St. Johns culture facts for kids
The St. Johns culture was a group of people who lived in northeastern Florida, USA. They lived there for a very long time, from about 500 years before Christ until the 1600s when Europeans arrived. They lived near the St. Johns River and other smaller rivers, like the Oklawaha River. Their land also stretched along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Florida, from the river's mouth down to where Cocoa Beach, Florida is today. When Europeans first came, different groups of people lived in the St. Johns area. These included the Mocama, Agua Fresca, Acuera, and Mayacas. They all spoke different forms of the Timucua language.
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What Made the St. Johns Culture Special?
The St. Johns culture is known for its unique pottery styles. The most common type was "chalky" pottery. This pottery was made from special clay found near fresh water. This clay had tiny bits from fresh water sponges, called spicules. These spicules made the pottery strong but also gave it a soft, chalky feel. You could even scratch it with your fingernail!
Different Pottery Styles
People in the St. Johns culture also used "exotic" pottery. This means pottery that came from other cultures. They often used these special pots for important ceremonies. These "exotic" pots came from many different groups. Some of these groups included the Deptford, Glades, Belle Glade, Swift Creek, Weeden Island, Savannah, Safety Harbor, and Fort Walton cultures.
Where They Lived
The St. Johns culture lived mostly by using resources from the ocean and fresh water. Their villages and camps were always close to rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastal areas. These areas included lagoons and estuaries, which are places where rivers meet the sea.
Over 2,000 years, the St. Johns people created huge piles of shells and other trash. These piles are called middens. Some middens covered several acres and were up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) high. One famous midden, Turtle Mound near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, was once 75 feet (23 meters) high! Some of these shell mounds still exist today. They can be as long as half a mile along the banks of the St. Johns River.
What Did the St. Johns People Eat?
The St. Johns people ate a lot of different foods. While their middens are full of oyster, clam, and mussel shells, bones found in these piles show that catfish were a much bigger part of their daily meals than shellfish.
Food from Nature
Their diet included many types of fish, shellfish, reptiles, mammals, and birds. Scientists studied a site at Hontoon Island. They found that fresh water snails, fish, and turtles provided most of the meat. These foods were available and eaten all year long.
They also gathered many plant foods. These included berries, nuts, cabbage palm, amaranth, and other small plants. Many of these plants grew in the wet areas they lived near. They also grew gourds, but these were likely used as containers, not for food.
Farming and Maize
Growing corn became known to the Timucua speakers in the St. Johns area around 750 CE. Some experts think it might have been as late as 1050 CE. However, the southernmost part of the St. Johns culture, the Mayacas, did not grow corn when Europeans first arrived. The St. Johns people did not rely on corn as much as other cultures in the southeastern United States. This is because good soil for growing corn was hard to find in their wet homeland. Plus, they had plenty of other food from the wetlands all year round.
Tools and Materials
Most of the St. Johns region did not have hard stone for making tools. They mostly had soft coquina and sandstone. These were used for grinding and smoothing tools. Because of this, they often made tools and other items from bone and shell instead of stone.
Stone and Wood Tools
Stone tools found in the St. Johns culture were often made of chert. These tools show a mix of old styles from the Archaic period and new styles from nearby cultures. Scientists have also found wooden tools. These tools were preserved because they were buried in water or wet soil.
Mounds: Burial and Ceremonial Sites
The St. Johns people started building special mounds of sand around 100 CE. These were different from the shell middens they also created. Like many other groups in Florida, they used these mounds for burials.
Burial Practices
Some people were buried whole, with their bodies bent. But most bodies were first placed in special buildings called charnel houses. These houses were often built on top of a mound. In these houses, the flesh would be removed or allowed to decay from the bones. Then, the bones were cleaned. Finally, the collected long bones and skulls of each person were gathered together. These bundles of bones were then buried in a group inside the mound. After the burial, the charnel house would often be burned down. Sometimes, a new layer of sand would be added to the mound, and a new charnel house built on top.
Types of Mounds
Early mounds in the St. Johns culture were usually about 4 feet (1.2 meters) high. Some could be as tall as 10 feet (3 meters). A single mound might hold up to 100 burials, but most had fewer than 25.
After 1050 CE, the St. Johns people were influenced by the Mississippian culture. Some groups began to build platform mounds. These mounds might have had temples or homes for chiefs on top. One example is the Shields Mound in Duval County, Florida. This mound grew to be 190 feet (58 meters) long on each side at its base and held 150 burials.
Another important mound was Mt. Royal Mound, just north of Lake George. It was 15 feet (4.6 meters) high and 160 feet (49 meters) across. This mound was mainly used for burials. It also contained many items that were traded from the Mississippian culture region. The leaders, or chiefs, in the St. Johns culture were not as powerful as those further west, like in the Florida Panhandle or the Mississippi valley. Because of this, large platform mounds were not very common in the St. Johns region.
