THE INDIANS:

Sapelo Island has been the site of man’s activities for well over three thousand years. Since 1974, Dr. Lewis Larson, the State Archeologist, and others from West Georgia College have been involved in the archeology of the Sapelo sites, and their Sapelo Papers* [* Sapelo Papers: Researches in the History and Prehistory of Sapelo Island, Georgia. West Georgia College Studies in the Social Sciences Vol. XIX, 1980] present a fascinating, albeit fragmentary, perception of a people and life style long gone.

The occupation sites of the aboriginal inhabitants were situated where there was convenient access to freshwater, tidal streams and saltmarsh, apparently not by the seashore. The food fragments found in the middens have indicated the consumption of animals found at the marsh edge and in the tidal creeks. The fish remains are those of fish such as catfish and mullet likely to be caught by trapping, impoundment or netting. Assuming the fish population has not changed significantly, this means that the early inhabitants failed to benefit from the large sportfish such as speckled trout, channel bass and black drum.

There is a large shell ring (Q) of Indian origin to be found on the western side of the island between the more modern ruins at Chocolate (P) and those at High Point (R). This ring is deceptive for the casual observer because its current composition implies a diet largely comprising oysters, with some clams and whelks. In fact, mammals such as deer, raccoon, dog and opossum, together with fish, are now known to have been the major components of the Indian diet. However, since the vertebrate remains are more subject to weathering, they become less visually and volumetrically dominant with the passage of time. This ring stands three to four meters high and is slightly more than a hundred meters in diameter. It appears to be the result of an accumulation of refuse, probably from dwellings arranged in a circular patter. Excavations have identified hearths and what appear to be house floors in the body of the shell ring. Bone pins and pottery have also been found here. By contrast, the central area was kept so clean of refuse that it must have been by deliberate intent. Radiocarbon dating has given an approximate age for the materials of the ring, and two of the dates estimated are 3,700 years B.P. ± 250 years, and 4,100 years B.P. ± 200 years.

Other Indian sites on the island which have been examined are Bourbon Field (T) and Kenan Field (L). Bourbon Field is an aggregate village area which has been plowed extensively in the recent past for agriculture, and is still being plowed today to provide open pasture for grazing by deer and turkey. Shells and pottery sherds with a variety of tempering inclusions and stamped and cord-marked patterns can be readily found on the soil surface, over a wide area. Almost two hundred disturbed shell middens have been counted at Bourbon Field.

Kenan Field was the location of a 158-acre Indian village, occupied between approximately 1,000 A.D. and 1,600 A.D. It remains are still to be found among the planted pines covering Kenan Field. The most prominent feature is a large burial mound but there is also a smaller mound and a long, low earthen embankment running east to west about five hundred feet south of the large mound. Excavations have indicated the former presence of two large buildings, separated by a plaza; these were presumably of significance for political and ceremonial events in the village. The structures were most likely platforms, with the larger of the two being about 150 feet long and 100 feet wide and probably roofed. They have been detected only by examination of subtle evidence left in the soil and are not readily discernable today. It appears that food was prepared in certain areas of the village and consumed in others, and that there were specific areas apparently devoted to specific occupations. All these pieces of evidence argue for a structured and formal arrangement to the activities of the village.