Cedar Key and Gulf Hammock, Fl

phatdaddy · #1 01-13-2010, 08:33 PM

great pics & story.. i need your professional opnion,i was talking to a lady the other day about shell mounds (we had a lot of them in bay county) and she said you never would find blue crab shells in them. the indians would not eat them. i found that hard to believe with crab meat being as good as it is. can you confirm or deny this info. i thought maybe the crabshells just decomposed faster.

spareparts · #2 01-13-2010, 09:46 PM

shame you couldn't have found a reason for them to not develop the Dunes West area. I think half of Ohio has moved in there.

RWilson2526 · #3 01-13-2010, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

great pics & story.. i need your professional opnion,i was talking to a lady the other day about shell mounds (we had a lot of them in bay county) and she said you never would find blue crab shells in them. the indians would not eat them. i found that hard to believe with crab meat being as good as it is. can you confirm or deny this info. i thought maybe the crabshells just decomposed faster.

Good question Daddy, got me really thinking....I have posed the question to 2 Phd's a masters grad and guy that has archaeological contracting company in Tampa....lets see what they say. It's been a long time and I cant say without certainty that there was no crab in the record that I worked with but it certainly did not stand out... being a crustacean it doesnt have the calcium that a mollusk shell has so its certainly not as durable but shell mounds are very non acidic (due to the shells) so I would think some would still be preserved under the right conditions. my guess is that much decayed and what did survive is generally crushed into pcs not recognizable from walking on the surface by the casual observer.....

I will guarantee you that there was no moratorium on blue crab harvesting and they ate those puppies.

phatdaddy · #4 01-14-2010, 07:43 AM

thanks for checking for me, i can't imagine them not being a food source, but maybe without garlic butter and old bay seasoning, they loose their appeal. most of the mounds in bay county were used in early road paving and no longer exist.

reelapeelin · #5 01-14-2010, 07:58 AM

Humpin' sacks of shells outta the woods back then(when we were all younger)woulda been small price to live in a place like that for a while...

willy · #6 01-14-2010, 08:43 AM

Looks like a good life adventure. Very nice. been stuck like that a few times

RidgeRunner · #7 01-14-2010, 09:36 AM

I thought you were going to keep it a secret. LOL Tell them about the bugs, gators and the opressive heat. uhhh, on second thought don't tell them about the heat that might bring them here in waves... Great pics, thanks for sharing. Cut my teeth exploring the islands north all the way up to Horseshoe Pt. I worked, "unofficially" on crab and oyster boats in the spring summer and winter while growing up. It was fun, "unofficial" because I never got paid... Not a lot of hot chicks but some were fun and the ones I knew could outdo most if not all the men in; drinking, hunting, fishing, cursing and tracking game. It always amazed me how the locals got away with hunting out of season. They never took more than they needed to survive but rarely hunted at all in season. Most all are gone, they were forced out by big money or have since passed away. It is equally amazing how the chicks got much more attractive after two or three weeks in the woods.
There is a very interesting dig site behind Deer Island I found about 25 years ago. It is just a big hole (80ft across) someone dug in the limestone adjacent to Geiger Creek. There looks to be the remnants of a bridge across the creek there too. I often wondered who/what/why. It is land locked on low tide but I can get in there on high tide. Never many fish, just a cool place to go. I make up or pass along stories to my daughter when we go. Still making memories there.

Blue_Runner · #8 01-14-2010, 10:07 AM

Cool Wilson! Surely you guys found the occasional stone/shell tool. Knives, scrapers, points, etc. Did you?

Road King Cole · #9 01-14-2010, 10:14 AM

Thanks,

The story and pictures brought up memories of Egmont Key in Florida off St Pete. In the seventies, I was an ET in the coast guard and every so often we would need to go out to Egmont to do PM on their radio station. Basically I would just ride out with a civilian contractor who did all the work and I would just go out 'xplorin. Whenever that opportunity came up, I was first to volunteer and I would grab my bag and have a nice "vaca" day.

rkc