Circular shell rings along the South Atlantic coast of the United States are vestiges of the earliest sedentary villages in North America, dating to 4500–3000 BP. However, little is known about when Indigenous communities began constructing these shell-ring villages. This article presents data from the Hokfv-Mocvse Shell Ring on Ossabaw Island, Georgia. Although shell rings are often associated with the earliest ceramics in North America, no ceramics were encountered in our excavations at Hokfv-Mocvse, and the only materials recovered were projectile points similar to points found over 300 km inland. Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates indicates that the ring was occupied between 5090 and 4735 cal BP (95% confidence), making it the earliest dated shell ring in the region. Additionally, shell geochemistry and oyster paleobiology data suggest that inhabitants were living at the ring year-round and had established institutions at that time to manage oyster fisheries sustainably. Hokfv-Mocvse therefore provides evidence for Indigenous people settling in year-round villages and adapting to coastal environments in the region centuries before the adoption of pottery. The establishment of villages marks a visible archaeological shift toward settling down and occupying island ecosystems on a more permanent basis and in larger numbers than ever before in the region.

美国南大西洋沿岸的圆形贝壳环是北美最早定居村庄的遗迹，其历史可追溯到距今 4500-3000 年。然而，人们对原住民社区何时开始建造这些贝壳村庄知之甚少。本文介绍了佐治亚州奥萨博岛 Hokfv-Mocvse 贝壳环的数据。尽管贝壳环通常与北美最早的陶瓷联系在一起，但我们在 Hokfv-Mocvse 的挖掘中没有遇到陶瓷，唯一回收的材料是与内陆 300 多公里处发现的弹丸点类似的弹丸点。放射性碳测年的贝叶斯模型表明，该环的形成时间为 5090 至 4735 cal BP（95% 置信度），使其成为该地区最早测年的贝壳环。此外，贝壳地球化学和牡蛎古生物学数据表明，居民常年居住在环带上，并在当时建立了可持续管理牡蛎渔业的机构。因此，Hokfv-Mocvse 为土著人民在陶器被采用之前几个世纪就定居在常年村庄并适应该地区的沿海环境提供了证据。村庄的建立标志着考古学的明显转变，即在该地区比以往任何时候都更大规模地定居和占领岛屿生态系统。