and innominates are fragmentary, but the long bones
are well represented (Appendix A). The humeri, ulnae, radii,
femora, tibia, and fibulae are all nearly complete or complete.
Most are missing the epiphyses.
Other Material in the Cemetery. Seven out of nine one-
meter units excavated in the cemetery contained various
human remains (Figure 2). These remains mainly consist of
disarticulated cranial and long bone fragments, but there is one
nearly complete adult humerus and the remains of two right
femoral shafts. Some fragments were shallow (25-28 cmbd)
while others were in deeper contexts. One adult is likely

represented by three supraorbital fragments, nine articulating
frontal fragments, and an upper incisor, found in the southwest
comer at a depth of 25-28 cmbd. Rib fragments and a distal
humerus from a child were found in another unit. Most remains
were located in Context 3, which consisted of loose mottled
gray/light gray/black sand.
In addition, when the spoil pile was screened, the dental
remains of at least three individuals were found. From these
ten teeth, it was determined that one individual was an aged
adult, one was a child approximately 4-6 years old, and one
was a child of 7 to 10 years. There was a minimum of one
adult and two children in the area surrounding the burials.
The total minimum number of individuals (MNI) from
the cemetery area is derived from six adult femoral shafts
from six different individuals that were found in or near the
cemetery, plus juvenile dentition. The total remains of the
cemetery (burials plus random elements) consist of an MNI of
10 individuals, of which six are adults, three are children, and
one is an adolescent. The actual number of unique individuals
is probably far greater (Table 1). The children are all in the
age range of 5-11 years, and there is no evidence of trauma or
disease on the remains to suggest their demise; however, many
of these remains are quite fragmentary.

Other Burials

There was a cluster of human remains in the southwest
quadrant of the site (Figure 2). Burials #3 and #4 were located
here, as was Feature 26, containing a right femur, a right

Table 1. List of probable unique individuals in sites 8BD2147, 8BD3282, and
8BD3283 identified by occlusal surface wear, metrics, articulation and context. See
Figure 2 for explanation of location.

Location Site Adults Adolescents Children
Burial #1 8BD2147 1
Trans. 1125E, 466N/1120E 8BD3282 1
Trans. 1125E, 422N/1125E 8BD3282 1
Burial #2 8BD3283 3 1
Burial #3 8BD3283 1
Burial #4 8BD3283 1
Burial #5 8BD3283 1
Burial #6 8BD3283 1 2
Feat. 74 Unit 1 8BD3283 2
Feat. 74 Unit 2 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 Unit 3 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 SW area 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 Unit 5 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 Unit 7 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 Unit 8 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 Unit 9 8BD3283 1
Feat. 74 Spoil Pile 8BD3283 1 2
219N/405E 8BD3283 1
Feat. 26 8BD3283 1
Feat. 29 8BD3283 2 1 1
Baulk 8 Spoil Pile 8BD3283 1 1
TOTAL 22 2 9

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THE FLORiDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

humeral shaft, a right radial shaft, and hand and foot bones.
Two other features each contained a tooth.
Burial #3. Burial #3 was the most complete burial found
and it was the only intact primary burial discovered. The
remains were very shallow (depth of 22-44 cmbd) and the
bone preservation poor, as the substrate of the burial was a
gray/light gray sand. The body was in a flexed position lying
on the right side (Figure 4a) with the knees gathered up to the
chest. Individual elements were basically in their anatomical
position except for the left arm. The left humerus lay beneath
the mandible and the lower arm bones and hand were scattered.
The orientation of the body was northwest-southeast.
The skeleton of the individual has unusual aspects. The
individual has bent humeral shafts that exhibit healed transverse
fractures in both humeri at the midshaft (Figure 4b-c). The
shafts of the humeri healed at a 300 angle with a raised band
of scar tissue. The shafts are flattened in an antero-posterior
direction, which is common in Amerindians (Hrdlicka, 1922).
Evidence of healing indicates that the individual lived well
beyond the fracture incident. Indeed, the advanced stage of
dental attrition suggests that this person lived to an advanced
age.
Only the right half of the cranium was present (Figure
4d). The right side of the face and a complete mandible with
a nearly complete set of dentition was excavated in situ. The
head faced north-northeast. The dentition exhibits extensive
occlusal attrition to the extent that almost all the enamel
is worn away (Figure 4e). The dental wear is stage 10, the
highest possible, on Smith's scale (1984:214). One unhealed
abscess, probably a result of the excessive occlusal wear, is
present beneath the lower right first molar.
The post-cranial bones are extremely small for an adult
(Figure 4f). Through metric analysis the stature is approximated
at 4 ft 5 in- 4 ft 6 in, but this can only be a gross estimation,
as none of the long bones are complete. All measurements,
including measurements of the humerus trauma, are included
in Appendix B. The vertebrae, scapulae, and foot bones are
highly fragmented, and the right innominate, the clavicles,
sternum, left scapula, and many foot bones are missing. One
bone pin was found in association with the burial.
The individual in Burial #3 is female, as indicated by the
general gracility of the skeleton, by the pointedness of the
chin, by the size of the mastoid process, and by the form of
the supraorbital tori. The innominates are too fragmentary to
be examined.
Burial #4. Little remains of Burial #4, the western most
burial found. It is apparent that the skeletal material is not in
its primary context, but has been redeposited, possibly during
the historic period use of the site. The remaining fragments
are in a poor state of preservation. The remains include teeth,
cranial fragments, and long bone fragments located in Level
2, mottled black/medium gray/gray/light gray loose sand,
which varied in depth from 27 to 42 cmbd. The 25 teeth allow
for an age estimate of around 21 years for the individual, but
no remains exist to determine the sex (Appendix A). The
104 cranial fragments, including frontal, parietal, and orbital
fragments, do not articulate, therefore a cranial reconstruction

is not possible. Fragments of a femur and a tibia are the only
recognizable bones among the 100 long bone fragments.

Human Remains in the Northern Half of Site 8BD3283

There was only one concentration of human material in
the northern half of the site, and that was in Feature 29 (Figure
2). Three loose molars from one individual were found in the
wall of Transect 4 and cranial fragments were found in the
baulk, but no human remains were excavated from any of the
four units dug in Feature 29. However, when the spoil pile
from this feature was screened during the final days of field
work, remains of three additional individuals were found.
Most of the fragments from the Feature 29 spoil pile
belong to an adult. This material includes ten teeth with
moderate occlusal surface wear, cranial fragments, and post-
cranial material. The cranial fragments, right and left ulnar
shafts, a radial shaft, hand fragments, two femoral shafts, two
tibial shafts, and a patella fragment presumably belong to this
individual.
There were also eight teeth from an adolescent and six
teeth from a child of about 10-12 years found in the spoil pile.
There are at least four individuals represented in Feature 29.

Isolated Teeth

Isolated, loose teeth were commonly found in the two
western sites. Seventeen teeth were excavated from site
8BD3282 and forty-seven were excavated from 8BD3283.
Seven of these teeth were isolated finds, unrelated to any
feature or any other human element. It is difficult to impossible
to interpret these teeth or to assign them to another individual.
They may not belong to any interment, as people need not die
to lose teeth.

Discussion

All human remains were disturbed, either previously
during agricultural use or as a result of the current excavation.
Burials #3, #4, and #5 were very shallow, which may be the
result of the loss of the upper soil horizons during farming
activities. Secondary burial practices and the substrate
conditions favored preservation of the dense, stronger
elements. The most common elements were teeth, femora,
cranial fragments, and tibial and humeral shafts (Table 2).
The proximal and distal ends of long bones were rarely intact.
Most of the long bones uncovered were shafts with a few
fragments of cancellous bone from the articulating ends. This
result is likely due to the strength of compact bone, which is
found in the shaft, being greater than cancellous bone, and
thus able to withstand assorted taphonomic processes. Table
2 shows the differential preservation of human elements. The
strongest bone, the femur, is the most frequent element, while
the weakest, the trabecular ends of the tibia and fibula, are
the rarest elements. More proof that the strongest elements
were differentially preserved is the number of teeth excavated
(n=191). Enamel is the hardest substance in the body and it is
most often preserved.

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2010 VOL. 63(1)

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT LONG LAKES ESTATES, BROWARD COUNTY

(c)

I (f) I
Figure 4. Images from primary burial, Burial #3: a) burial in situ, in flexed position, facing northwest-southwest, b)
healed fractures in midshaft of humeri, c) close-up of healed fracture, d) reconstructed cranium, e) mandible exhibiting
excessive occlusal attrition on the dentition and abscess below the right mandibular first molar, f) size comparison of
ulnae from burial to ulna from anatomical specimen.

ELGART

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

Table 2. Inventory of all human elements to determine MNI, tooth counts and dental pathologies.

CRANIUM COUNT
Facial 4
Frontal 8
Parietal 8
Temporal 7
Occipital 6
Misc. fragment 8
MANDIBLE
Condyle 2
Rt. Corpus 2
Left Corpus 3
Symphysis 4
STERNUM I
VERTEBRA
Cervical centra 14

Thoracic centra 10
Lumbar central 2
SACRUM 2

PHALANGES

Hand: Proximal
Middle
Distal
Shafts
Foot: Proximal
Middle
Distal

19
15
18
31

10

5
1

FEMUR RIGHT LEFT
Proximal 3 1
Shaft 15 9
Distal 0 0
TIBIA
Proximal 0 0
Shaft 5 4
Distal 0 0
FIBULA
Proximal 0 0
Shaft 2 2
Distal 0 0
INNOMINATES 2 3
PATELLA 2 1
TARSALS

Talus 2 1
1st Cuneiformn
2nd Cuneiform

METATARSALS

1 0 I
II 0
111 0 1
IV 0 1
V 1 1
Shafts 2

METACARPALS RIGHT LEFT
1 1 2
11 2 1
Ill 2 3
IV I
V 0 I
shafts 5

Most Common Element:
Right femur shaft

Least Common Elements:
Tibia, Fibula trabecular ends
Sterna
Tarsals

II 12 C PI P2 Ml M2 M3
Maxillary R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
# Erupted Teeth 5 5 5 4 5 5 4 3 5 6 4 3 3 1 1
# Unerupted teeth 1 1 1 I I 1 I I I
# Erupting teeth 2 2 1 1 2 2 1
Total 8 8 7 6 7 7 6 4 6 6 5 4 4 1 1 1

11 12 C PI P2 MI M2 M3
Mandibular R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
# Erupted Teeth 4 4 3 2 5 5 4 4 3 4 7 8 5 4 5 4
# Unerupted teeth 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
# Erupting teeth I I 1 1
Total 4 4 3 3 7 7 7 5 5 4 8 8 7 6 5 4

il i2 c ml m2
Deciduous R L R L R L R L R L
Maxillary I I 1 1 0 0 2 2 2 2
Mandibular I 2 1 4 2 2 2 I I

Total

2 1 3 2 4 2 4 4 3 3 Total # of Teeth: 191

Most Common Elements:
Right Maxillary ll 8
Left Maxillary II 8
Mandibular MI 8

Dental Pathologies %
Abscesses: 4 2.1
Ante-mortem tooth loss 0.5
Calculus: 57 29.8
Hypoplasia: 26 13.6
Pit defects: 8 4.2

I Total

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT LONG LAKES ESTATES, BROWARD COUNTY

Mortuary Patterns

Mortuary patterns at site 8BD3283 demonstrate the
following similarities to other Late Archaic Tequesta burial
sites, according to Femley (1991): (1) there is a mixture of
primary and secondary interments, (2) the highest density of
human remains was located in the southeast quadrant of site
8BD3283, and (3) at inland sites, cemeteries were located
within habitation areas.
A combination of burial practices has been found at other
Late Archaic-Glades I period sites in southern Florida. The
Santa Maria site (8DA2132), a Late Archaic period burial
site, contained one primary, partially flexed burial (Carr et
al. 1984), while secondary burials were uncovered at the Oak
Knoll (8LL729) (Dickel and Carr 1991), Highland Beach
(8PBll) (Isler et al. 1985) and Boynton Beach (8PB100)
(Iscan and Kessel 1988) mounds. At the Oak Knoll mound
and at Monarch Lakes (8BD2572), the crania were placed on
top of the long bones (Condon and Condon 1997a; Dickel
and Carr 1991). This may have been the interment pattern of
Burial #2, since most of the cranium and part of the mandible
are missing. These would have been the shallowest elements
and it is likely that they were redeposited by farming activity.
Some sites contain both types of interments, similar to
8BD3283. The Buzzard Roost site (8BD92), a tree island in
southern Broward County, contained six individuals in less
than two square meters. Three interments were primary burials
and at least one was a secondary burial. Two of the primary
interments were face-down and presumably extended (Condon
and Condon 1997b). The Monarch Lakes sites in Broward
County, dating to as early as ca. 4000 B.P., also contained both
primary and secondary burials (Condon and Condon 1997a).
The recently excavated portion of the Granada site (8DA 11) in
Miami also contained primary and secondary interments. The
researchers excavating the site have yet to determine dates for
the burials.
Burial #3 was the sole intact, primary interment at
8BD3283, although there may have been other primary burials
that were previously disturbed. It was oriented northwest-
southeast, which is unlike other Late Archaic primary
interments oriented in cardinal directions in the Glades region
(Condon and Condon 1997b). The combination of this type
of interment and associated grave good may indicate special
status afforded this individual, who was elderly and infirm.
The location of a cemetery on the southern end of the site
is similar to other Late Archaic-Glades I non-mound burial
sites in Broward and Dade counties such as 8BD92, Cheetum
site (8DA1058), and East Middle site (8BD1131) (Carr 1990;
Condon and Condon 1997b; Felmley 1991). This cemetery
is also located at the southernmost extent of the Pine Island
Ridge. The 8BD3283 cemetery contains the remains of at
least six adults, three, or more children of similar age (5 to
11 years old), and one adolescent aged about 16-18 years.
There is no evidence of trauma or disease on the skeletons
which might indicate sacrifice or an epidemic. It is difficult
to reconstruct the temporal association of the burials due to
the highly disturbed nature of the site, and the fact that only
two radiocarbon dates are available for the site. It is unknown

whether these individuals were buried here during a single
episode or over many hundreds of years.
At least one burial (Burial #2) was found within a midden
deposit. Larger midden deposits were found in the northern
half of the site, but the burials were within the habitation area.
The cemetery was not in a separate location, as is the case for
many later Glades II-III sites in southern Florida.
Random human elements were the deepest remains found
at site 8BD3283 (from 25 cmbd to 66 cmbd) throughout the
cemetery feature. Vertical distribution was similar at the Oak
Knoll Mound, where burials were fairly shallow, bone density
was highest between 10-40 cmbd, and the deepest material
was found in the 60-70 cm level (Dickel and Carr 1991).
The commingling of remains seen at 8BD3283 is similar
to other burials in sites such as Oak Knoll Mound (8LL729),
Santa Maria (8DA2132), Granada (8DAll), and Buzzard
Roost (8BD92) (Carr et al. 1984; Condon and Condon 1997b;
Dickel and Carr 1991). Two of the three burials here contained
remains of several individuals of differing ages, compared to
four individuals found in one burial at Oak Knoll (8LL729)
(Dickel and Carr 1991), and six individuals found in a two-
meter squared area at 8BD92 (Condon and Condon 1997b). It
is not difficult to envision how the practice of secondary burial
may lead to commingling of remains, especially if remains
were all placed in a charnel house, and later moved en masse
to be buried.
Except for two bone pins found in association with Burials
#3 and #5, few grave goods were recovered. It is possible that
more grave goods were present at one time but they either
degraded or were redeposited. Lack of grave goods is not
unusual for this time period: neither the Monarch Lakes sites
nor the Buzzard Roost site (8BD92) excavations recovered
any grave goods (Condon and Condon 1997a and 1997b).

