Over 350 post molds were uncovered in our excavations at the Key Marco site. These post molds are dark stains in the soil left from the decay of the wooden posts used for the builldings. Most of the post molds are concentrated in our block excavation in squares north of the backhoe trench. There are more post molds here because this is the level summit of the mound where the structure would have been built. These post molds become fewer in number in the areas south of the trench where the mound slope is locatedt.Archaeologists use the pattern of these post molds to determine the size and shape of the houses or structures. We did not uncover any clear outlines of structures in our excavations. This is because there is overlap of post molds from multiple building episodes. We do know that the structures were quadrilateral because straight lines of posts can be seen. We eventually will group post molds having the same bottom elevation to see if building outlines emerge. However, it does not appear that this will yield sny reconizable pattern because there are two many post molds even with similar depth. This indicates that the structure was actually built up on pilings and so there would be no need for an open interior living or storage spaces free of post molds. Post molds could exist even in areas where the floor would be since the living surface would be above the pilings.
This structure is hypothesized based on the size and height of the platforms uncovered in our excavations. The elevated pile structure is suggested by the clustering of post molds in the interior floor area of the hypothesized structure. This suggests that the living surface was elevated above the surface of the platform summit on pilings. This hypothesis is supported by the lack of fire hearths, artifact concentrations, or other features in the area of the mound summit. These features would have been situated on an elevated wooden floor with debris being swept out of the structure onto the apron of the mound.
Back to Key Marco Site Home Page