Mount Taylor period facts for kids

The Mount Taylor period was a time when ancient people lived in northeastern Florida. They didn't use pottery yet. This was during the middle to late Archaic period, a very old time in North America.

It lasted for a long time, from about 7,000 to 4,000 years ago (from around 5000 or 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE). Most places where we find clues about these people are along the St. Johns River in Florida. Some related sites are also on Florida's east coast. The Mount Taylor culture grew out of earlier groups in Florida. Later, a new culture called the Orange period followed it.

How We Know About the Mount Taylor Period

The Mount Taylor period gets its name from the Mount Taylor site. This is a very large pile of shells, called a shell midden, found along the St. Johns River. It's in northwestern Volusia County, Florida.

In the late 1800s, a person named C. B. Moore noticed that the lowest parts of the Mount Taylor shell pile had no pottery. Later, other archaeologists found many more shell piles and mounds in eastern Florida that also had no pottery.

A scientist named John Goggin officially named the Mount Taylor period. He used this name for all the sites in northeastern Florida that had similar tools but no pottery. Scientists later decided the period started around 7,000 to 6,000 years ago. The period ended when people in eastern Florida started making pottery with plant fibers in it, around 6,000 years ago. This marked the start of the Orange period.

Where Did They Live?

Scientists have found about 50 sites from the Mount Taylor period. Most of these are in the middle and upper parts of the St. Johns River valley. Some are also in the Oklawaha River valley.

About a dozen more sites are near the mouth of the St. Johns River and along the coast. A few other sites are found inland. Most of the coastal sites are from the later part of the Mount Taylor period.

During this time, sea levels were rising quickly. They went from about seven meters lower than today to almost current levels. This means that some older coastal sites might now be underwater or have been destroyed by the rising seas.

What Did They Eat?

The people living at Mount Taylor sites in the St. Johns River valley ate a lot of freshwater shellfish. In many of their shell piles, up to 99% of the volume is made up of snail shells. These include river snails and apple snails. They also ate freshwater mussels. Some shell piles are mostly made of mussel shells.

Over time, the snail shells found in these piles got smaller. This suggests that people were eating the snails faster than the snails could grow back. When the snails got too small, the communities probably moved to new places to find more food.

At coastal sites, the shell piles are mostly made of oyster and coquina shells. They also contain some dwarf surf clam shells.

Burial Mounds

People in the later part of the Mount Taylor period built special mounds for burials. These mounds have been found at several sites and date back to between 4,600 and 5,600 years ago. These burial mounds are some of the oldest ever found in Florida.