Demography

Based upon post-cranial remains and teeth, a minimum
number of 19 individuals was found in the three sites (8BD2147,
8BD3282, and 8BD3283) (Tables 1 and 2, Appendix A). Of
these, 14 were adults, at least one was an adolescent, and four
were children. All of these individuals except for two adults
and one child were found at the western-most site, 8BD3283.
When context, occlusal dental attrition, and metrics of bones
were taken into account, as many as 33 individuals were
counted, of which two are adolescents and nine are children. If
the adolescent and the children are lumped together asjuveniles,
the demographic composition of the burials at site 8BD3283
is 33% juveniles and 67% adults. This percentage of juveniles
is abnormally high. Juveniles represented 29% of those burials
found at the Boynton Beach mound (8PB100), and that was
considered high relative to Fort Center (16% juveniles) and
Margate-Blount (19% juveniles) (Iscan and Kessel 1988). No
infant remains were found in this excavation, which is unusual
considering infant mortality was probably high. The absence
of infants is similar to other Late Archaic Glades burial sites
(Condon and Condon 1997b), and may represent taphonomic
processes (infant bones do not preserve well under the best of
circumstances) and not lack of infant mortality.

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THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL.63(1)

Most remains were too fragmentary and/or too young to
determine sex. It was determined that two individuals were
female (Burials #2 and #3) and one was male (Burial #6).

Osteological Comparison

Cranial and post-cranial dimensions of this "Long Lakes
population" were compared to other prehistoric southern
Florida populations, including those from Pine Island, Santa
Maria, Margate-Blount, Buzzard Roost, Nebot site, and
Boynton Beach (Table 3). The Pine Island site (8BD1113)
in Broward County dates to the Late Archaic period (4,000-
2500 B.P.) (Felmley 1991), the Santa Maria site dates to
the Late Archaic (ca. 4000-3000 B.P.), the Margate-Blount
site (8BD41), also in Broward, dates from 2500 B.P to the
contact period (iscan 1983), and the Nebot site (8PB219), in
the northern section of the City of Palm Beach, dates to the
historic period (Glades IIIc) (Iscan and Kennedy 1987).
Only two individuals, Burials #2 and #3, both females,
could be adequately measured, and only one (#3) had a cranium.
Because Burial #2 is an adolescent and Burial #3 is an aged
adult, these are not the best individuals for comparison.
The individual in Burial #3 was a very small, old woman
but her cranial height (basion-bregma height) is greater than
those of the Santa Maria population (Table 3). However,
compared to other prehistoric populations studied in southern
Florida, the cranial height is lower and the length is shorter.
Her orbits are average size and her nasal height is high. Her
mandible is long and the ramus is high in comparison to other
populations. The bigonial width of Burial #3 is the lowest of
any population.
Post-cranial material from Burials #2 and #3 was compared
to individuals from the Nebot, Margate-Blount, Boynton
Beach, and Buzzard Roost sites (Table 3). As expected, in
nearly all long bone dimensions, Burials #2 and #3 are slighter
in build. The only exceptions are that both individuals have
nearly average femoral midshaft dimensions and Burial #3 has
a larger femoral medio-lateral midshaft diameter compared
to BU1 from the Nebot site (Table 3). In all other long bone
dimensions, the Long Lakes females are small compared to
other females.

Dental Health

The dental health of the Long Lakes population was
generally good with the exception of the adolescent found in
Burial #2. In the 191 teeth recovered, the most frequent dental
problems were calculus (found in about 30% of individuals)
and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) (13.6%) (Table 2).
Hypoplasia, which has no specific etiology but results from
any systemic disturbance occurring during the enamel growth
period, at about three to five years of age (Goodman and
Rose 1990; Wood 1996), was scored in 26 teeth. This number
is an underestimate, because calculus deposits prevented
many teeth from being scored. Hypoplastic insults are most
commonly seen in the upper incisors and canines, which is an
expected result given their large imbricational zones compared
to the cheek teeth (Hillson and Bond 1997). Burial #2, the

adolescent, possesses six teeth with LEH, suggesting that this
individual had not been a healthy child. This individual also
has four carious teeth. Pit-form defects, related to hypoplastic
insults, were observed in 4.2% of teeth. They are also formed
by a disruption of enamel growth during development. In
comparison, hypoplasia was found in 7.5% of teeth from
Highland Beach, a burial mound in Palm Beach County dating
from 60 to 1200 A.D. (Isler et al. 1985). The Buzzard Roost
site also had high rates of calculus (Condon and Condon 1997).
A more complete analysis of the hypoplasia observed in this
population in comparison to other southern Florida prehistoric
populations can be found in Elgart-Berry (2003).
Less frequent dental problems include one case of ante-
mortem tooth loss in Burial #2, four cases of caries (0.02%),
and an abscess found in the mandible of Burial #3. As most
teeth were found out of their alveolar sockets, there is no way
of knowing how frequent ante-mortem tooth loss was. At
Highland Beach, 7% of individuals experienced ante-mortem
tooth loss (Isler et al. 1985) and it was observed in five of eight
females at the Margate-Blount site (Iscan 1983). The Highland
Beach population also has a low incidence of caries (1.3%),
and the Pine Island population (n=3) lacks caries completely
(Felmley 1991), which is not uncommon for hunter-gatherer
populations.
An apical abscess was found in the mandibular left first
molar of BUI from the Nebot site, similar to the one found
in Burial #3 (Iscan and Kennedy 1987). Abscesses were
common at the Santa Maria site (Carr et al. 1984), but they
were infrequent at Highland Beach and Boyton Beach mounds
(Iscan and Kessel 1988).
Heavy, occlusal surface attrition (wear) was observed in
the dentition of Burial #3 and in the teeth found in Feature
29. The incidence of heavy dental wear probably would have
been higher if there were more adults and less juveniles in
the sample. Excessive dental wear is common at most sites
compared. The dentition of individuals at the Nebot, Highland
Beach, Boynton Beach, Buzzard Roost, Monarch Lakes, and
Pine Island sites were noted to have heavy attrition, as well as
ante-mortem tooth loss and abscesses. At Highland Beach, a
gritty diet was blamed for heavy attrition and subsequent tooth
loss (Isler et al. 1985). A high degree of wear is probably the
result of windblown sand permeating everything, including
food, at the sites studied here.

Pathology

The only notable pathology was found in Burial #3. Both
humeri in this individual exhibit healed transverse fractures
and there is slight osteophytic lipping in the vertebrae. The
individual lived well beyond the trauma incident, but the
bones healed at an angle, indicating that proper splints were
not applied. It is possible that this individual suffered from
hypothyroidism owing to the diminutive size of the long
bones (Ortner, 2003), however, this is difficult to definitively
diagnose due to the fragmentary nature of the skeleton.
Healed fractures were also observed at other sites. In both
the Buzzard Roost site (8BD92) and the Margate-Blount site
(8BD41), individuals were found with healed fractures to the

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT LONG LAKES ESTATES, BROWARD COUNTY

Table 3. Comparison of Long Lakes cranial and post-cranial dimensions with other prehistoric southern
Florida populations, in mm. Length is "L.", M-L is medio-lateral, and A-P is antero-posterior.

Long Pine Island Santa Maria Margate-Blount Boynton
Measurement in Lakes Beach
mm
A. Cranium Burial BU1 BU3 #3 #4 #2 #4
#3 (male) (female) (female) (male) (male) (female)
Basion-bregma 137, est. 133 147 140
height
Porion-bregma 122.5 114 102
height
Maximum 151.5 183 175 180 174 182 170
length
Upper face 61.8 74 67
Orbit height 37.5 36 39 36
Orbit breadth 36.7 40 36 34 45 40
Nasal height 43.7 57 52 24 28
B. Mandible
Length 92.6 82 90
Ramus height 58.5 54 56
Ramus breadth 34.0 39 35 35
Bigonial width 88.1 106 97 96 93 110 89
Symphysis 27.0 27 25 30
height

Long Lakes Nebot Site Margate- Buzzard Boynton Beach
Blount Roost
#2 #3 BUI BU2 Male, Female composite female B66 (male)
(female) (female) X X
Humerus
Max. length 260, est. 300 326 304
Max. midshaft 16.5 17.1 17 20 25 21 21
diameter
Min. midshaft 16 13.9 14 15 18 14 18
diameter
Radius-Max. L. 202est 185, est. 222 265
Ulna- Max. L. 232 241 277 225
Femur
Max. L. 385 335, est. 416 446 444 407 473
Subtro- 17.5 20 22 26 20
chanteric A-P
Subtro- 25.8 26 30 31 26
chanteric M-L
Midshaft A-P 18.6 19.5 22 25 31 20
Midshaft M-L 18.3 21.6 20 25 26
Midshaft 67 73.5 65 72 91 93, 42, 81,
circumf. 70
Tibia- Max. L 275, est. 340 374
Stature 1582 1360 1550 1630 1698 1600 1547 1708

ELGART

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

distal right ulna (Condon and Condon 1997; Iscan 1983). This
type of fracture to the ulna is likely to result from a defensive
action, or from bracing oneself with arms outstretched
during a fall (Galloway 1999; Judd and Roberts 1999). In
paleoepidemiological studies of fractures, forearm fractures
were much more common than humeral fractures (Grauer and
Roberts 1996; Judd and Roberts 1999).
Humeral fractures most often are transverse and occur in
the midshaft, with falls and automobile accidents being the
most likely modern-day cause (Ekholm et al. 2006; Galloway
1999:125). These fractures typically occur in either the young
or the elderly. It is difficult to envision a scenario whereby both
shafts of the humerus would be broken in approximately the
same location. One possibility is from a fall: if an individual
falls forward and braces their arms in front of them, they may
break the humeri. It is difficult to determine when the trauma
occurred, but this individual was advanced in age, so it may
have occurred when she was elderly.
Due to the relative youth of the Long Lakes sample,
degenerative joint disease, arthritis, and other age-related
pathological conditions were not observed in the frequencies
they were in other prehistoric southern Florida populations.
Whatever caused the death of the juveniles in the 8BD3283
cemetery either did not register in their skeletons, or the
evidence was lost due to differential preservation. We may
speculate that many of these individuals were stressed during
their developmental years due to the frequency of hypoplastic
insults observed in the dentition.

Summary and Conclusions

Six burials were excavated from the Late Archaic-Glades
I period Long Lakes Estates sites: one at site 8BD2147 and
five at site 8BD3283. All burials were disturbed at one time
or another, either from farming and cattle-raising activities
in the past, or during the present excavation. An MNI of 19
individuals was calculated from the elements present at the
three sites, although the actual number of individuals present
was probably much higher. Of these individuals, 14 were
adults, 1 was an adolescent, and 4 were children. No infant
burials were found. When probable unique individuals are
taken into account, the sites contain a high percentage of
juveniles (33%) to adults (66%) in comparison to other sites
in southern Florida.
Burial practices were varied, similar to other sites dating
to the Late Archaic period in southern Florida. One primary
burial, one secondary burial, and commingled burials were
found among the semi-intact burials. Few grave goods were
found, which is also common for this time period.
Few incidences of trauma and pathological conditions
were noted, but this may be an artifact of the fragmentary
nature of the remains. Dental health was generally good, as
is the case for many hunter-gatherers, although incidences of
dental enamel hypoplasia, calculus, heavy occlusal surface
attrition, caries, tooth loss, and an abscess were noted. The
one trauma recorded was a healed transverse fracture in both
humeri at the midshaft seen in an elderly female.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Robert Carr and the Archaeological and
Historical Conservancy, Inc. for allowing me to work on this
project and giving me the time to analyze these remains.

References Cited

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2006 Preface. In Bioarchaeology, edited by Jane Buikstra
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Carr, Robert S.
1990 Archaeological Investigations at Pine Island, Broward
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Carr, Robert S., M.YaSarlscan, and Richard A. Johnson
1984 A Late Archaic Cemetery in South Florida. The
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Carr, Robert S., and Debra Sandler
1992 An Archaeological Survey and Assessment of the
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Condon, C., and K. Condon
1997a A Phase III Archaeological Assessment of the
Monarch Lakes Sites, Broward County, Florida.
AHC Technical Report #169. Copies available from
the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy,
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#189. Copies available from the Archaeological and
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Dickel, David, and Robert S. Carr
1991 Archaeological Investigations of the Oak Knoll
Mound, 8LL 729, Lee County, Florida. AHC Technical
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Ekholm, R., J. Adami, J. Tidermark, K. Hansson, H. T6rnkvist,
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Appendix A. Inventory of the human remains found in Burials #1-6 at sites 8BD2147 and 8BD3283.

