October 25th Parris Island Visit - Parris Island Indians Marker

Julie, Bette, Lawrence and I got up and went to the free breakfast at 0900, then rode around downtown Beaufort for the old houses, made a stop at Wal Mart- then went out to the Old Beaufort High School with a bunch of students from the class to tour the old High School, which had been very much renovated and enlarged, then went out to Parris Island to visit.

At Parris Island, we ate lunch first at a Subway, then stopped in at the Marine Corps Museum, then drove around the island.  
First surprise was the house we lived in, Quarters 1, was vacant, and they were doing all sorts of work on it-  

The new officer's quarters they were building 5 years ago are all now complete, and then we drove out to the golf course to the Santa Elena/Jean Ribault Monument area.  

Parris Island Indians

1. Parris Island Indians Marker   Inscription. Native Americans on Parris Island People have been living on Parris Island for over 4,000 years. Today, the prehistoric sequence is divided into four major periods. Each is defined by the lifeways of the time. Because these people lived and died centuries before any written accounts, archaeologists study the past to learn about these first inhabitants. Through the clues they left behind, the stories of peoples of long ago can once again be heard. Paleoindian Period 13,000 to 7,000 BC [Picture included] The earliest people in South Carolina are referred to as Paleoindians. Evidence of these early hunters and gatherers has been found in Beaufort County, but presently, there is little confirmed evidence for Paleoindian occupation of Parris Island. Traditional views suggest these people depended heavily upon megafauna- large game which is now extinct. More recent studies suggest those living in the southeast may have had a more diverse subsistence strategy, with greater use of other resources than large game. Archaic Period 8,000 to 1,100 BC Frequent occupation of Parris Island began about 4,000 years ago, during the Archaic Period. Archaic peoples depended less on big game and more on a broad- based hunting, fishing and gathering   2. Upper left side picture; Paleoindian Period   system. The rich marsh environment here played an important role in the choice of seasonal movement. Greater subsistence diversity allowed an increase in population density and a less nomadic lifestyle. The long term use of village sites, or seasonal reuse over long spans of time, resulted in deep shell rings and middens. Among more notable innovations of the Archaic is the appearance of pottery. Sherds of these vessels, among the earliest yet identified in North America, date to about 2,500 to 1,500 BC, and are fairly common on Parris Island. Woodland Period 1,100 BC to AD 1200 When the Woodland period began, little had changed from the Late Archaic. People still depended upon a broad-based hunting, fishing, and gathering system, and lived in much the same way as their ancestors. About AD 600, the appearance of the bow and arrow signaled many changes in the prehistoric Southeast. These more efficient weapons, combined with an increasing reliance on corn, beans, and squash by AD 1000, allowed people to live in more permanent settlements than ever before. By the Late Woodland palisaded villages appeared in some areas. This may reflect increased conflict as centralized populations came into contact with other groups competing for the same resources, and also now armed with the more effective bow and arrow. South   3. Parris Island Indians, Lower left side pictures; Archaic Period   Appalachian Mississippian Period AD 1200 to contact Beginning about the year 1200, the most socially complex societies in pre-European South Carolina came into maturity. Settlers became fairly permanent and territorial control was vigorously defended. Intertribal conflict from this meant palisaded villages remained common early in this period. By about AD 1300, this culminated in a social breakdown and some larger sites were abandoned. As the population dispersed, smaller villages took their place. Subsistence remained a diverse mix of hunting, fishing, gathering and agriculture. In the Lowcountry, shellfish remained a staple of the diet, but maize, beans, and squash were cultivated and remained important. The end of the South Appalachian Mississippian closed with the arrival of Europeans, heralding a new, often tumultuous, era of Native American history. Erected by U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. Location. 32° 18.364′ N, 80° 40.548′ W. Marker is in Parris Island, South Carolina, in Beaufort County. Marker is on Balleau Wood Road, in the median.  Located at the east end of Balleau Wood Rd. at the circle. Marker is in this post office area: Parris Island SC 29905, United States of America.   4. Upper right side pictures; Woodland Period

5. Lower right side pictures; South Appalachian Mississippian Period

6. Parris Island Indians Marker, at the Balleau Wood Rd. circle About 3,000 acres are habitable,of which 1,645 are developed. The Depot manages about 1,400 acres of forest and about 3,816 acres of wetlands.