Project Description
The Rice Farm archaeological site (9DW276) in the north Georgia piedmont was occupied by Native Americans during the Middle Woodland period (c. 300 B.C. – A.D. 600). Fifty-nine pits and over 1000 posts were identified and excavated at the site between 2018 and 2022. Careful investigation of the refuse from these pits can contextualize the past environment as well as human diets, social networks, and the shift from foraging to food production. This research project will explore the contents of six pits. One undergraduate student will identify and analyze macrobotanical remains recovered from the pits. They will examine carbonized seeds, nutshell, and charcoal recovered as light-fraction from previously processed flotation samples. Sorting the previously dried and jarred light-fraction from the six pits will facilitate identification of seeds and nutshell, among other ecofacts, preserved in each of them. Analysis of these carbonized remains can reveal details of environmental conditions, human diets, subsistence patterns, and complex social behaviors. After sorting the remains, seeds and nutshell will be identified to taxon and quantified. This data will be paired with previously collected radiocarbon dates and pollen data to contextualize each pit and to interpret broad patterns of past human behavior at the site.
Tasks and Responsibilites
Student Tasks: The student will be taught how to identify macrobotanical remains, how to sort light fraction samples, and how to identify common seeds and nutshells from the region prior to conducting the sorting and analysis phases. Current reference material describing common wild and domesticated seeds and nutshells from north Georgia, as well as literature describing current methods for sorting and identifying macroscopic botanical remains will be employed for the qualitative data collection. For the macrobotanical remains from each pit, the student will sort all seeds, nutshell, wood charcoal, and other ecofacts. Weights of each qualitative group will be recorded per pit feature in a database. The student (alongside myself) will then identify the taxon of seeds and nutshell, where possible, providing more refined environmental data. The student will then work with me to input this data into ArcGIS to create a map of the distribution of different macrobotanical remains recovered from different pits across the site. Together, we will statistically analyze the proportions of ecofact types per feature, searching for patterns across the site and comparing them with previously collected pollen data to interpret past environmental conditions at the site.
Desired Qualifications
None listed.