Site/ Burial # Sex Age/ Cranial Post-Cranial Elements Teeth Comments
Context /Feature MNI Elements
8BD2147/ I ? Adult (n 116): left 15 long bone fragments Highly
loose light (Feature /I supraorbital disturbed burial
gray sand 56) torus and part of
upper orbit;
fragment of
frontal bone and
parietal bone; I
occipital frag.
8BD3283/ #2 Female Main: Mandible: left 2 Clavicles; Scapulae: (R) glenoid fossa and In mandible:Pi, P Mi Burial is
black dirt (Feature 16-18 ramus axillary border present; acromion unfused (17-23 and M3 present (M, lost adjacent to
midden 30 Unit 24 Cranium: yrs), (L) glenoid fossa and axillary border present prc-mortem) Feature 74.
44-67 cm I) mos. occipital Innominate: (R) fragmentary; most ofacetabulum, Loose teeth: Mandibular There is an
BD years fragment with articular surface, sciatic notch, ischium, some of RM,, RM:, RMi, 2C additional
old/ 3 lambdoidal ilium, pubic symphysis; (L) fragmentary; most of Maxillary- 211 femoral shaft on
adults suture; temporal acetabulum, articular surface, sciatic notch, (shoveling=6*), RI- the surface of
MNI- fragment with ischium, medial half of ilium Vertebrae: 7 cervical (shoveling-5), 2C, 2P', the burial pit
4 zygomatic arch vertebrae fragments, I whole thoracic vertebrae and 2P2, 2 supernumery teeth and there are
(not in sint); 5 fragments, 2 whole lumbar vertebrae; Humerus: two femoral
zygomatic (R) all except proximal shaft missing, head shafts in the
fragment; 3 epiphysis unfused (fuses by 24 yrs.), distal immediate area
misc. fragments epiphysis fused (17-18 yrs.); Large septal aperture surrounding the
present on both humeri; (L) all except proximal pit.
shaft missing; Ulna: (R) complete, distal epiphysis
separate (fuses 15-16); (L) all except distal shaft
and head missing; Radius:(R) nearly complete,
distal epiphysis separate (fuses 16-17); (L) nearly
complete, distal epiphysis separate: Hands:
Carpals: 5 right and 4 left metacarpals: 4 right and 3
left phalanges: Femur:(R) some distal shaft
missing, epicondyles fragmentary. Head unfused
(fuses 14-18 yrs); (L) some distal shaft missing,
epicondyles fragmentary. Head fused. Two extra
femoral shafts outside burial- I Ig. circumference
midshaft, I sm.; Tibia: (R) distal and proximal
missing. Condyle unfused (14-18yrs), (L) distal
and proximal missing; 2 Patellas; Feet: 2
metatarsals and 3 phalanges

8BD3283/ #3, Female Aged Mandible Vertebrae:7 fragmented cervical vertebrae, 4 other Mandibular 2 11, 2 1:, 2 healed traumas
gray/light Feature adult/ Cranium: Right body fragments; Sacrum: fragments C, LP,, 2 P 2 MI, 2 Me, in both humeri
gray sand 57 Unit 1 MNI= half Ribs: fragments; Scapulae: (R) fragmentary; (L) 2M3; Maxillary- R2, 2 C, at the midshaft,
22-44 cm 1 acromion fragment; Humerus: (R) complete except LP', LP', LM', 2 M2, 2 and very short
BD head, (L) halfofa shaft and distal portion; Ulna: M' in stature
(R) complete except head, (L) proximal portion and Most wear stage 10** (approximately
shaft 4 ft 5 in 4 ft 6
Radius: (R) shaft, (L) complete except head in tall).
Hand: Carpals: 6 left and I right, Metacarpals: 5 left
and I right, Phalanges: 27
Innominate: fragments of right and left
Femur:(R) shaft and head,(L) shaft
Tibia:(R) shaft, (L) shaft; Fibula: (R) shaft,(L)
shaft; Foot:Tarsals: 2 right and 3 left, Metatarsals: 4
left and I right, Phalanges: 8

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT LONG LAKES ESTATES, BROWARD COUNTY

Appendix A continued. Inventory of the human remains found in Burials #1-6 at sites 8BD2147 and 8BD3283.

Site/ Burial # Sex Age/ Cranial Post-Cranial Elements Teeth Comments
Context /Feature MNI Elements
8BD3283/ #4 ? 18-21 frontal femur fragments, tibia fragments Mandibular 2 11 Very poorly
black/gray Feature 24 fragments, 104 misc. fragments (shoveling=2), 2 1 preserved: only
/light gray 59 Unit I mos. parietal (shoveling=2), 2 C, 2Pi, teeth, and very
loose sand years fragments, orbit 2P,, 2 M few cranial
27-42 cm old/ fragments (104 (wear stage 1-2), 2 M, fragments and
BD MNI= fragments total) (wear stage 0), M3. long bone
1 Maxillar- 2 1 fragments
(shoveling=6), RI 2 C, 2 remain
P', P2, RM', 2 fragments
of molars
Wear stage 1-2
8BD3283 #5 ? 6-8 parietal, frontal, Vertebrae: 4 fragments a. Mandibular There are only
Feature 24 occipital, and Ribs: 14 fragments deciduous: c, 2 mi; fragments of the
74 SW mos. temporal Clavicle: fragment Permanent: LI2 erupting, 2 elements
section, years fragments, Humerus: one shaft C in crypt, P1, P, (stage 6), present, and
disturbed old/ supraorbital torus Ulnae: right and left shaft 2M most of the
midden MNI= fragment, top of Hand: 3 metacarpal shaft fragments, 9 phalanges b. Maxillary -deciduous: skeleton is
1 nasal and left Femur: one shaft 2 m 2m'; Permanent: 2 missing.
zygomatic Tibia: right shaft I' (shoveling=5; Stage
fragment 11), 2 12 (Stage 11), 2 P',
P2 (Stage 6), 2 M' (root
missing), M2 (Stage 6)
c. LM3 from additional
individual
8BD3283/ #6 ? Main: Mandibles: Vertebrae: 5 fragments (a) One child: Maxillary There is
loose light Feature 6-7 yrs --1 Mandible: Ribs: 21 fragments 2 1', 2 12 (both: Stage 11- evidence of 4
gray sand, 74, 24 complete; Humerus: (R) 2/3 complete, proximal portion 12, wear=0), C (stage 12- individuals
-50-53 cm northern mos.; --2 duplicate missing (L) complete except epiphyses missing 13), 2 ml(wear-4) (duplicate
BD edge 4-6 yrs juvenile Ulnae: Right and left complete 2 M' (Stage 12, wear=0) cranial sections,
24 mandibular Radius: (R) shaft, (L) complete In Mandible: 2 i, 2c, 2 mandibles, and
mos.; fragments with Hand: 1 carpal, 2 metacarpal fragments, 11 mi, LC and Ms in crypt teeth). The
9-11 incisal alveolar phalanges (b) One child: Maxillary more intact
yrs. sockets; Innominate: left ilia, some fragments 2 1' (Stage 13), 2C ; individual is a
tmos. adult Sacrum/Coccyx: fragments Mandibular- C (Stage 13), child, and
M 4 mandibular Femur (R) nearly complete except for lesser i2, 2 P], P (wear=0) duplicate
MNI=4
fragment trochanter frag., head epiphysis, and distal shaft; (L) (c) Loose Deciduous mandibular
Cranium: complete except for head epiphysis and section of Mandibular i c, fragments
Occipital, 2 distal Maxillary- 2 i, 2 i2, 2 im' belong to two
temporals, most Tibia: (R) shaft; (L) complete except for proximal (d) Adult: Mandibular Ii, I2 other children.
of right and left and epiphyses (wear=5), C (wear=5), 2PI, Cranial
parietal, mid Fibulae: right and left shafts 2 P (wear=2-3), MI fragments and
section of Foot: 2 phalanges (wear=4-5) an ulnar shaft
frontal, I nasal, Marillary- LI', 2 1 belong to an
most of orbital (wear=5), 2 P2, M2, M' adult.
rims, 2 right (wear-l) (e) 4 M crowns
zygomatics (Stage 6, wear=0)
*Shoveling scored by classification system developed by Scott (1973) in Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994).
**Occlusal surface wear scored using Scott (1984:45-46; 214).

ELGART

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

Appendix B. Measurements of cranial and post-cranial elements from Burial #3 and post-cranial elements from Burial
#2.

Burial #3
Measurement mm
A. Cranium
Basion-bregma 137,
height est.
Porion-bregma 122.5
height
Maximum length 151.5
Upper face 61.8
Orbit height 37.5

Orbit breadth 36.7

Nasal height 43.7
B. Mandible 92.6
Length
Ramus height 58.5

Ramus breadth 34.0

Bigonial width 88.1

Symphysis height 27.0

Measurement/ mm Humerus Femur Tibia Radius Fibula
C. Long Bones Right Left Right Left Right Left Left Right
Maximum length 260, --- 340, 330, 270, 280, 185, 245,
est. est. est. est. est. est. est.
Midshaft diameter, ML 13.9 13.3 21.4 22.2 13.6 14.2

Midshaft diameter, AP 17.1 17.1 20.0 19.1 21.6 21.9
Midshaft circumference 62 62 72 75 68
Stature estimation --- 136.8 3.7 139.8 3.7 142.6 131.4
4.2 3.6

Trauma location from

114.2

105.3

distal
Trauma length 18.9 21.6
Shaft diameter @ trauma- 13.8 13
ML
Shaft diameter @ trauma- 22.9 8.6
AP
Subtrochanteric diameter- 26.7 25.8
ML
Subtrochanteric diameter- --- 17.5
AP
Head diameter 32.5

Burial #2
Measurement in mm Humerus (right) Ulna (right) Radius (left) Femur (right)
Maximum length --- 232 202, est. 385, est.
Midshaft diameter, ML 16 8.3 10.1 18.3
Midshaft diameter, AP 16.5 13.3 10.1 18.6
Midshaft circumference 55 --- --- 67

2010 VOL. 63(1)

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #59: STYLISTIC AND COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSES OF A COPPER
TABLET FROM THE BLUEBERRY SITE, HIGHLANDS COUNTY, FLORIDA

SCOTT E. MITCHELL' AND GEORGE M. LUER2

'Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center 1445 N.E. 58th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34470
Email: Scott. Mitchell@marion. kl 2. us

'The Archaeology Foundation, Inc., 3222 Old Oak Drive, Sarasota, FL 34239
Email: George.Luer@dep.statefl. us

Here, we describe the recovery of an aboriginal metal
tablet, which we label "metal tablet #59" (MT#59, Figure
1) and add to the running catalog of ceremonial tablets from
Florida. We analyze the tablet for its stylistic and fabrication
attributes. We also discuss and interpret results of two
compositional analyses (one electron beam, one proton beam)
indicating that MT#59 consists of pure copper. A companion
article (this issue) presents analyses of a lead-iron tablet from
the same site.

Artifact Recovery

MT#59 was recovered in 2003 at the Blueberry site
(8HG678) located on the eastern edge of the Lake Wales
Ridge near Lake Placid in Highlands County, Florida (Figures
2 and 3). Information about the Blueberry site can be found
in Austin (1992, 1996, 1997), Austin and Estabrook (2000),
Butler (2007, 2008), Mitchell (1996), Reynolds (2001, 2003),
Scudder (2003), and Luer (this issue). MT#59 was found
by members of the Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and
Historical Conservancy (KVAHC) as they investigated a sand
mound at the site.
First, KVAHC members made a topographic map of
the sand mound and established a series of gridded units
over an old, weathered trench. The trench was dug into the
southeastern side and center of the mound, reportedly in the
1960s by an historian, Albert DeVane,' and an associate, Mr.
Durrance (Anne Reynolds, personal communication, 2007).
The work by KVAHC members was an effort to determine if
the mound was archaeological in nature.
According to the topographic map, the mound has a
height of approximately 1.6 m (5.3 ft), a basal diameter of
approximately 19 m (62 ft), and several borrow pits close to
the southeast and west. The mound itself sits on a narrow,
elevated, well-drained, sandy ridge between a perched pond (to
the south and west) and the mucky lowland of Indian Prairie
Marsh to the east. While cleaning the walls and screening
spoil in the mound's old trench, Terry Simpson of the Central
Gulf Coast Archaeological Society (CGCAS) and assisting
members of KVAHC found MT#59. The tablet came from the
edge of the trench, at the interface of spoil and the original
surface of the mound. The tablet's tenon was in a folded back

position when discovered, and Terry Simpson bent it forward
to its present position soon after the tablet was found.
Other items recovered from the spoil include a few
fragments of pottery, a rounded piece of pumice,2 an L-shaped
chert tool, lithic flakes, a few fragments of animal bone
(including turtle shell), and a single broken blue glass bead
(Anne Reynolds, personal communication, 2007). Fragments
of what appeared to be human bone and a human tooth also
were found in the trench spoil. Excavation in the old trench
halted when suspected human bone fragments were detected.
These bone fragments were sent to the C. A. Pound
Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida
(UF), in Gainesville, where they were confirmed as human.
The fragments were mostly cranial, and also included a piece
of long bone shaft and a worn lower adult molar (Lusiardo
2004). Later, these fragments were reburied where they had
been found in the trench. The results of this investigation led
to the identification of this sand mound as "Burial Mound A."
Several years later, in early 2008, Burial Mound A and two
adjoining borrow pits were cleared of vegetation (e.g., scrub
oaks, saw palmetto) to prepare them for laser scanning. The
scanning produced a detailed, 1-foot contour map. The map
indicates that Mound A measures 59 ft (18 m) north-south, 56
ft(17 m) east-west, 5 ft (1.5 m) in height, and 6,825 ft3 (193.3
m3) in volume (Knox and Butler 2008).

