St.

Johns II Ceramic Assemblage Variability at the Mill Cove Complex and Beyond
Introduction
In September of 2013, with the help of volunteers from the University of North Florida
(UNF) Anthropology Club and under the supervision of our faculty mentor, Dr. Keith Ashley, we
conducted limited shovel testing and unit excavations on residential property belonging to the
Sares family. This locus is situated within the Mill Cove Complex (MCC), approximately 140-m
northwest of Kinzeys Knoll, a special-event or ritual midden located adjacent to the Shields
Mound. To date, archaeological testing at Mill Cove has focused mainly on Kinzeys Knoll and
the complexs two burial mounds, Grant and Shields. The purpose of our project was to sample a
domestic area away from the burial mounds and ritual areas. In this paper we present the results
of our investigation of the Sares property and compare its ceramic assemblage to two other loci
within the MCC and three other St. Johns II sites in northeastern Florida.
St. Johns II and the Mill Cove Complex
In extreme northeastern Florida, the St. Johns II period lasts from approximately A.D.
900-1250, which corresponds to the broader early Mississippi period. Ceramic assemblages of
this period are dominated by St. Johns Check Stamped and Plain, with minor amounts of chalky
incised, punctuated, and simple stamped. St. Johns II sites in northeastern Florida also are
marked by the presence of Ocmulgee cordmarked pottery, which, through the aid of neutron
activation analysis, has been shown to have been both imported from south-central Georgia and
produced locally. The MCC is a major St. Johns II site situated on a nearly one-kilometer stretch
of land along the southern bank of the St. Johns River, approximately 7-mi north of the UNF
campus. It stands out among other archaeological sites in the region due to its two large bookend

burial mounds, Shields and Grant, and the presence of exotic artifacts that link Mill Cove to far
flung regions of eastern North America. The list of non-local artifacts is exhaustive but among
the most notable items are a pair of copper log-nosed god maskettes from Grant Mound,
spatulate celts from Shields Mound, and two Cahokia points from Kinzeys Knoll. The quality
and quantity of exotica certainly justifies the attention received by these ritual-related loci and
speaks to the overall cultural significance of MCC. However, the cultural activities related to
these loci were likely episodic, and likely not representative of daily life within a St. Johns II
community.
Excavation of the Sares Property
The Sares property is a narrow residential tract running north-south, approximately 150m west of the Shields mound. Bordered on the north by a low bluff that overlooks the St. Johns
River, the terrain gradually rises to the south. The excavation area currently lies in a welldrained citrus grove along the eastern side of the Sares house and garage. The area has been
impacted through the installation of a sprinkler system first installed in the 1960s and updated
over the past few decades. Prior to conducting fieldwork, we obtained permission from the
landowner to excavate on his property and UNF was allowed to curate all recovered artifacts.
The Sares property was shovel tested on a 25-m grid in 1999 and 2000. Based on these
results we had a general idea about where we wanted to test, but additional reduced interval
shovel tests were needed to pinpoint the exact area. We excavated five 50cm square shovel tests.
Two were placed along the bluffs edge, and each produced a small amount of pottery. The other
three shovel tests, placed to the south away from the bluff, were more productive. Based on these
results, we established a small block that consisted of three contiguous 1-x-2-m units along the

eastern edge of the Sares property. (All three units were laid in with an east-west long axis
orientation)
Over a three-day period, the units were excavated in 10cm levels to a terminal depth of
80 cm below surface. Relevant information for each level was recorded on a unit level form and
photographs were taken at the completion of each level within all three units. Soil was screened
though mesh and all cultural materials were bagged by type and level. Oyster shells from
several contexts were saved for possible radiocarbon dating. Unit wall profiles were drawn and
photographed and the block was backfilled.
Testing revealed three stratigraphic zones. The upper zone was comprised of (10YR 4/2)
dark grayish-brown soil with sparsely scattered shell. The next zone consisted of (10YR 6/1)
gray sand with rare shell. The lowest zone was made up of (10YR 6/3) pale brown fine sand with
rare shell throughout. Evidence of disturbance was visible in the upper 30-40 cm. No distinct
shell layers or concentrations were encountered in any of the units.
Artifact Analysis
Following fieldwork, all cultural materials were washed and re-bagged. Artifact analysis
was conducted at the UNF Archaeology Lab during an archaeological lab methods course we
took in the Fall of 2013. The primary artifact category was prehistoric pottery. All sherds less
than 2-cm were counted, weighed, and bagged together regardless of ceramic type. All sherds
greater than two 2-cm were analyzed and a variety of attributes were recorded for each sherd,
including weight, thickness, temper, and interior/exterior surface condition. Rim sherds were
treated separately and encoded as to rim form, lip form, orifice diameter, and vessel form, if

