Garner, Michael Sean, April 1993 - AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE OELSNER MOUNDS SITE Abstract: The first goal of this project was to determine the proper cultural association and temporal placement of the Oelsner Mounds Site (8-Pa-2) in light of recent research efforts to fine tune the sequence of prehistoric occupation and evolution in the Tampa Bay area. Due to the limited nature of previous work at the Oelsner Mounds Site, modern researchers have not known whether the site should be considered more prominently in interpretations of Weeden Island manifestations or Safety Harbor manifestations. A second goal of the project was to determine if the land surrounding the extant platform mound contained evidence of the destroyed burial mound or an associated village midden. An intensive systematic survey of the surrounding acreage, combined with artifact distribution analyses, individual artifact classification and analysis, review of previous work at the site, and review of recent research on Weeden Island and Safety Harbor cultures were the vehicles for addressing these two project goals. Based on the field work, laboratory analyses, and archival research, the existence of a village area and shell midden have been confirmed and it has been concluded that the Oelsner Mounds Site (extant mound and village area) was primarily occupied during the Englewood and Pinellas phases of the Safety Harbor period as defined by Jeffrey M. Mitchem (1989). Additional field data and artifact analyses presented in this thesis were utilized to define the location and cultural association of a second site in the immediate area of the Oelsner Mounds Site. This additional site (8-Pa-389) is a dense lithic deposit which was utilized from the Middle Archaic through Early Weeden Island times based on recovered diagnostic artifacts. Based on the results of the analyses, this lithic deposit is interpreted as a independent site rather than a special activity area associated with the Oelsner Mounds Site. Recommendations for future research as well as methods of preservation for the Oelsner Mounds Site are discussed.