Morphologic Analysis

Anne Reynolds of KVAHC loaned MT#59 to Scott
Mitchell for photography and illustration by line drawing. In
May 2004, Scott Mitchell and George Luer analyzed the tablet
for morphologic and stylistic attributes through comparison
with other known metal tablets from Florida. This analysis is
intended to document the artifact and to place it in the context
of other known similar tablets.
Morphologic analysis included close visual inspection of
the tablet using the naked eye and high resolution digital scans.
The scanned image files of MT#59 were used to create black
and white and color slide images. Then, line drawings were
created using these images as a guide (Figure 4). The digital
scans allowed detailed, microscopic study of manufacture
marks, wear patterns, and incised lines on the tablet.

VOL. 63(1) THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST MARCH 2010

VOL. 63(1)

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

MARCH 2010

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

1. MT#59, life size. Side, obverse, and reverse

Figure 2. Location of the Blueberry site (8HG678) in High-
lands County, Florida.

Figure 3. Aerial photograph of the Blueberry site near Lake Placid. Note location of Mound A, where MT#59 was found.
Based on LABINS (2004).

OO

7l^^^'0,

3 cm

Figure
views.

2010 VOL. 63(1)

MITCHELL AND LUER CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #59

Tablet Description

MT#59 is made from a thin sheet of hammered metal
(consisting of copper, see below). It weighs 7.73 grams.
MT#59 falls in the middle of the size range for documented
metal tablets in Florida (see the running catalog in Allerton,
Luer, and Carr 1984; Austin and Mitchell 1998; Lee 1998;
Luer 1985, 1994, 2000, and article in this issue). Using a dial
micrometer, its maximum length is 70.4 mm along its vertical
midline. The tablet's maximum width is 29.8 mm, close to its
spatulate end. It is 28.5 mm wide across the top of its teardrop
motifs, and 25.6 mm wide near the top of the tenoned half (see
Allerton et al. 1984 for tablet terminology).
The tablet is in good condition. It is incised with fine lines
that are plainly visible, although etched shallowly and sloppily
(Figure 4). Except for sloppy execution, MT#59's patterns
of form and design conform to that of many metal tablets.
However, there are differences with other similar tablets (see
below), as is typical of items made individually by hand.
MT#59 is dark copper colored (not at all shiny) and
has extensive black areas on both sides. Extensive areas of
reddish color also occur on the reverse side of the tablet (see
Compositional Analysis, below). Several small, localized,
yellowish splotches on the reverse appear to be surface deposits
of some kind. Use-related wear (smoothing) is visible on the
upper portion of the suspension hole (the perforation in the
tenon), probably due to the user having hung the tablet from a
cord (suggesting use as a pendant, perhaps on a necklace).

Manufacture Methods

To make MT#59, an artisan first hammered the metal into
a flat, thin sheet. Our measurements, using a dial micrometer,
indicate that the metal is of approximate uniform thickness,
0.45 to 0.50 mm. Next, the tablet's maker planned the tablet's
shape and size by scratching its outline in faint, very fine lines
on the thin sheet of metal. These lines were used as a guide for
cutting out the tablet and for giving it its form. Most of these
faint lines were obliterated during the cutting process, but a
few still can be seen near the central perforations and along
one or two outside edges of the tablet.
The next step was to smooth most of the tablet's edges.
Intentional smoothing or rounding of the edges is especially
evident on the tenon. In addition, some rough filing or
smoothing marks are visible along an edge of one side of the
tablet's upper or tenoned half. A few file marks also are visible
on the reverse surface near the central perforations. The edges
near and around the medial connections were not smoothed
and consequently are somewhat ragged. This roughness is
apparently the result of cutting out the metal to make the lateral
intentions that help define the two halves of the tablet.
The next process involved lightly hammering the reverse
side of the flat cut-out to produce a convex-concave profile,
as evidenced by many dents or hammer marks (small, round,
very shallow intentions roughly 3 mm in diameter). The
hammering was done more on the spatulate half, so that it
became convex ("bulged upward") on its obverse side and
concave ("dished out") on its reverse side. Less hammering

resulted in an only slightly convex-concave tenoned half. The
area around the central connections was left unhammered
and flat. Such shapes are typical of many metal tablets, and
they have similarities to the bulbous forms of the spatulate or
rounded half on wood and stone tablets (Allerton et al. 1984).
Whether MT#59's tenon (suspension) hole and its circular
central perforations were made before or after hammering is
not clear. Regardless, they are somewhat irregular in shape. It
appears that these holes were not drilled, but were probably
first punched through and then enlarged by reaming. There is
a thin, small flap of copper on the lower lip of the tenon hole
that was folded back and hammered flat on the obverse side.
This indicates that some copper was pushed out from the hole
when it was punched through (Figure 5).
Once the tablet was given its form, designs next were
incised on both its sides. The lines are thin and were made with
a very sharp, pointed implement. Our microscopic inspection
shows them to resemble "plow" lines, with a ridge along each
side (where metal was extruded outward and upward). Each
line has a tiny, extruded plug of metal in its terminal end, and
each line has an open end where it begins. This allows us to
determine the direction in which lines were made. Furthermore,
where lines cross or meet, it is possible to determine the
sequence in which they were made (see below).

Morphological and Incised Design Comparisons

Metal tablets were fabricated individually, and thus
each one is unique. Nonetheless, there are some elements
of form that are shared by almost all metal tablets studied in
Florida. MT#59 is no exception, sharing many elements while
exhibiting some unusual attributes.
Morphologically, MT#59 is more or less a "normal" metal
ceremonial tablet in terms of its size and most of its general
attributes of shape. Its slightly convex shape, when viewed
from the front (the side with the cross-and-circle motif), is
common on many of the known thin metal tablets. In the case
of MT#59, small dent marks show that its maker intentionally
hammered the tablet into this shape.
However, MT#59 does differ from most other metal
tablets in several ways. First, it has no lateral projections at
its midsection (i.e., the sides of the tablet are straight and do
not project outward). This shape occurs only on one other
known metal tablet, MT#41 (Allerton et al. 1984). Second,
the lateral edges of MT#59's lower half are straight and do not
flare out, an attribute shared by only two other known metal
tablets, MT#41 and #54 (Allerton et al. 1984; Austin and
Mitchell 1998). Such lateral bulges help give a "spoon-like"
or "spatulate" shape to the lower half of most metal tablets.
In lacking lateral projections and lateral bulges, the shape of
MT#59 has some resemblance to stone tablets (Allerton et
al. 1984). Third, MT#59 has circular holes in its midsection
(central perforations), and this is unusual. Only three other
known metal tablets, MT#22, #37, and #60, have round holes.
All others have square or rectangular central perforations.
The incised designs onMT#59 include several "false starts"
and groups of closely aligned incisions. This is most evident
with the teardrop motifs (or "eyes") on the lower front side and

MITCHELL AND LUER

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #59

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

Figure 4. MT#59, enlarged. Side, obverse, and reverse views.

with the crescent motifs on the reverse side (Figure 6). One
incised line ran off an edge of one of the central perforations,
splaying or extruding a small piece of copper outward into the
hole, where it can be seen as a small projection.
On the front of MT#59's tenoned half, the cross motif
is superimposed visually on the circle motif, and the vertical
element of the cross is superimposed on its horizontal element.
When viewed microscopically, it can be seen that the incised
lines of these motifs often cross over one another. This allows
us to reconstruct the sequence the artisan followed in creating
the designs. Thus, the incised lines on the upper front of the
tablet were made in the following sequence: first, the lines
defining the vertical bar; next, those that define the horizontal
bar; and then, those that define the circle (which was drawn in

quarters). The upper right quarter was incised first, going from
top to bottom. Next, the lower right quarter also was incised
from top to bottom. Then, the tablet was turned 180 degrees,
and the artisan repeated the same process on the opposite side
in the third and fourth quarters. This sequence for the quarter
circle lines indicates that the artisan was almost certainly
right-handed.
MT#59 is unique in that a medial strip does not occur
on the lower front of the tablet between the teardrop ("eye")
motifs. This strip (defined by two vertical incised lines) is
common to most tablets and is missing on MT#59. Moreover,
the teardrop motifs point inward, which is also unique since
the teardrop motifs on all but one of the other known metal
tablets point straight downward or toward the outside (on

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #59

Figure 5. Scan of obverse of MT#59. Note the small flap of
folded-over copper on the lower right lip of the tenon hole,
near the top of the tablet.

MT#31, they point upward, see Allerton et al. 1984). Several
other random incised lines occur on the lower portion of the
reverse side of the tablet. These lines may predate the existing
dominant design and may be the result of the manufacture
process, or they may be leftover lines from an abandoned
design that was replaced by the existing crescent motifs and
vertical parallel lines.

Compositional Analyses

In early 2004, Terry Simpson took MT#59 to the University
of South Florida (USF), in Tampa, so that Dr. Robert Tykot
could investigate its chemical composition. Tykot used a
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and conducted electron

Figure 6. Scan of reverse of MT#59.

beam, x-ray florescence analysis to determine the type of metal
from which the tablet was made. He concluded that MT#59
consists of pure copper (in other words, the metal is not a
copper alloy, and it has not been smelted) (Tykot 2004).
In December 2005 and February 2006, Luer took MT#59
to the UF Department of Physics where Drs. Henri Van
Rinsvelt, F. Eugene Dunnam, and Ivan Kravchenko tested it
using PIXE (Proton Induced X-Ray Emission) analysis. Their
visual inspection suggested that the black and red patches
on the tablet's surface are areas of oxidation cupricc oxide
is black, cuprous oxide is red). Initial PIXE analysis of the
tablet's uncleaned surfaces supported that interpretation, and
it detected some iron.
Suspecting that the iron was a surface contaminant
originating from the soil while the tablet was buried, a spot
on the tablet's reverse side was cleaned, revealing a bright

0 cm 3

0 in 1

0 cm 3

0 in 1

MITCHELL AND LUER

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

i-
0 10 -

0
0 C
C,' 10 --

S 10 -_

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Energy in Kilo Electron Volts

Figure 7. PIXE spectrum of MT#59. The spectrum has characteristic peaks of copper (Cu) on the x-axis. The analysis was
conducted on a cleaned spot on MT#59's reverse. This spectrum is based on a brief run in the proton beam accelerator,
hence a low number of counts on the y-axis.

copper-colored surface. Further PIXE analysis of MT#59's
cleaned surface detected only pure copper (Figure 7). The
PIXE spectrum of MT#59's cleaned surface was identical with
the spectrum of a control specimen of known pure copper. The
physicists concluded that the iron on the tablet's surface came
from the soil, and that the surface oxidation occurred while it
was buried. Most important, the PIXE analysis represents a
second independent test concluding that MT#59 was fashioned
from a piece of pure copper.

Material Comparison

Most metal tablets are made of silver, and the next most
common material is copper (Allerton et al. 1984). Most
previous researchers have assumed that most of the known
copper tablets were made of copper alloy (i.e., brass, bronze),
although none was tested to determine precise composition.
Metal tablets that were assumed to be of copper alloy include
MT#7, #8, #14, #34, #40, #49, #50, #55, and #57. Based on
their similar appearance to MT#59, two additional copper
tablets, MT#23 and #45, could be made of pure or native
copper. However, they both remain untested, as are all other
copper tablets, except MT#59.

Interpretation

Possible Sources. Native copper does not occur naturally
in Florida, but it does occur in eastern North America (e.g.,
North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, the Great Lakes region,
and Nova Scotia), where it was obtained by Native Americans
and traded widely in the late pre-Columbian and early contact
periods (e.g., Rapp et al. 2000). Aboriginal trade in native
copper in Florida during the late pre-Columbian period is
discussed by Mitchem (1996). Similar pre-Columbian trade
of galena, from Missouri to Florida, is discussed by Austin et
al. (2000).
Tykot noted that MT#59 "appears to have been made from
the same general type of material as pre-Columbian Native
American copper artifacts from other archaeological sites
in the United States" (Tykot 2004). Mitchell also contacted
Dr. George Rapp of the University of Minnesota at Duluth
(UMD) to ask if a specific source for native copper could be
established. Rapp is an expert in geoarchaeology and is the
Director of the UMD Archaeometry Laboratory. He agreed
with Tykot's interpretation that MT#59's copper could well
be of North American origin and obtained via native trade
networks. Rapp said that unsmelted copper was not used

2010 VOL. 63(1)

MITCHELL AND LUER CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #59

commonly in Europe and Peru during late pre-Columbian
times. He noted that native copper could come from the
Northeast, Great Lakes, or American Southwest (and that
some copper also occurs naturally in Alaska and Mexico),
but the source of native copper can not be determined without
considerable testing (George Rapp, personal communication
to Scott Mitchell, 2004).
It is possible that native copper could be of Mexican or
southwestern United States origin, since native copper does
occur there (Rapp et al. 2000). If it were Mexican copper, then
a likely source would be shipwreck salvage on the Florida
coast. Traditionally, it has been thought that most of the metal
used by Florida Indians during the postcontact period was
obtained from Europeans, either directly through trade or
indirectly through shipwreck salvage.
Possible Dating. Mitchell and Luer interpret MT#59 as
dating to the aboriginal postcontact period (ca. A.D. 1513 to
ca. A.D. 1750). This assumption is based on the fact that the
majority of metal tablets (including copper ones) have been
recovered in association with European trade goods or objects
of European-derived metal (e.g., glass beads, iron tools, and
silver, copper, and gold ornaments of various kinds). Several
temporally diagnostic artifacts, which often occur in sites
of the postcontact period, have been found at the Blueberry
site. These objects include a small silver disk with a central
perforation and a baton-shaped carved bone pin (see Wheeler
and Coleman 1996 for a discussion of temporally diagnostic
bone pin forms in Florida). In addition, a blue glass bead,
possibly dating to the postcontact period, came from the
Blueberry site's Mound A, where MT#59 was found.
In Highlands County, additional support for metal tablets
dating to the postcontact period consists of three metal tablets
(MT#20, #21, and #51) that were recovered in association
with European-derived trade goods at the Goodnow Mound
(8HG6) (Allerton et al. 1984; Griffin and Smith 1948; Luer
1994). Furthermore, a second metal tablet fashioned from a
piece of lead-iron (an apparent alloy of probable European
origin) has been found at the Blueberry site. It supports access
to European-derived metals by Indians of the postcontact
period, who lived at the Blueberry site (see accompanying
article about the lead-iron tablet, MT#60, in this issue).

