As was reported in the three posters and two papers presented at this years Florida Anthropological Society (FAS) conference, Belle Glades Plain pottery is the most representative diagnostic artifact category associated with the Phase I Cultural Resource Assessment of the Blueberry site. The other significant category of artifacts discovered during the Phase I included lithics (stone tools and stone debris resulting from the sharpening and shaping of stone). The stone material along with the ceramics from the phase I have been sorted, weighed, catalogued, photographed, and categorized according to local typology (Florida point types and ceramic types). Likewise, this material has been double bagged and laminated cards with provenience data have been placed inside the interior bag. A representative sample of the lithic material is being sent this month to Dr. Bob Austin for detailed analysis.
The preliminary organization of the ceramic assemblage sets the stage for detailed comparative study. For example, initial analysis indicates that Belle Glades Plain pottery accounts for over 90% of the ceramics at the site. Therefore, the patterns (consistencies and variations) in this category of artifacts at the site are of paramount importance to our understanding of cultural behavior at the site. The objectives of this pottery analysis include at least two components. First, patterns in the stratigraphic and spatial relationships between elements of the assemblage must be understood. This data is applied toward the establishment of chronology and variations in density associated with different components of the landscape. For instance, one pattern that has emerged is a clear spatial association with the occupation of the eastern terminus of the Lake Wales Ridge at the site. The pottery assemblage clearly indicates that during the most intense occupation of the site (which according to current evidence dates to circa 1100 BP – 700 BP) residents had a clear preference for living on relatively high ground in close proximity to a water source.
The second research objective of the ceramic analysis is to evaluate the categories of ceramics present in the assemblage and investigate the representative variation within each category. This is significant because this can provide insight into human behavior at the site by clarifying the origin of non-local pottery types (such as sand tempered plain and sandy St. Johns) indicating patterns of prehistoric interaction. Likewise, this analysis provides the opportunity to analyze variation within the Belle Glades Plain assemblage that have not been well accounted for in archaeological literature. For example, detailed analysis of rim and lip variation in Belle Glades Plain ceramics is not well established for South Central Florida. It is not clear how much variation there is or whether that variation is associated with time and space in the region. A comprehensive review of the literature indicates that a basis of comparison for this pottery type is needed and the Blueberry site assemblage is being used to address this void in the Florida archaeological knowledge base.
Searching for a standardized basis of comparison for the Belle Glades Plain assemblage indicates that one is lacking. Therefore, after organizing what little bit of data there is, I decided to create my own sample data set. In December, I traveled to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and evaluated the pottery assemblage from the Belle Glade type site (the site located on Lake Okeechobee that was used to define Belle Glade culture and the pottery type Belle Glades Plain). A sample of 50 rims and lips from the Belle Glade site were measured for thickness and classified according to the varieties identified during this research. This data is being processed and will be used as a basis of comparison for the assemblage at the Blueberry site. This research will clearly define variation in this pottery type at this site and will establish a formula that might be applied by other archaeologists working in the region.
