Bluff Field (9CH160) ceramics and radiocarbon dating and their implications for chronology building on Ossabaw Island and the Georgia coast

Abstract

We present the results of the 2022 excavations at the Bluff Field site (9CH160), wherein we consider the juxtaposition of Bayesian radiocarbon modeling against the current ceramic chronologies derived for the Georgia coast. New evidence from AMS radiocarbon dating and statistical modeling pushes both the timing and span of Wilmington series ceramics beyond the ranges afforded by current models. Short-lived carbonized hickory nuts from within excavation units and shovel tests returned dates that are hundreds of years later in time than the currently accepted timing for Wilmington ceramics. These ceramics contribute the largest proportion of the ceramic assemblage recovered from the site and within the levels from which we dated for chronological modeling. Our modeling of these dates that are in stratigraphic sequence calls into question not only the use history of the Wilmington ceramic series, but also the demographic history of the island that is currently predicated upon the timing of this and other ceramic styles. We recommend reinterrogating existing chronologies in order to bring the settlement chronologies for the Georgia coastal region up to present-day methodological and statistical standards.