Conclusion

MT#59 is the first metal tablet shown to be fashioned
from pure copper. While this material may represent native
copper, its precise source is unknown, and could include
shipwreck salvage. Other unusual attributes of MT#59 include
circular central perforations, the absence of an incised medial
strip between the teardrops on the lower spatulate half, and
the absence of lateral projections and bulges on the sides of
the tablet. The form of MT#59 most closely resembles MT#41
from the Ortona site (8GL35).
Faint lines indicate that the maker of MT#59 sketched its
outline on a sheet of copper before cutting out the tablet. Once
cut out, most of its edges were then smoothed and its reverse
was hammered to give the tablet a convex-concave shape. Next,
typical tablet motifs were incised on the obverse and reverse

sides, although they were sloppily executed. They consist of
crescents and vertical lines on the reverse, and teardrop, nested
half-rectangle, and cross-and-circle motifs on the obverse. The
placement and direction in which several lines were incised
indicate that the tablet's maker was right-handed. Wear on the
upper, inside lip of the tenon (suspension) hole indicates that
its owner probably wore the tablet as a suspended pendant.
Finally, the recovery of this metal tablet raises questions.
How does the Blueberry site fit into the social landscape
during southern Florida's aboriginal postcontact period (ca.
A.D. 1513 to ca. A.D. 1750)? On a broader scale, could the
tablet's material represent aboriginal trade in native copper
from outside Florida during the pre-Columbian period, or
could it represent salvaged native copper from a shipwreck on
the Florida coast during the postcontact period? We think that
the latter possibility may be supported by a lead-iron tablet
also found at the Blueberry site (this issue).

Notes

1. Albert DeVane and his brother, Park DeVane, wrote
De Vane s History of Early Florida, Volumes I and II,
published in 1978 by the Sebring Historical Society.
2. This piece of pumice from the mound was included in
a study of pumice from Florida archaeological sites by
Ryan Wheeler (2006:Figure 11, Appendix A).

Acknowledgments

Anne Reynolds, owner and protector of the Blueberry site,
encouraged our work with MT#59 and waited patiently for our
results. We are grateful to physicists Henri Van Rinsvelt, F.
Eugene Dunnam, and Ivan Kravchenko of UF for their time and
expertise with PIXE analysis. We also thank Terry Simpson of
CGCAS, Robert Tykot of USF, George Rapp of UMD, Alicia
Luciardo of UF, David Dickel of the Florida Department of
State, site archaeologist David Butler, and Rollins College
student Rita Knox for their help. The UF Office of Academic
Technology kindly scanned the tablet. Tesa Norman was
instrumental in helping to produce final figures.

References Cited

Allerton, David, George M. Luer, and Robert S. Carr
1984 Ceremonial Tablets and Related Objects from Florida.
The Florida Anthropologist 37:5-54.

Austin, Robert J.
1992 Florida Master Site File form (original) for Blueberry
Hill (8HG678). Form dated June 22 (field date
November 1991). On file, Florida Division of
Historical Resources, Florida Master Site File,
Tallahassee.
1996 Prehistoric Chert Procurement and Mobility Strategies
on the Lake Wales Ridge. The Florida Anthropologist
49:211-223.

MITCHELL AND LUER

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #59

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

1997 The Economics of Lithic Resource Use in South-
Central Florida. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of
Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Austin, Robert J., and Richard W. Estabrook
2000 Chert Distribution and Exploitation in Peninsular
Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 53:116-130.

Austin, Robert J., Ronald M. Farquhar, and Karen J. Walker
2000 Isotope Analysis of Galena from Prehistoric
Archaeological Sites in South Florida. The Florida
Scientist 63:123-131.

Austin, Robert J., and Scott E. Mitchell
1998 A Ceremonial Tablet from Osceola County. The
Florida Anthropologist 51:129-130.

Butler, David S. B.
2007 Exploring the Cultural, Spatial, and Temporal
Dimensions of the Blueberry Site (8HG678). Paper
presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Florida
Anthropological Society, May 12, Avon Park,
Florida.
2008 The Blueberry Site Phase I Excavation: A Case Study
In Goal Oriented Public Archaeology. Conducted for
Anne Reynolds and Reynolds Fruit Company, Inc.,
by Earthmovers Archaeological Consultants, LLC,
Orlando, Florida.

Griffin, John W., and Hale G. Smith
1948 The Goodnow Mound, Highlands County,
Florida. Florida Park Service, Contributions to the
Archaeology of Florida, Number 1. Tallahassee.

Knox, Rita L., and David S. B. Butler
2008 An Archaeological Application of Three Dimensional
High Definition Laser Scanning. Posterpresented atthe
60th Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological
Society, May 3, Ybor City, Florida.

Land Boundary Information System [LABINS]
2004 Lake Placid digital orthophoto quarter quadrangle
(DOQQ2711se), Highlands County, Florida.
Website of the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection, Division of State Lands, Bureau of Survey
and Mapping (http://data.labins.org/).

Lee, Arthur R.
1998 Metal Ceremonial Tablet Reported in Naples. The
Florida Anthropologist 51:37.

Luer, George M.
1985 An Update on Some Ceremonial Tablets. The Florida
Anthropologist 38:273-274, 281.
1994 A Third Ceremonial Tablet from the Goodnow
Mound, Highlands County, Florida; With Notes
on Some Peninsular Tribes and Other Tablets. The
Florida Anthropologist 47:180-188.

2000 Three Metal Ceremonial Tablets with Comments on
the Tampa Bay Area. The Florida Anthropologist
53:2-11.

Lusiardo, Alicia
2004 Report of Osteological Examination: 8HG678.
Letter report dated June 24. C. A. Pound Human
Identification Laboratory, University of Florida,
Gainesville.

Mitchell, Scott E.
1996 The Importance of Aquatic Resources at Five
Archaeological Sites in the Okeechobee Region
of South Florida. M.A. thesis, Department of
Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa.

Mitchem, Jeffery M.
1996 The Old Okahumpka Site (8LA57): Late Prehistoric
Iconography andMississippian Influence in Peninsular
Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 49:225-237.

Rapp, George (Rip), James Allert, Vanda Vitali, Zhichun Jing,
and Eiler Henrickson
2000 Determining Geologic Sources of Copper: Source
Characterization Using Trace Element Patterns.
University Press of America, New York.

Reynolds, Anne
2001 A Ceramic Effigy Head from Highlands County,
Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 54:50-54.
2003 Unraveling the Mystery of Blueberry. Paper
delivered at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Florida
Anthropological Society, May 10, Tallahassee.

Scudder, Sylvia
2003 Deep Sand: Soil and Landscape Relationships at the
Blueberry Site (8HG678), Highlands County, Florida.
In Zooarchaeology: Papers to Honor Elizabeth S.
Wing, edited by F. Wayne King and Charlotte M.
Porter, pp. 17-26. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of
Natural History 44(1):1-208. Gainesville, Florida.

Tykot, Robert H.
2004 Letter report prepared for Anne Reynolds with results
of analyses on Metal Tablet #59 conducted at the
University of South Florida. Report dated March 11,
2004.

Wheeler, Ryan J.
2006 Pumice Artifacts from the Miami Circle at Brickell
Point (8DA12). The Florida Anthropologist 59:191-
208.

Wheeler, Ryan J., and Wesley F. Coleman
1996 Ornamental Bone Carving of Southern Florida:
Some Late Styles and their Associations. The Florida
Anthropologist 49:49-62.

2010 VOL. 63(1)

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60: STYLISTIC AND COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSES OF A LEAD-
IRON TABLET FROM THE BLUEBERRY SITE, HIGHLANDS COUNTY, FLORIDA

GEORGE M. LUER

The Archaeology Foundation, Inc., 3222 Old Oak Drive, Sarasota, FL 34239
Email: George.Luer@dep.state.fl.us

In this article, I describe the discovery of an aboriginal
metal tablet, which I label "metal tablet #60" (MT#60, Figure
1) and add to the running catalog of ceremonial tablets from
Florida. I discuss attributes of style and fabrication, and I
present an analysis of composition that indicates MT#60
consists of lead and iron. A companion article (this issue)
analyzes a copper tablet from the same site.

Artifact Recovery

MT#60 was recovered in March 2005 at the Blueberry
site (8HG678) on the Lake Wales Ridge near Lake Placid in
Highlands County, Florida (Figures 2 and 3). Information
about the site, where archaeological investigations are on-
going, can be found in Austin (1992, 1996, 1997), Austin and
Estabrook (2000), Mitchell (1996), Reynolds (2001, 2003),
Scudder (2003), Butler (2007, 2008), Clover and Butler
(2007), Murphy (2007), Knox and Butler (2008), and Mitchell
and Luer (this issue). MT#60 was found by members of the
Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and Historical Conservancy
(KVAHC) as they excavated a series of test units and trenches
in the site's southeastern portion.

Early Work

A decade of work led to the discovery of MT#60. In
November 1994, archaeologist Robert Austin excavated
a series of test units at the Blueberry site. These test units
ran in a north-south direction in a grassy, well-drained strip
between an orange grove (to the west) and a cabbage palm-
oak hammock (on sloping ground to the east). The units ran
along the eastern edge of the Blueberry site, along the crest of
the steep eastern slope of the Lake Wales Ridge. This location
overlooks Indian Prairie Marsh, approximately 4.5 to 6 m (15
to 20 ft) below.
In Austin's southernmost test unit, designated "Test Unit
985N/1004E," he encountered a deeply buried midden (Figure
4). In this test unit, measuring 2 x 2 m, the deeply buried
midden (Zone D) was approximately 100 to 140 cm below
the surface. The midden included faunal remains, lithic flakes,
charcoal, and ceramic sherds. The Zone D midden yielded
charcoal that was radiocarbon dated, producing a measured
and conventional 1-sigma age of 490 +/- 70 radiocarbon years
B.P. (the assumed '3C/I2C ratio for charred wood yielded no
change between measured and conventional ages), which

equates to a calibrated 2-sigma date range ofcal A.D. 1310 to
1625 (Beta-83917) (Robert Austin, personal communication,
2008; Mitchell 1996:86, 105-107, Figure 11, Table 2; Reynolds
2001:50, 53).
The Zone D midden in Austin's Test Unit 985N/1004E
yielded faunal remains analyzed by archaeologist Scott
Mitchell. The remains came from two 10 cm levels of a 50 x
50 cm column in the southeastern corner of the unit and from
three adjacent 10 cm levels in the rest of the unit. Mitchell's two
column sample levels (each 50 x 50 x 10 cm, or 25 liters each)
came from 110 to 130 cm below the surface. In his combined
levels (screened on 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 inch mesh), the estimate
of Minimum Numbers of Individuals (MNI) was dominated by
bony fish (30 MNI), followed by mammals (5 MNI) and turtles
(2 MNI). In terms of estimated biomass (based on skeletal
mass allometry), the greatest proportion of overall estimated
biomass was contributed by mammals (36%), followed by
bony fish (26%) and turtles (23%) (Mitchell 1996:86, 105-
107, Figure 11, Table 12).
In addition, the southern profile of Austin's Test Unit
985N/1004E was a source of soil samples collected and
interpreted by environmental archaeologist Sylvia Scudder.
Just west and east of the test unit, Scudder used an auger to
recover soil samples from two additional locations, called soil
test numbers 1 and 2 (ST#1 and ST#2). She locates Austin's
unit and ST#1 and ST#2 in a simplified plan view diagram
of the Blueberry site (Scudder 2003:Figure 3), and she shows
an east-west cross-section of soils from these three sources
(Scudder 2003:Figure 4).
Scudder's soil profile of Test Unit 985N/1004E shows
two horizons (Ab I and Ab2), which together correspond to the
deeply buried midden (Zone D). Three overlying soil horizons
(A, Ab-intermittent, and AE/E) correspond to Austin's Zones
A, B, and C, respectively. All three zones were rich in sand
and charcoal, with Zone B (Ab-intermittent) containing some
midden materials that were less dense than in Zone D (Robert
Austin, personal communication, 2008; Scudder 2003:17,
Figure 4).

Tablet Uncovered

During the decade after Austin's test units were dug,
KVAHC members excavated two trenches (Figure 5) near
Austin's old, backfilled Test Unit 985N/1004E. The first, Trench
X, measured 12 m north-south and 2 m east-west. It revealed

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MARCH 2010

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

Figure 1. MT#60, life size. Obverse (left) and reverse (right).

Figure 2. Location of the Blueberry site (8HG678) in south-central Florida. The Atlantic
coast was a likely source of metal from European trade and shipwrecks.

I I
4 cm

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2010 VOL. 63(1)

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60

Figure 3. Aerial photograph of the Blueberry site near Lake Placid. Note location where MT#60
was found. Based on LABINS (2004).

Figure 4. Profile of west wall in Austin's 1994 Test Unit 985N/1004E. Ten years later, MT#60 was found 3
to 4 meters northwest of this profile (photo courtesy of Robert Austin).

