Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction

Chapter 1: The natural history of St. Catherines island. Thomas, David Hurst

Chapter 2: The prehistory of St. Catherines island. Larsen, Clark Spencer and Thomas, David Hurst

Chapter 3: The ethnohistory of the Guale coast through 1684.
Jones, Grand D.

Chapter 4: The history of St. Catherines island after 1684.
Durham, Roger S. and Thomas, David Hurst

Appendix: notes on ethnohistorical resources and methodology. Jones, Grand D.

"This volume, the first in a series, considers the natural and cultural background to anthropological research being conducted on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. The island is one of a complex series of barrier islands, of various orgins. The extant vegetation is an interesting mixture of natural succession, periodically disrupted by recent historical processes. Archaeologists have worked on St. Catherines Island discontinuously since 1896, when C.B. Moore conducted excavations in several prehistoric burial mounds. The University of Georgia then conducted a program of burial mound and midden excavations in 1969-1970, and the American Museum of Natural History began intensive archaeological investigations on St. Catherines Island in 1974. The ethnohistory of the Guale Indians is discussed in detail, suggesting that they were essentially a riverine people with strong internal trade contacts. Guale political organization was that of the classic Creek chiefdom. Each chiefdom maintained two principal towns, and may have been organized according to dual political organization. This interpretation contrasts sharply with the traditional view of the Guale, who are often characterized as isolated, scattered, shifting cultivators. The volume concludes with a historical outline of St. Catherines Island from the early Spanish mission period up to present times"

In English.