possible. Each sherd was classified as to type when possible, and those that did not fit a
predetermined type were classified according to temper and surface treatment.
Other artifacts and faunal remains were limited and included a variety of lithic flakes,
raw clay, hematite, sandstone abraders, animal and fish bones, shells, and charcoal. Chert was the
most abundant form of lithics recovered from the Sares property and consisted of 28 pieces
weighing a total of 81.7-g. The majority of these were shatter and secondary flakes, although a
few non-decortication flakes and worked pieces were recovered. While present in the
assemblage, less than 200-g of faunal remains and less than 60-L of shell were recovered. A
subsequent radiometric assay on shell funded by a UNF Smart grant dates the midden to A.D.
1185-1250.
The following analysis considers only the pottery from the Sares artifact assemblage. It
should be noted that percentages were calculated for both ceramic counts and weights, but our
analysis here focused only on weight.
Ceramic Results
The pottery recovered from our project consisted of 483 sherds larger than 2-cm,
weighing a total of 4148.9-g. The overwhelming majority of vessel fragments appear to be part
of a St. Johns II assemblage that includes mostly St. Johns Plain, St. Johns Check Stamped, and
Ocmulgee Cordmarked. For the purpose of this paper we have combined St. Johns burnished,
red-filmed, incised, punctated, punctated and incised, and Little Manatee. We have loosely
termed this category fine wares due to the added time and effort need to produce them
compared to the undecorated and stamped types.

St. Johns was the dominant pottery within the Sares assemblage, constituting 79% of the
assemblages total weight. Next was Ocmulgee Cordmarked, which accounted for 11.9% of the
assemblage. The remainder of the assemblage was made up of various sand- and grog-tempered
sherds, of which most were plain. Of the various types that make up the St. Johns ceramic series,
only three were represented in the Sares assemblage: Check Stamped, Plain, and Incised. St.
Johns Check Stamped was the dominant type, accounting for 52% of the assemblage weight
compared to St. Johns Plains 19.1%. Only 4 St. Johns Incised sherds were recovered, composing
a mere 0.6% of the assemblage weight. However, it should be noted that the execution of
incising was simple and not accompanied by burnishing, which is more typical of incised sherds
from Kinzeys Knoll. Lacking in the Sares collection, compared to other areas of MCC, are
punctuated, punctuated/incised, and red-filmed sherds.
Comparisons
The first area we would like to compare the Sares property to is Kinzeys Knoll. The
Kinzeys Knoll sample we are using consists of more than 2600 sherds from Units 1-4 analyzed
by Vicki Rolland. These units were dug into the apex of Kinzeys Knoll and revealed an 80-cm
thick shell midden replete with pottery, animal bone and exotic artifacts. Radiocarbon assays
date this portion of the midden to A.D. 1000-1040. As mentioned earlier, Kinzeys Knoll is a
special-event midden that stands out in terms of the amount of recovered pottery and exotic
material as well as the volume of shell and the incredible quantity and variety of vertebrate
animal bones. Clearly, the Kinzeys Knoll midden differs drastically from the Sares midden in
the amount of pottery, bone, and exotica, and it also appears to have been deposited a century
earlier. That being said, how does the composition of the Sares ceramic assemblage compare to
that of Kinzeys Knoll? Not surprisingly, St. Johns pottery dominates in both assemblages,

accounting for 71.3% of Kinzeys and 79% of Sares. Of the St. Johns sherds, check stamped
composed 48% of Kinzeys and 52% of Sares, and plain accounted for 17.9% and 19.1%
respectively. While similar in terms of St. Johns Plain and Check Stamped, Kinzeys Knoll
contained nearly double the amount of Ocmulgee with 22.7% compared to Sares 11.9%. Perhaps
more importantly, the percentage of fine-wares recovered from Kinzeys, which constituted
6.2%, was more than double that found at Sares which only accounted for 2.7% of the
assemblage.
Next we compared Bluff Midden to Sares. The Bluff Midden is a shell-midden situated at
the bluffs edge overlooking the St. Johns River, approximately 75m north of Kinzeys Knoll.
While a few pieces of exotica such as copper were recovered from this locus, it pales in
comparison to the amount seen at Kinzeys. Testing of the Bluff Midden consisted of a two meter
square that yield more than 1500 sherds. The Bluff Midden yielded more shell and bone than
Sares but less than Kinzeys. Radiometric dating places the Bluff Midden in the 12th century,
which suggests that the activities seen there likely predate those seen at Sares, albeit with some
temporal overlapping. As with the comparison of Sares to Kinzeys, the ceramic assemblages
were comparable. St. Johns accounted for 77% of the Bluff Midden assemblage and 79% of
Sares, while Ocmulgee constituted 11.8% and 11. 9% respectively. The percentage of Finewares between the two loci were also quite similar. Fine-wares represented 3.3% of the Bluff
Midden assemblage and 2.7% of Sares.
How do these results compare to presumed domestic contexts at other St. Johns II sites in
northeastern Florida? To address this question, we compared our MCC results to St. Johns II
assemblages at the nearby T.R. Preserve site (8DU58) on the south side of the river, the Tiger
Point site on the north side of the River, and the Coe Property at the Old Towne site on the north