LUER

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THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

Butler's
2x2m
Test Unit 1 ]
(2006)

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cabbage palm
stump

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co

Austin's 2 x 2 m
unit (1994)
Mitchell's
column sample

Ii 1006m E

1004m E

1002m E

MT#60

Figure 5. Approximate plan view diagram of excavation area. MT#60 was found in Trench XE (running
east from Trench X). Trench X ran between the last and next to last row of orange trees on the eastern
edge of the grove. Note Austin's 1994 Test Unit 985N/1004E.

post molds and midden deposits, including vertebrate food
bone, freshwater mollusc shells, carbonized wood fragments,
burned bone, pottery sherds, and other artifacts. The latter
included polished bone pins and awls, drilled shark teeth, and
fragments of imported marine shells (Busycon sp.). A second
trench, Trench XE, was dug perpendicular to the southern end
of Trench X. Trench XE had a width of 2 m (between 987.00N
and 985.00N) and was excavated to a length of approximately
12 m (Anne Reynolds, personal communication, 2007).
As Trench XE was excavated by trowel, MT#60 was
uncovered in March 2005 in the western wall of Unit 3, Quad
3, near 986.7N/1001.3E (Figure 6). The tablet was near a
dense mass of small roots, which was the edge of a "root ball"
of a cabbage palm that KVAHC members had cut down and
removed to the north of the trench (Anne Reynolds, personal
communication, 2007). MT#60 was found lying horizontally,
obverse face up, approximately 30 cm from the surface and
in very light grey sand (apparently corresponding to Austin's

Zone A and Scudder's A soil horizon). This sand appears to
represent a layer deposited intentionally by the Indians (see
below for an interpretation of archaeological context).

Subsequent Work

In 2006, archaeologist David Butler excavated a 2 x 2
m unit, called "Test Unit 1," immediately along the northern
side of Trench XE (Figure 5). Butler's Test Unit 1 was a short
distance northeast of where MT#60 was found. His unit's
southwestern corer was at grid point 987N/1002E. Butler
(personal communication, 2007) imposed a new grid system
on the site, so that old grid point 987.00N/1002.00E became
new grid point N1126.50/E926.70.
In Butler's Test Unit 1, he identified two midden zones
separated by sand. Both midden zones sloped slightly to the
east. The shallower zone, Midden A, extended from 40 to 58
cm below the surface in the unit's northwestern corner, and

2m
w I

ie

Trench X

2010 VOL. 63(1)

Nd'l

LUER CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60

Figure 6. MT#60 at the time of discovery. It is lying ob-
verse side upward. Image courtesy of Anne Reynolds.

from 60 to 75 cm below the surface in the unit's northeastern
corner. The deeper zone, Midden B, extended from 90 to 130
cm below the surface in the unit's northwestern corner, and
from 117 to 168 cm below the surface in the unit's northeastern
corner. (It appears that Butler's Middens A and B correspond to
Austin's Zones B and D, respectively.) After Butler obtained
stratigraphic profiles, plan views, and radiocarbon dates
from his Test Unit 1, all excavations in that area of the site
were backfilled and digging ceased (David Butler, personal
communication, 2007).

Morphologic Analysis

Anne Reynolds of KVAHC loaned MT#60 to the author
in May 2005. 1 wrote notes about its morphologic and stylistic
attributes and made high resolution digital scans. Then, I
created line drawings using these images as a guide (Figures
I and 7). The following morphologic analysis is intended to
document the artifact and to place it in the context of other
known metal tablets from Florida.

Tablet Description

Size. MT#60's dimensions of length and width are in the
middle of the size range for metal tablets (see the running
catalog in Allerton, Luer, and Carr 1984; Austin and Mitchell
1998; Lee 1998; Luer 1985, 1994, 2000, and articles in this
issue). However, MT#60's thickness of 4 mm and its mass of

Figure 7. MT#60, enlarged. Obverse (left) and reverse (right).

4 cm

LUER

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 Voi~.63(1)

Figure 8. Scan of obverse of MT#60.

108 g make it among the thickest and heaviest of metal tablets.
Its weight reflects its fabrication from a thick piece of heavy,
soft, grey metal containing lead (see below for an analysis of
its composition).
The tablet's maximum length is 75 mm along its vertical
midline (Figure 7). Its maximum width is 43 mm, just below
the central perforations (see Allerton et al. 1984 for tablet
terminology). The tablet narrows below those perforations and
then widens to 39 mm at its lateral bulges on the spatulate half.
Moving in the opposite direction, the tablet measures 40 mm
in width just above the central perforations, and then its width
tapers toward the top of the tenoned half.
The thickness of MT#60 (4 mm) is unusual because many
metal tablets were fashioned from much thinner pieces of
metal (1 mm or less in thickness). One of the few metal tablets
that is thick (MT#19, also 4 mm) was crafted from a cast silver
ingot (Allerton et al. 1984:34). It appears that the artisan who
made MT#60 also used a piece of originally thick metal.
Condition. MT#60 is in excellent condition. It was not
damaged by excavation and its surface is intact. However, the
obverse, upper portion of MT#60's tenoned half was damaged
by heat in aboriginal times (see below). The heat melted the
metal, after which some of it was intentionally reworked. The
damaged portion is grey and its surface is varied, including a

Figure 9. Scan of reverse of MT#60.

rough area, a smooth area, and a slightly undulated area where
melting lead produced slight ripples (note the upper portion of
the tablet in Figure 8).
The unmelted portion of the tablet has a patina that formed
while it was buried. It consists of patches of orange and white
discoloration on its grey surfaces (these are patches of rust
and oxidized lead, see below). On the obverse, small orange
patches occur around numerous tiny nicks in the surface of
the metal, while white occurs more evenly within several
splotches. Most of the reverse has a thin orange patina, with
only a few small white splotches near the lower midline. The
more extensive rust on MT#60's reverse may reflect greater
dampness while buried on that side, which was face down
when found.
The surface patina extends onto the tablet's edges. After
discovery, handling by KVAHC caused the patina to rub off in
places (the tablet slid around in a small box during transport,
wearing the tips of the lateral projections and lateral bulges).
To avoid further damage, padding was added to the storage
box in 2005, and the tablet was placed in a plastic sleeve to
protect its edges.
Form. MT#60 is essentially flat and appears to have been
fashioned from an originally flat piece of metal. The edges of
the tablet are blunt, rounded, and uniformly 4 mm in thickness,

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2010 VOL. 63(1)

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60

except where it was damaged by heat along its upper edge.
The tablet's spatulate edge is not thinned or sharp, as on some
metal tablets.
MT#60's maker did not shape its spatulate and tenoned
halves into bulging forms (a concave obverse, a convex
reverse), as is typical of many ceremonial tablets. Giving
MT#60 such a shape by bending or hammering would have
been difficult because of the thickness of the metal. However,
when looking at the obverse of MT#60, there is a very slight
twist in the tenoned half, which bends slightly upward along
the mid-stretch of its right edge and then backward toward the
top. Close inspection reveals that the melted, resolidified metal
at the tablet's top right edge is bent backward. This suggests
that the slight twist in the tenoned half was caused when the
metal was bent backward when an artisan repaired the tablet.
MT#60's central perforations are not countersunk (neither
is biconical in cross-section). Instead, each is a cylindrical
hole that was bored straight through. To each side of the
central perforations, the same technique might have been used
to make the intentions between the lateral projections. That
is, round holes of the same diameter might have been bored
through and then carved open from the sides, widening them
slightly. A fifth similar hole might have been bored through
the tenon to make a suspension hole. The remaining notch at
the top of the centerline appears to be a remnant of such a
hole. However, damage by heat (which melted away the tenon,
thereby opening the suspension hole) makes the original
appearance of this portion of the tablet uncertain.
MT#60's central perforations are unusual because they
are circular. Most metal tablets have square or rectangular
central perforations, with only two others (MT#22 and #59)
having a pair of circular ones. In the case of MT#22 (which
was fashioned from a thick piece of silver), the circular central
perforations appear to have been bored through, like those of
MT#60. In the case of MT#59, the central perforations are also
distinctly circular, and it came from the Blueberry site (see this
issue). Perhaps the same artisan made these three tablets.
Design Elements. MT#60 displays incised designs,
without any embellishment such as ticking or cross-hatching.
The incising is plainly visible, although straight incisions are
deeper and more prominent than curved ones. The tablet's
incised designs closely resemble those on a number of other
metal tablets (see Allerton et al. 1984 for a guide to tablet
motifs and design elements).
The intact part of MT#60's obverse tenoned half displays
portions of three concentric circles superimposed on a cross.
This is the most common form of the cross-and-circle motif on
metal tablets, with at least 10 other known examples (MT#1,
#20, #21, #22, #26, #31, #35, #41, #42, #56). The obverse of
MT#60's spatulate half has two downward-pointing teardrops
separated by a medial strip above three nested rectangles.
Such designs also are common and occur on at least ten other
known metal tablets (MT#3, #4, #18, #22, #35, #36, #38, #39,
#44, #52).
On MT#60's reverse, incised lines define a cross and four
quarters, with two vertical lines in each of two diagonally
opposing quarters. The cross is composed of a horizontal,
side-to-side strip superimposed on an end-to-end vertical strip

(each defined by two parallel lines). The cross motif is unusual
on the reverse of tablets, and occurs on the reverse of only one
other known tablet (MT#23).
The reverse has vertical lines in opposing quarters. These
lines resemble those on at least ten other known metal tablets.
These tablets and their numbers of lines per quarter are:
MT#41, #42, #59 (two lines), MT#1, #27, #58 (three lines),
and MT#12, #17, #28, #54 (five lines). On all these other
tablets, however, the vertical lines accompany the crescent
motif, whereas on MT#60 the opposing quarters are blank.
Incising. A pointed implement was used to make incisions
in the obverse and reverse of MT#60 (Figures 8 and 9). The
implement acted like a miniature plow, gouging a narrow
furrow in the metal and leaving a raised rim along each
side. Along the deepest incisions, the raised rims are plainly
visible to the naked eye. Microscopic inspection reveals that
the tablet's shallower, fainter lines also have raised edges.
Some of these lines have a distinct end, where the implement
stopped, and some have an open end where incising began,
thus revealing the directions in which the lines were drawn.
Furthermore, some lines cross over others, making it possible
to determine the sequence in which they were made.
The tablet's faintest, shallowest lines define three
concentric circles and two teardrops on the obverse. The three
circles appear to have been drawn hesitatingly, with several
stray arcs and even a portion of a faint, outer, fourth circle
(Figure 8). Each teardrop motif was drawn in two strokes,
beginning at the rounded top and ending at the pointed
bottom.
The artisan made deep horizontal lines on the obverse to
separate the tablet's upper and lower halves. These lines run
between the lateral projections and intentions (they are just
above and below the medial and lateral connections and the
central perforations). They consist of two or three overlapping
lines (on the left-hand side of the obverse) that converge into
single lines on the right-hand side (Figure 8).
The artisan incised another deep, horizontal line running
between the tops of the lateral bulges on the spatulate half.
Then, the artisan made a number of deep, prominent, vertical
lines. Points of overlap show that they were made as follows.
First, two lines were incised to define the median strip between
the teardrops. Next, six more vertical lines were cut to the
spatulate edge. Then, two horizontal lines were added to finish
the nested rectangle motif.
On the obverse of the tenoned half, the artisan added
prominent, short, vertical and horizontal lines to create the
arms of the cross. These lines restrict the circle motif to three
concentric circles. Some of these prominent lines of the cross
overlap the faint line that initially suggested an outer, fourth
circle.
On MT#60's reverse, the artisan made deep, prominent
lines in similar fashion (Figure 9). The sequence of their
creation is shown by vertical lines overlapping horizontal
ones. First, the artisan incised a pair of deep, horizontal lines.
These two lines span the tablet's width (between the lateral
intentions) and separate the tablet's upper and lower halves.
Next, two vertical lines were drawn near and parallel to the
midline, defining a vertical strip down the middle of each

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THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

half of the tablet (the vertical arms of the cross). Finally, two
parallel vertical lines were incised in diagonally opposing
quarters.

Heat Damage and Repair

At some time during its use-life, MT#60 was damaged by
heat, and afterward it was partially repaired. The heat melted
the upper portion of the tablet's tenoned half, in particular
its upper edge and the surface of its upper obverse side. The
tablet's reverse surface was not melted, but the reverse side did
suffer melting and retraction along its upper edge.
Heat was most intense at the upper obverse end, where
metal melted and dripped away. The melting removed the
tenon, leaving a broad notch where the suspension hole was
located. Melting also removed the upper covers, especially
the upper left corer and side. This produced a thin, retracted
edge (approximately 2 mm in thickness).
Once cooled and rehardened, an artisan reworked this
distorted edge. He or she straightened the obverse's upper
left edge, apparently by scraping and smoothing. At the broad
notch, the artisan scraped away some metal that had flowed
into it and solidified. He or she also folded backward the thin,
upper right edge so that it adhered snugly against the reverse,
thereby making a thicker, straighter edge. As the artisan folded
it backward, a short piece of this edge next to the broad notch
broke away, leaving a second, smaller notch. This reworking
produced slanting shoulders on the tenoned half, instead of
angular covers.
The obverse surface itself is rough and pitted near the
retracted edge, apparently due to metal that melted away.
Farther from this edge, some metal melted and resolidified

without dripping away, leaving a surface that is smooth
or slightly rippled. The ripples show that melted metal was
beginning to flow and pull away from the tablet's unmelted
portion. This rippled surface meets the unmelted surface along
a distinct wavy front or line. In one area, the unmelted front is
shelf-like where melting metal flowed away from it.
In addition to reworking the tablet's retracted upper
edge, the artisan slightly reincised some of the outer circle of
the circle motif. This is shown by the overlap of some lines
defining the cross and by two lines continuing onto melted,
resolidified metal. The latter can be seen as two diverging arcs
that extend slightly upward at the outer circle's upper left. This
retouching, however, was minimal. Thus, the upper third of
the circle motif remains erased by melting.

