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Civic engagement in environmental issues creates opportunities for students to explore and combine interests in the environment and community action as well as to develop new perspectives related to social justice issues. This manuscript examines the outcomes of a yearlong eco-civic fellowship for undergraduates representing a variety of cultural backgrounds and identities. The program design and assessment employed an assets-based approach, with analysis methods grounded in the community cultural wealth (CCW) framework and science capital. Pre-interviews indicated that participants (n = 10) self-reported high levels of science and aspirational capital but wanted to grow their social, linguistic, and navigational capital. Post-interviews suggested that the fellowship enhanced all forms of capital, but further development of linguistic capital through improved science communication skills was desired. The assets-based approach allowed the program to leverage the resources, knowledge, and experiences students brought to the fellowship while enhancing areas in which students expressed a desire for growth. Recommendations for using assets-based approaches in programming are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the Spring Warrior civic-ceremonial center on Florida's Gulf Coast, which is one of the earliest centers of its kind in eastern North America. The site has recently been investigated, revealing evidence of village occupation, changes in subsistence, and a unique architectural feature using oyster shells for structural support. The findings highlight the significance of the Spring Warrior Complex in the ancient social landscape and ongoing research aims to nominate it for the National Register of Historic Places. The article provides insights into the origins and persistence of residential villages among hunter-gatherer-fishers in eastern North America, with unique local distinctions influenced by sociocultural, environmental, and climatic factors. [Extracted from the article]

The skeletal remains of nearly 100 Indigenous Bahamians, called Lucayans, have been recovered in the Bahama archipelago (Lucayan Islands). Until now, virtually, all were recovered from wet and dry caves, caverns, and blue holes, most of which lacked specific evidence for mortuary practices. In the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015, two human crania were found on Lowe's Beach, Long Island, The Bahamas. In addition, two burial areas were identified in the face of the adjacent, north‐facing, Atlantic coast sand dune. The human remains were identified as Indigenous Lucayans based on the intentional fronto‐occipital modification of the crania. These are the first open‐air, sand dune burials to be excavated systematically in The Bahamas, and they provide new insights regarding Lucayan burial practices and lifeways. This article describes the unique environmental and cultural contexts of Lucayan individuals who were buried at the Rolling Heads site. The local geomorphology reflects long‐term processes of dune erosion and remodeling that suggest that an unknowable number of additional individuals were buried at the site. The physical characteristics and mortuary practices are different from those observed elsewhere in the Caribbean, highlighting regional diversity and local practices. They raise the question of why different portals were used to transmit the dead to their afterlife. Finally, these individuals are contributing to regional studies assessing biological and cultural identities through genome‐wide DNA, phenotypic morphometrics, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope reconstruction of diet, strontium isotope assessment of origins, and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating to evaluate the timing of human dispersal across the Bahama archipelago. The Lucayans did not survive the Spanish invasion, but there is much to be learned from their remains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No native species of tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) live today in the Bahamian (Lucayan) Archipelago (= The Bahamas + The Turks and Caicos Islands), although a number of species inhabited these islands at the first human contact in the late-Holocene. Until their extinction, tortoises were the largest terrestrial herbivores in the island group. We report 16 accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) dates determined directly on individual bones of indigenous, extinct tortoises from the six Bahamian islands (Abaco, Eleuthera, Flamingo Cay, Crooked, Middle Caicos, Grand Turk) on five different carbonate banks. These 16 specimens probably represent six or seven species of tortoises, although only one (Chelonoidis alburyorum on Abaco) has been described thus far. Tortoises seem to have survived on most Bahamian islands for only one or two centuries after initial human settlement, which took place no earlier than AD ~700–1000. The exception is Grand Turk, where we have evidence from the Coralie archeological site that tortoises survived for approximately three centuries after human arrival, based on stratigraphically associated 14C dates from both tortoise bones and wood charcoal. The stable isotope values of carbon (σ13C) and nitrogen (σ15N) of dated tortoise fossils show a NW-to-SE trend in the archipelago that may reflect increasing aridity and more consumption of cactus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami) are endemic to The Bahamas. The skeletal remains of this species have been recovered from multiple Lucayan-associated archaeological sites in the region, suggesting that it was an important source of human food. This study explores the role of pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in the geographic distribution of Bahamian hutias, and the possibility of intentional management of the animal. We provide an overview of archaeological occurrences of Bahamian hutia and present new skeletal morphometric data comparing modern museum-curated Bahamian hutia specimens with archaeological specimens from the Palmetto Junction site on Providenciales located in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Bahamian hutia do not exist in the fossil record in the Turks and Caicos, indicating their translocation to the islands by humans. Our data show that individual hutia at Palmetto Junction were larger than modern specimens. This size variation may be due to anthropogenic influence; however, there is limited information regarding either natural size variation within the species or environmental factors possibly influencing size. Continued research on anthropogenic influences related to Bahamian hutia populations, coupled with isotopic studies of the Bahamian hutia diet, may further elucidate the practice of pre-Columbian management of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]