This Event has Passed
Presentation: Archaic Sites In Florida and Their Association With Shell Tools
About the Presentation
Lightning whelk (Sinistrofulgur perversum, once known as Busycon perversum) has been integral to the lives of some Native People throughout eastern North America since at least the Archaic, having been used as tools for woodworking and other tasks, as bowls and cups, as ornamentation like beads and gorgets, and as a symbolic representation of the cosmos. It was so important due to its leftward-spiraling columella and spire, mimicking the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy, as it is believed by some Native Peoples that movement to the left keeps this Middle World in balance. Population studies have shown that the majority of this type of mollusk in Florida can be found between Charlotte Harbor and the Ten Thousand Islands region, drawing people from the north and Midwest to south Florida, even in antiquity.
The Archaic and Early Woodland were times of extensive resource movement, and places such as Indian Knoll, Kentucky, Tick Island, Florida, and Poverty Point, Louisiana saw massive influxes of both people and exotic resources. Lightning whelk can be found in archaeological contexts in every eastern U.S. state and even into parts of southern Canada, even though the shell was most often obtained from the Gulf of Mexico, as chemical sourcing and spire angle studies have shown. Important though it was, additional "exotic" resources traveled alongside the whelk: mica, pearls, yaupon holly, steatite, copper, and greenstone among others, often deposited in the same places and all described as being symbolic of the Milky Way.
This presentation will highlight the role that lightning whelk has played over the millennia and will provide hypothetical routes of travel for whelk and its travelling companions, even including canines. It is believed by some Native Peoples that dogs act as guides for transition to the Upper World, leading their companions through the cosmos to reunite with those lost before. Next time you admire the intricate perfection of a lightning whelk’s spire while walking the shoreline here in southwest Florida, just know that you are among a long line of people to do so, stretching back untold millennia.
About the Speaker
Michelle Calhoun graduated from New College of Florida in 2021 with a BA in Anthropology [thesis: An Analysis of Prehistoric Shell Tools (Columella Tools and Gastropod Hammers) from Snake Island, Sarasota County (8So2336)]. She works for Archaeological Consultants Inc. (ACI), is a long-term volunteer for Sarasota County Historical Resources, working on various archaeological collections, and she also volunteers at a local archaeological site and eco-preserve, helping to manage invasive vegetation and monitor a rare, native species of flower. She is currently involved with many projects, including indexing dozens of archaeological journals to create an archaeo-bibliography and GIS database for the eastern U.S. and southern Canada, illustrating artifacts for various publications, and helping to document the assemblage from two local archaeological sites.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2136247-0