Compositional Analyses

In December 2005 and July 2006, I took MT#60 to the
University of Florida's Department of Physics where Drs.
Henri Van Rinsvelt, F. Eugene Dunnam, and Ivan Kravchenko
tested it using PIXE (Proton Induced X-Ray Emission)
analysis. Their visual inspection suggested that the whitish and
orangish patches on the tablet's surface were areas of oxidation
(oxidized lead is white, oxidized iron is reddish or orangish).
Initial PIXE analysis of the tablet's uncleaned surfaces
detected lead and iron, which supported the interpretation that
the patches were oxidized areas of those substances (although
PIXE is unable to detect oxygen).
Suspecting that the iron was a surface contaminant
originating from the soil while the tablet was buried, we
cleaned a small area on the tablet's reverse. Further PIXE
analysis of the cleaned surface again detected both lead and

Figure 10. PIXE spectrum of MT#60. Upward pointing arrows show peaks indicative of lead (Pb).
Downward arrows point to peaks of iron (Fe).

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Energy in Kilo Electron Volts

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LUER CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60

iron (Figure 10). This spectrum was compared to a spectrum
of known pure lead, which produced the same peaks for lead
and lacked the peaks of iron. These results led the physicists
to conclude that, while some iron on the tablet's surface could
be from the soil, iron is within the tablet itself. In other words,
the metal comprising MT#60 consists of a mixture of lead and
iron.

Material Comparison

Most metal tablets are made of silver, and the next most
common material is copper. Only one lead specimen, MT#31,
was reported previously (Allerton et al. 1984:38, Figure
12a, Figure 19:upper right). The authenticity of MT#31 was
questioned when it was catalogued in 1984 (due to its unusual
material and designs), but I now suspect it is genuine. The
designs on MT#31, while divergent, are not inconsistent with
variations known to occur among metal tablets. Moreover, lead
is a material that could have been salvaged from European
shipwrecks.

Interpretation

As an object consisting of lead and iron, the material
comprising MT#60 appears to be of European origin. It appears
to be a smelted form of lead in which iron may be an impurity.
Europeans were able to smelt lead with heat, using furnaces.
Florida Indians are not known to have had such technology.
Europeans obtained lead by melting galena (lead sulphide),
which is the chief ore of lead. Galena often is associated in
geologic deposits with pyrites (iron disulphide). If galena and
iron pyrites were smelted together, lead and iron could occur
together in the resulting product. It is possible that iron helped
make the resulting metal harder than pure lead, which is soft.

Site Context and Interpretation

Surface topography, radiocarbon and stratigraphic
data, soils analysis, and recovered artifacts all support the
interpretation that the area where MT#60 was found represents
a slightly elevated area, or low mound, that was artificially
raised by the Indians. While the deep, dense midden (Zone
D), and perhaps the shallower, diffuse one (Zone B), represent
former surfaces, the overlying sand layers (Zones C and A)
appear to be artificial fill added by the Indians. Supporting
evidence is discussed here.
First, the area immediately surroundingAustin and Butler's
two test units and KVAHC's adjoining Trench XE (see above
and Figure 5) resembles a low knoll. It slopes noticeably to the
southwest, where the surface drops approximately one meter
into an area of hammock vegetation (just south of the grove's
southeastern corer). The surface also slopes gently to the
west as it enters the edge of the orange grove. The knoll slopes
gently to the east before the ground drops sharply at the edge
of the Lake Wales Ridge. Today, this knoll is probably less
distinct than it was before the land was cleared and planted as
a grove in the late twentieth century.

Second, the calibrated radiocarbon date (cal A.D. 1410-
1455, 1 sigma) from the deeply buried midden (Zone D, 100
to 140 cm below surface) implies that the overlying sand is
of more recent origin. Approximately 500 years appears to be
too short a period for so much sand to have accumulated by
wind. Water also is an unlikely agent of deposition because
the area is not low-lying. It seems most likely that the Indians
added sand to the area, presumably by basket loading. Besides
intentionally elevating the area, perhaps the Indians wanted
the two sand layers (Zones C and A) to cover midden refuse
and to create floors in new habitation or ceremonial structures
(suggested by the presence of post molds, hearths, and
abundant food remains).
Third, soil data from Austin's Test Unit 985N/1004E
differ from soil data obtained elsewhere at the Blueberry site
(Scudder 2003:Table 1). For example, the clay and coarse sand
content tends to be greater in the test unit than elsewhere. In
addition, the silt content in the test unit is virtually lacking (silt
is indicative of aeolian input, according to Scudder [2003:24]).
These data may support a human origin for Zones C and A
(anthropogenic origin for the midden in Zones D and B is
already accepted). KVAHC's excavations also revealed lumps
of whitish clay on top of the lower midden (Anne Reynolds,
personal communication, 2007). This clay might have been
deposited intentionally by the Indians before they added sand
(Zone C) on top of the dense midden (Zone D).
Fourth, the recovery of unusual artifacts from the vicinity
of Austin's Test Unit 985N/1004E supports the interpretation
that special activities took place there and that those activities
are consistent with a low sand mound. First, most metal
ceremonial tablets have been found in sand mounds (e.g.,
Allerton et al. 1984). Second, a number of artifacts from near
Austin's test unit are not typically concentrated in mundane
domestic contexts. These artifacts include a duck bill plummet
of imported stone, a bird head of imported stone, an effigy
fossil shark tooth carved from bone, a keyhole-shaped piece
of carved and perforated nacreous mollusc shell, a number
of small perforated beads fashioned from dove shells
(Marginella marginella), a polished and perforated pendant
fashioned from a reduced whelk shell (Busvcon sp.) with
yellow coloration (yellow ochre), and an imported large queen
conch (Strombus gigas) worked shell lip (Anne Reynolds,
personal communication, 2007). A ceramic human effigy
head (Reynolds 2001) also came from Test A-5, a few meters
northeast of Austin's unit. The area also yielded a carved,
baton-shaped bone pin resembling others found widely in
Florida and dating to the Mississippian Period (Wheeler and
Coleman 1996:50, Figure 4). Such evidence supports the
interpretation that special activities were conducted in the area
where MT#60 was found.

Conclusion

Archaeological work at the Blueberry site in 2005
uncovered a metal ceremonial tablet, MT#60. It had been
fashioned from a piece of metal consisting of a mixture of lead
and iron that apparently was derived from a European source,

LUER

CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

probably through shipwreck salvage and/or trade, during the
postcontact period (ca. A.D. 1515-1700). It was found in an
area of the site that has evidence of intensive habitation as well
as possible low mound building through the intentional addition
of sand. Artifacts from this area support the interpretation
that special activities took place there, perhaps in ceremonial
structures. The tablet itself was found in sand at a depth of
approximately 30 cm, near the bottom of the uppermost sand
layer. MT#60 is unusual (and thus far unique among known
metal ceremonial tablets) for its lead-iron composition and
because a portion of it was melted and reworked.

Acknowledgments

Anne Reynolds, owner and protector of the Blueberry
site, encouraged this study of MT#60 and waited patiently for
results. Physicists Henri Van Rinsvelt, F. Eugene Dunnam,
and Ivan Kravchenko generously gave their time and expertise
for PIXE analysis. Site archaeologist David Butler, and
University of Central Florida student Jessica Clover, shared
their knowledge in the field. Robert Austin provided an image
of his test unit as well as radiocarbon data. Tesa Norman gave
needed expertise to produce final figures.

References Cited

Allerton, David, George M. Luer, and Robert S. Carr
1984 Ceremonial Tablets and Related Objects from Florida.
The Florida Anthropologist 37:5-54.

Austin, Robert J.
1992 Florida Master Site File form (original) for Blueberry
Hill (8HG678). Form dated June 22 (field date
November 1991). On file, Florida Division of
Historical Resources, Florida Master Site File,
Tallahassee.
1996 Prehistoric Chert Procurement and Mobility Strategies
on the Lake Wales Ridge. The Florida Anthropologist
49:211-223.
1997 The Economics of Lithic Resource Use in South-
Central Florida. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of
Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Austin, Robert J., and Richard W. Estabrook
2000 Chert Distribution and Exploitation in Peninsular
Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 53:116-130.

Austin, Robert J., and Scott E. Mitchell
1998 A Ceremonial Tablet from Osceola County. The
Florida Anthropologist 51:129-130.

Butler, David S. B.
2007 Exploring the Cultural, Spatial, and Temporal
Dimensions of the Blueberry Site (8HG678). Paper
presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Florida
Anthropological Society, May 12, Avon Park,
Florida.

2008 The Blueberry Site Phase I Excavation: A Case
Study In Goal Oriented Public Archaeology. Pp.
198. Conducted for Anne Reynolds and Reynolds
Fruit Company, Inc., by Earthmovers Archaeological
Consultants, LLC, Orlando, Florida.

Clover, Jessica, and David Butler
2007 Belle Glade Plain Ceramic Variability Considered.
Paper presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the
Florida Anthropological Society, May 12, Avon Park,
Florida.

Knox, Rita L., and David S. B. Butler
2008 An Archaeological Application of Three Dimensional
High Definition Laser Scanning. Posterpresented atthe
60th Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological
Society, May 3, Ybor City, Florida.

Land Boundary Information System [LABINS]
2004 Lake Placid digital orthophoto quarter quadrangle
(DOQQ2711se), Highlands County, Florida.
Website of the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection, Division of State Lands, Bureau of Survey
and Mapping (http://data.labins.org/).

Lee, Arthur R.
1998 Metal Ceremonial Tablet Reported in Naples. The
Florida Anthropologist 51:37.

Luer, George M.
1985 An Update on Some Ceremonial Tablets. The Florida
Anthropologist 38:273-274, 281.
1994 A Third Ceremonial Tablet from the Goodnow
Mound, Highlands County, Florida; With Notes
on Some Peninsular Tribes and Other Tablets. The
Florida Anthropologist 47:180-188.
2000 Three Metal Ceremonial Tablets with Comments on
the Tampa Bay Area. The Florida Anthropologist
53:2-11.

Mitchell, Scott E.
1996 The Importance of Aquatic Resources at Five
Archaeological Sites in the Okeechobee Region
of South Florida. M.A. thesis, Department of
Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa.

Murphy, Ryan
2007 Blueberry Site Through GIS. Poster presented at the
59th Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological
Society, May 12, Avon Park, Florida.

Reynolds, Anne
2001 A Ceramic Effigy Head from Highlands County,
Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 54:50-54.
2003 Unraveling the Mystery of Blueberry. Paper
delivered at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Florida
Anthropological Society, May 10, Tallahassee.

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

LUER CEREMONIAL METAL TABLET #60 45

Scudder, Sylvia
2003 Deep Sand: Soil and Landscape Relationships at the
Blueberry Site (8HG678), Highlands County, Florida.
In Zooarchaeology: Papers to Honor Elizabeth S.
Wing, edited by F. Wayne King and Charlotte M.
Porter, pp. 17-26. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of
Natural History 44(1): 1-208. Gainesville, Florida.

Wheeler, Ryan J., and Wesley F. Coleman
1996 Ornamental Bone Carving of Southern Florida:
Some Late Styles and their Associations. The Florida
Anthropologist 49:49-62.

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*^^ ^ yy ^ ^^^ ^y yy1y \

A FLUORITE BEAD FROM FLORIDA

DAN F. MORSE AND PHYLLIS MORSE

PO Box 424, Panacea, FL 32346

The late Edna Knowlton of southern Wakulla County,
Florida, was a retired nurse. She was one of the first residents
on what is now known as River Drive in the community of
Ochlockonee Bay. She was very active; for instance, she
collected aluminum cans between the bay and Tallahassee and
donated the proceeds to the Catholic Church and to the Junior
Museum (now the Tallahassee Museum).
Edna Knowlton also collected prehistoric artifacts near
her home. She concentrated on what she perceived as two
areas of one site. Her artifacts were exhibited on several
tables in her screened-off porch. One of her goals was to
glue together sherds from a whole pot. She had reconstructed
several partial sections of vessels including occasional sherds
which did not match the other sherds in the mosaic. We saw
the collection only once, about 1975, when we purchased a
canoe from her after she had sustained a fracture and was told
not to canoe any more. We lived in Arkansas then, and only
occasionally visited Dan's parents who lived on Ochlockonee
Bay at that time. During that visit to purchase the canoe, Dan
picked up a stone bead (Figure I) and told Edna that it was
very important since it was made of fluorite and was perhaps
unique in Florida. She promptly gave the bead to Dan, saying
it was then too important for her to keep it in her house where
someone might take it.
The bead is purple and weighs 4.5 g. It is irregular in
shape and may be made from a water-worn pebble. Maximum
dimensions are 20.1 x 17.0 x 11.6 mm. It measures 19.2 mm
long at the perforation. Actually there are two perforations,
one from each end; they meet near the center of the bead.
One perforation is 10.2 mm long and the other is 9.0 mm
long (Figure 2). The diameter of the perforation is 2.2 x 2.3
mm at one end and 2.4 x 2.5 mm at the other. The size of
the perforation is within the lower size range of Mississippian
microlith drills. Fluorite workshops, such as those at the
Kincaid site in southern Illinois and Cahokia, east of St.
Louis, are consistently associated with microliths (Boles
2008). Outcrops of fluorite are known at Rosiclare, Illinois
and Marion, Kentucky, which are near the Ohio River.
The site that Edna collected from is located near the
Ochlockonee Bay and is not yet recorded with the State of
Florida (Figure 3). One area collected by her was immediately
east of a boat landing behind a restaurant called Three Brothers,
which later burned to the ground and is now completely
cleared away. This area was undergoing active erosion due to
the construction of the boat landing and the restaurant. Farther
east and downriver from Three Brothers was the home of
Frank and Ruby Snyder. Frank built a seawall which resulted
in a large area of the riverfront losing vegetation and sediment,

which exposed numerous artifacts. Between these two areas
was a muddy region, difficult to walk through and not suitable
for surface collecting. The site was named the Snyder Site.
It is situated about where the Sopchoppy River joins the
Ochlokonee River just upstream from the bay.
The nearest other recorded site (8WA809) is a short
distance west of the boat landing. Called the "Ro Ho Joe Site,"
the site is named after its two residents, Rowe Courson and
Hoye Winkler. Edna Knowlton did not collect from this site
because she did not have permission (personal communication,
Ruby Snyder, 2009).
The "Knowlton collection" was stored in a 5-gallon plastic
bucket when Edna moved to Tallahassee. Former neighbor
Ruby Snyder was told by Edna that the collection was then
donated to Florida State University (FSU). Afterwards,
according to Ruby Snyder, Edna moved into an assisted living
facility. After she died, her affairs were settled by a Catholic
priest since she had no family.
We attempted to locate the collection in January of
2009. FSU has no record of such a collection (personal
communication, Glen Doran, 2009). The Bureau of
Archaeological Research likewise has no record of her
collection (personal communication, Jim Dunbar and Marie
Prentice, 2008). The bead under discussion here is in the
possession of the authors.
The bead should date to the Mississippian Fort Walton
Period. The most intense use of fluorite was in the 13't century
(personal communication, John Kelly, 2008). In addition, the
microlithic industry persisted at Cahokia into the 13"' century.
This is also the approximate date of the Lake Jackson site
occupation at Tallahassee, Florida, based on its "Southern
Cult" association (Jones 1982). The bead reported on here
might well have been worn by a fisherman (or woman) from
the Lake Jackson site.

