The Manly Mound Site: Analysis Of A Middle Woodland Coastal Mound Site In Northwest Florida
Jenni Lynn Baggett
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
Summer 2022
Metrics
59 File views/ downloads
334 Record Views
Abstract
Manly Mound (8SR40) is a largely undisturbed Native American mound site located within the National Park Service’s Naval Live Oaks Reservation Area. Although the mound was first identified as a potentially significant archaeological site in 1967, formal investigations of the site remained relatively limited during the following years. The data recovered from three subsurface surveys and two pedestrian surveys of the mound and surrounding areas between 1967 and 1988 failed to recover sufficient data to identify the spatial extent of the site or support functional and temporal interpretations of the mound.
This research focused on achieving a preliminary understanding of the Manly Mound site’s spatial, temporal, and functional characteristics. Analysis of the cultural materials recovered during an intensive, systematic shovel test survey completed during the summer of 2021 indicates that the site consists of a Middle Woodland mound and an associated ring midden that encircles a sterile plaza located to the west of the mound. The survey yielded diagnostic ceramics associated with Santa Rosa-Swift Creek and Early Weeden Island cultures. The site spans 3.8 acres across a natural ridge extending to the northwest of Manly Mound proper. Although a small area potentially associated with a Weeden Island campsite was identified, the mound and surrounding areas appear to have been primarily used for intermittent ceremonial activities.