end of Amelia Island. This slide shows the location of these sites as well as ceramic sample size
and weight from each. To gauge the level of variability between these different contexts, we
calculated and applied standard deviation for each individual ceramic category. While we realize
that a more in depth statistical analysis is required, this initial analysis produced some intriguing
results. When looking at the ratio of St. Johns to Ocmulgee only the Coe property showed any
significant difference with Ocmulgee accounting for 37.8% of the total weight, which is 15%
higher than any other context in the sample. St. Johns on the other hand accounted for only
57.9% which is the lowest by more than 13%. Geographically, the Coe property is the
northernmost St. Johns II site in Florida and closest to the traditional Ocmulgee homeland.
Of all the comparisons made in this paper, the percentage of St. Johns check-stamped to
St. Johns plain yielded the highest level of variation between the six contexts, but in all cases
check stamped outnumbered plain. Obviously, the percentage of Ocmulgee (and other ceramic
types) per context directly impacts the percentage of St. Johns, which in turn might also affect
the ratio of check-stamped to plain. As with the comparison of St. Johns to Ocmulgee, the Coe
property appears to be the only real outlier in regards to the ratio of check-stamped to plain, but
further analysis of these ratios will be needed before making any definitive statements.
The last comparison concerns the percentage of fine-wares. In this comparison each
context was within the range for standard deviation except Kinzeys Knoll, which had a
relatively high 6.2%. The percentages for the other five contexts ranged from 1.2% at the T.R.
Preserve site to 3.3% at Bluff Midden. Coincidentally, all three loci from the MCC had higher
percentages of fine-wares than the other sites included in this study.
Discussion

So what have we learned from this study. First, it has served to quantify many of the
assumptions archaeologists have been making recently concerning St. Johns II assemblages First,
St. Johns check-stamped is the dominant ceramic type found within St. Johns II contexts. At
times, the ratio of St. Johns check-stamped to plain has been described as either leaning towards
a higher percentage of check-stamped or constituting 50-50 split. Our results also indicate that
Ocmulgee makes up a significant portion of St. Johns II assemblages, and given these results, we
feel confident in saying that their presence should not be explained as simply a consequence of
trade; it is being produced locally.
Based on our results we feel some interpretive statements concerning variability between
the six loci can be made at this time. UNF archaeologists have previously suggested that
Kinzeys Knoll and the MCC in general are culturally exceptional within the broader St. Johns II
community and these results seem to support their views. From an intra-site perspective Kinzeys
Knoll clearly stands out within the MCC. The percentage of Ocmulgee and fine-wares excavated
from this locus were nearly twice the amount recovered from Bluff and Sares. However, we were
a little surprised that the percentage of fine-wares was not greater at Kinzeys Knoll in
comparison to the other areas given its ritualistic nature. From a purely ceramic standpoint Bluff
and Sares are virtually identical, despite their temporal and contextual differences. Looking at
fine-wares from a broad perspective, all three MCC loci have a higher percentage than the other
contexts in this study. Even when taken as a single site, the percentage of fine-wares was more
than 3% greater than those of the other three sites. With the exception of the Coe property, where
clearly, something different is occurring, this also true of Ocmulgee.
Returning to the original purpose of this project, we are still left with the question: is the
Sares property an area of domestic activity? If we use Kinzeys Knoll as a benchmark for ritual

activity, given the lack of shell and that no exotic materials were recovered from the area we can
say with high degree of certainty that it is not a ritual locus. While we do believe the refuse
recovered from the Sares property does in fact represent domestic activities, more data must
collected before more definitive statements can be made.
Future Research
Where should we go from here? As should be obvious by now our study has been
narrowly conceived to consider only ceramic temper and exterior surface conditions. At this
time, we have omitted vessel form and size, because rim sherds from the Sares property were of
insufficient size, and with the exception of Kinzeys Knoll and Bluff Midden, the data simply
does not exist. However, Vicki Rollands study does show that within the Mill Cove Complex,
Kinzeys Knoll contained more very small and very large bowls than anywhere else on the site.
To really get at the techno-functional questions we want to answer, vessel reconstruction must be
an aim of future research. Additionally, our fine-wares category is still a work in progress and is
in need of further refinement, as we feel certain attributes should be given priority over others,
with burnishing carrying the most significance.
Future research also should endeavor to include more sites from the region. In particular,
more sites north of the St. Johns River need to be examined to see how geography impacts
ceramic distribution. Finally, while we treated Ocmulgee as a single category, a better
understanding of the distribution of imported and locally produced Ocmulgee vessels must be
developed through chemical analysis if we are to understand its impact on St. Johns II
communities.