References Cited

Boles, Steve
2008 Fluorite Workshops at Kincaid and Cahokia Mounds.
Paper presented at the 651' Annual Southeastern
Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, North
Carolina.

Jones, B. Calvin
1982 Southern Cult Manifestations at the Lake Jackson
Site, Leon County, Florida: Salvage Excavations of
Mound 3. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology,
7(1):3-44.

VOL. 63(1) THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST MARCH 2010

MARCH 2010

VOL. 63(1)

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 2010 VOL. 63(1)

Figure 1. Fluorite bead from various angles. Image courtesy of Louis Tesar.

IDistal end at 32x enlargement Proximal end at 32x enlargement

Figure 2. Enlarged image of the two perforations in the fluorite bead. Image courtesy of Louis Tesar.

2 4
cm hlcm Actual size and
Florida: Snyder site 400% enlargement
Found by Edna Knowlton to show detail

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2010 VOL. 63(1)

MORSE AND MORSE FLUORIDE BEAD FROM FLORIDA

PANACEA

Figure 3. Star indicates the approximate location of area where the fluorite bead was discovered in Wakulla County.

MORSE AND MORSE

FLUORITE BEAD FROM FLORIDA

Chapters of the Florida Anthropological Society

10 5 9

1. Ancient Ones Archaeological Society of North Central Florida

2. Archaeological Society of Southern Florida
2495 N.W. 35th Ave., Miami, FL 33142

3. Central Florida Anthropological Society
P.O. Box 947544, Maitland, FL 32794

4. Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society
P.O. Box 1563, Pinellas Park, FL 33780 '

5. Emerald Coast Archaeological Society
c/o Indian Temple Mound Museum 4
139 Miracle Strip Pkwy SE, Fort Walton Beach, 32548

6. Gold Coast Anthropological Society
PO Box 11052, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33339

7. Indian River Anthropological Society 14
3705 S. Tropical Trail, Merritt Island, FL 32952 /12

8. Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and Historical Conservancy
195 Huntley Oaks Blvd., Lake Placid, FL 33852 16

9. Panhandle Archaeological Society at Tallahassee
P.O. Box 20026, Tallahassee, FL 32316

10. Pensacola Archaeological Society
P.O. Box 13251, Pensacola, FL 32591 13

11. St. Augustine Archaeological Association
P.O. Box 1301, St. Augustine, FL 32085

12. Southeast Florida Archaeological Society
P.O Box 2875, Stuart, FL 34995 ^

13. Southwest Florida Archaeological Society
P.O. Box 9965, Naples, FL 34101 0 .;.3."

14. Time Sifters Archaeology Society
P.O. Box 25642, Sarasota, FL 34277

15. Volusia Anthropological Society
P.O. Box 1881, Ormond Beach, FL 32175

16. Warm Mineral Springs/Little Salt Spring Archaeological Society
P.O. Box 7797, North Port, FL 34287

OBITUARY

JAMES COWAN WAGGONER
1971-2009

Figure 1. Jamie Waggoner water screening for Rochelle
Marrinan's 2000 FSU field school project at the Castro site, a
Spanish colonial Mission near Tallahassee, Florida. Photograph
courtesy of Marjorie Waggoner.

James Cowan Waggoner, Jr., passed away September 23,
2009, at the age of 38, after a hard fought struggle with brain
cancer. Jamie was a good friend to many readers of The Florida
Anthropologist and a member of the Florida Anthropological
Society. A native of Georgia and long time resident of Florida,
he was a popular and active member of the archaeological
communities of both states and was recognized as a bright
young scholar.
Jamie was a 1997 graduate of the History program at
Georgia College (now Georgia College and State University).

However, he also took classes in Anthropology at the University
of Georgia (UGA) and participated in field schools under
the direction of Mark Williams in 1995 and 1996. Through
the years, Jamie volunteered on many important Georgia
archaeological projects, including the Kolomoki mound
complex with Thomas Pluckhahn, prehistoric sites at Sapelo
Island with Victor Thompson, extensive survey work across
the Chickasawhatchee Swamp with John Chamblee, and the
Marshall site in the Oconee Valley with James Hatch, to name
just a few. After completing the B.A., Jamie worked at the

VOL. 63(1) THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST MARCH 2010

VOL. 63(1)

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

MARCH 2010

THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

UGA Laboratory of Archaeology and then spent two years in
the employment of Southern Research, Inc. in Waverly Hall,
Georgia.
Jamie entered the Anthropology program at Florida State
University (FSU) in 1999 and completed his M.S. degree in
2002. At FSU Jamie worked closely with Michael Faught and
Rochelle Marrinan and served as the Collections Manager
for the department. He also developed several independent
research projects and volunteered on a variety of interesting
sites, including chinampas outside of Mexico City and a
Bronze Age site in Hungary. Jamie's M.S. thesis focused on
prehistoric land use patterns in West-Central Georgia. In 2002
Jamie began work toward the Ph.D. in Anthropology at the
University of Florida (UF), where he studied under Kenneth
Sassaman. At UF Jamie pursued his interests in historical
ecological approaches to prehistoric hunter-gatherer land use
and the creation of anthropogenic landscapes. As with all good
students, his research goals grew in depth and complexity while
he developed as a scholar, and Jamie was always very quick
to credit his teachers and fellow students for their influence on
his intellectual growth and curiosity.
Jamie earned his doctoral degree in the summer of 2009.
His M.S. and Ph.D. work, as well as his other scholarly
endeavors, reflect his love for his home state of Georgia and
the challenge of understanding the social processes of the
people who had lived there thousands of years ago. Jamie had
an insatiable love for discovering new places, and he found
the rural and sometimes rugged areas of southwestern Georgia
just as demanding and lovely as any far-flung locale. All told,
he documented over 300 previously undiscovered sites and
contributed greatly to our understanding of Archaic-period
peoples of the southeastern United States.
Jamie presented the results of his work in frequent
contributions to the journal Early Georgia, as well as articles
and book reviews for the Journal of Archaeological Science,
Southeastern Archaeology, and The Florida Anthropologist.
He was also an active member of FAS, Society for Georgia
Archaeology (SGA), Southeastern Archaeological Conference
(SEAC), South Georgia Archaeological Research Team
(SOGART), and Society for American Archaeology (SAA),
regularly making presentations at annual meetings. Jamie's
publications and professional presentations show the diversity
of his interests and experience, while also highlighting his
primary interest in the archaeological record of Archaic period
hunter-gatherers in the southeastern U.S. In his professional
life, Jamie exemplified a commitment to local and regional
archaeology; however, he always strived to place his research
within the broader scope of anthropology.
To Jamie, archaeology was not only a subject of academic
study, it was a gift to be discovered and explored, and a starting
point for many new interests and passions. While at FSU he
revived the department tradition of making atlatls and blow
darts, as well as flintknapping. He resurrected the atlatl contest
at the annual FSU Pig Roast, which had the simultaneous
effect of making the gatherings more exciting and slightly
dangerous. Jamie was also credited with knowing the best
locations for procuring a whole pig for the Roast, and would
often show up at the party with one in the back of his pickup.

At UF his appreciation for the traditions of archaeological
practice and its practitioners continued to grow. Jamie was
a regular at the annual UF Potlatch, where he bid on many
anthropologically significant "treasures" and contributed many
delicious homemade key lime pies. At the annual UF Charles
Fairbanks Armadillo Roast, Jamie was involved in a series of
vicious student vs. faculty horseshoe-throwing contests, the
competitive level of which became the stuff of awed whispers
and pointing (or so he thought they should have).
His appreciation and passion for archaeology inspired
many travels to sites throughout North America, Europe,
Latin America, and most recently, Peru. In addition to being
a traveler and archaeologist, Jamie was an avid long-distance
cyclist and mountain-biker, and a beloved member of the
Gainesville cycling community. Jamie was also a naturalist,
a gifted craftsman, a collector of odd things, and a talented
gardener, and the entire neighborhood around Jamie's house
in Gainesville benefited from his beautiful sunflower boxes
year after year. The diversity of Jamie's interests and his good
nature touched many people in Georgia, Florida, and beyond.
Those who worked with Jamie in the field know that he
always sported a cowboy hat and a slightly mischievous smile.
Outside the field, Jamie was something of a cowboy-he lived
by his own rules and with a creative passion, but with respect
and genuine regard for those around him. It is no surprise that
Jamie comes from a wonderful family, and he was often heard
speaking of his parents and siblings with admiration and love.
Jamie was an amazingly funny person whose quirky asides
and optimism made him a valued friend and someone who
brought light to his friends and family. Jamie has left us too
soon and for many of us he cannot be replaced. We honor his
memory by remembering with a smile all that he added to the
archaeological communities of Florida and Georgia.

DEBORAH MULLINS
NEILL WALLIS
MICHELLE LEFEBVRE

P.O. Box 357605
Gainesville, FL 32635

2010 VOL. 63(1)

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THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST 55

About the Authors:

Alison A. Elgart received a Bachelor's degree in anthropology from Binghamton University and a Doctoral degree in
biological anthropology from Cornell University. Her interests are iocus on health and disease in prehistoric populations
and dental anthropology. She currently teaches biological anthropology at Florida Gulf Coast University.

George M. Luer Ph.D., has studied Florida's ceremonial tablets for 40 years as part of his Florida Archaeology Program.
In recognition of his research, he was invited to co-author a comprehensive study of metal, wood, and stone tablets from
across central and southern Florida for the 35th anniversary of The Florida Anthropological Society, appearing as the
Spring 1984 issue of the Society's journal. Since then, George has recorded additional metal tablets that extend our sty-
listic and geographic understanding of these artifacts and their iconography.

Scott E. Mitchell has served as Director of the Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center in Ocala,
Florida, since 2004. Before that, he worked at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where he curated archaeological
collections, assisted with exhibits, and conducted educational programs. Scott also has worked as a field archaeologist for
private consulting firms throughout Florida. He is trained as a professional archaeologist, with a B.A. from the University
of Florida and an M.A. from the University of South Florida.

Dan F Morse is Professor Emeritus at the University of Arkansas where he specializes in the prehistory of the Midwestern
United States and the central Mississippi Valley. Throughout the course of a career spanning five decades, he has trained
numerous archaeologists working in the field today and authored and edited dozens of scholarly publications. Together
with his wife, they received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southeastern Archaeological Conference.

Phyllis Morse earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has been working on archaeological sites for over 50
years. Her expertise and main area of interest lies in the archaeological laboratory and the detailed analysis of excavated
materials. In this capacity, she has worked with materials from important prehistoric sites across America. Together with
her husband, they received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southeastern Archaeological Conference.

Rachel K. Wentz is the Regional Director for the Florida Public Archaeology's East Central Region, located at the Florida
Historical Society in Cocoa, Florida She completed her M.A. and Ph.D. at Florida State University under the direction of
Glen Doran and specializes in the bioarchaeological analysis of human remains.

FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC.
POST OFFICE BOX 357605
GAINESVILLE, FL 32635-7605

NON-PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
TALLAHASSEE, FL
PERMIT NO. 801

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

CONTENTS

ARTICLES

Patterns of Degenerative Joint Disease among Males and Females at Windover (8BR246) and
Their Relationship to Grave Goods.
Rachel K. Wentz

Life and Death on the Pine Island Ridge During the Late Archaic Period.
Alison A. Elgart

Ceremonial Metal Tablet #59:
Stylistic and Compositional Analyses of a Copper Tablet from the Blueberry Site. Highlands County. Florida.
Scott E. Mitchell and George M. Luer

Ceremonial Metal Tablet #60:
Stylistic and Compositional Analyses of a Lead-Iron Tablet from the Blueberry Site. Highlands County. Florida.
George M. Luer

A Fluorite Bead from Florida.
Dan F. Morse and Phyllis Morse

OBITUARY

James Cowan Waggoner. Deborah Mullins. Neill Wallis. and Michelle LeFeb\re

Cover: Photographs of obverse (lower left) and reverse (lower right) of Metal Tablet =59 and
obverse (upper left) and reverse (upper right) of Metal Tablet =60. See the Mitchell and Luer
article beginning on page 27 and the Luer article beginning on page 35 for more information.

Copyright 2010 by the
FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. INC.
ISSN 0015-3893

	Front Cover
	Table of Contents
	From the editors
	Patterns of Degenerative Joint...
	Life and Death on the Pine Island...
	Ceremonial Metal Tablet #59: Stylistic...
	Ceremonial Metal Tablet #60: Stylistic...
	A Fluorite Bead from Florida
	Obituary: James Cowan Waggoner,...
	Back Matter
	About the Authors
	Back Cover

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