Fig Island - Shell Rings

Shell Rings

Fig Island 1 is a large and complex shell ring structure, perhaps the largest and most complex in North America. The main structure is a large ring that reaches up to six meters high on the main ring, with steep sides. The base of the main ring is about 40 meters wide. There are at least five smaller rings attached to the main ring. One of the attached rings is entirely within another ring. An adjacent shell mound is attached to the main ring by a shell causeway or ramp. There is an unusual feature at the high point of the main ring, which local residents suggested was a Civil War gun emplacement dug into the shell. As is typical of shell rings, there was little or no evidence of shells or occupational debris in the "plazas" enclosed by the main and attached rings. The complex is 157 meters wide on its longest axis. Based on mapping and probing to determine the depth of shell deposits, archaeologists have estimated that the ring complex contains 22,114 cubic meters of shell. Fig Island 1 has been dated to between 4000 and 3500 years ago.

The youngest radiocarbon dates at Fig Island are for one of the small rings attached to the main ring of Fig Island 1. Those dates are significantly later than the dates for Fig Island 2 and Fig Island 3. There were more artifacts found in this attached ring than elsewhere on Fig Island. This particular attached ring may be from an occupation that was later and of a different nature than that for the rest of Fig Island.

Fig Island 2 is circular or hexangular, more symmetrical than most shell rings, and in "an excellent state of preservation." There is a ramp on the north side of the ring that connects to a path of shell leading to the Fig Island 3 ring. This shell path is now below the surface of the marsh. There is a small gap in the ring opposite from the ramp leading to Fig Island 3. The ring is 82 meters in diameter and is between 10 and 25 meters wide at the base. The height varies between two meters and one meter above the ground. Archaeologists have calculated that the ring contains 2,178 cubic meters of shell. Fig Island 2 has been dated to between 4400 and 3600 years ago.

The smallest shell-ring on Fig Island is Fig Island 3. It is "C"-shaped, approximately half of a circle. There is no evidence that Fig Island 3 was ever more than a half circle. (Half-circle rings have been found at several sites in South Carolina and Georgia.) There is a ramp from the center of the half-circle connecting to the shell path from Fig Island 2. Pottery found in the two rings and radiocarbon dates, as well as the connecting path, indicate that Fig Island 2 and 3 were in use during the same period. Fig Island 3 is 49 meters in diameter, and is slightly less than 2 meters tall. Archaeologists have calculated that the ring contains 1,202 cubic meters of shell. The ring has been dated to between 4200 and 3800 years ago.