142 THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

Figure 8. Key Largo Incised ceramic sherds: a) MDC.1.114.9; b) MDC.1.500.9; c) MDC.1.239.26.

investigations within Brickell Park (report in progress).

At Brickell Point, a total of thirteen specimens were
identified from the three field operations, twelve of which were
uncovered by MDC and a single specimen recovered by FBAR
(FBAR.1.14.2) (Table 1 and Figures 14, 15 and 16). One
Deptford Simple Stamped sherd (FBAR.1.14.2) was found
during the FBAR assessment in Unit 1, Trench 11. Three
Deptford Linear Check Stamped sherds were documented: one
was found in Block 1, Unit 13 (MDC.1.228.9), another
(MDC. 1.628.6) from Unit 62, and another during monitoring of
demolition (MDC.1.28.1). Two sherds of Deptford Check
Stamped were found in a Circle basin feature. MDC.1.903.8
and MDC.1.903.10 were found in Feature 484, Unit 45.
Specimen MDC. 1.228.9 was uncovered from Unit 13, Level 7.
Specimen MDC. 1.60.1 was recovered from Unit 1, Level 4, just
above the bedrock. This sherd had been misidentified as St.
Johns Check Stamped in the field notes. Of particular interest
was the uncovering of six associated sherds (MDC. 1.427) from
Unit 25 lying directly atop the bedrock (Figure 15).

St. Johns Series

This type is a soft chalky ware first described by Goggin in
1940 as the Biscayne Chalky series, which he later described in
detail in his manuscript, with the changed name of St. Johns
(Goggin n.d.:449; Willey 1949:408). Griffin provides a
summary of several of the controversies associated with this
type. Aside from noting Goggin’s change in his nomenclature,
he also notes that Goggin believed the type was not locally
made (Griffin 2002:87-89). A master’s thesis by McGregor
(1974) on a study of ceramic chronology adds to the confusion
surrounding the type’s name by using the discarded Biscayne

2006 VOL. 59(3-4)

 

series nomenclature.

The debate as to whether the St. Johns Series represents a
local versus non-local ware was again fueled by Espenshade
who argues that it is a local “muckware” (Espenshade 1983).
Griffin voices his doubts about that hypothesis based, in part,
on the fact that the decorations that occur on St. Johns ware do
not occur on the sand-tempered local Glades wares. Griffin
believes that a crossover would be expected if both types were
local and from the same cultural group (Griffin 2002:88-89).

The author’s observations, based on his experiences in
South Florida beginning in 1980, is that the St. Johns Series has
two temporal occurrences in southeast Florida. The first occurs
during the early Glades I Period (ca. 750 B.C. — A.D. 500),
when St. Johns Plain occurs in association with undecorated
sand-tempered plain, and semi-fiber- tempered pottery, such as
at the Atlantis Site, DA1082, and the Santa Maria site,
8DA2132 (Carr 1981). The second temporal occurrence of St.
Johns ware, characterized by plain ware and St. Johns Check
Stamped, begins ca. A.D. 1200 and continues through European
contact, ca. A.D. 1700.

More recently as a result of the author’s investigations at
Brickell Point and Dupont Plaza on the Miami River and Hyde
Park on the New River, it is apparent that the first temporal
occurrence of St. Johns ware includes decorated types in the
Deptford tradition not previously recognized in southeast
Florida. Three types of stamped St. Johns ware were identified
in the Brickell Point collection: simple stamped, linear check
stamped and check stamped. The simple stamped and linear
check stamped are similar in design to the Deptford types.

The Deptford Series is described by Milanich and Fairbanks
(1980:77-83) with regional variations of clay and temper for the
Gulf subregion and the Atlantic Coast. They describe large