Prior to 100, people of the Deptford culture spent most of their time on the Gulf of Mexico coast with seasonal excursions to inland sites. Deptford people established permanent villages in the area of Alachua County around 100, as the Cades Pond culture developed out of the Deptford culture. Late Deptford sites on the Gulf coast close to the Cades Pond culture area built shell mounds. Horseshoe-shaped shell rings appeared in those sites starting in the first century CE. Several early Cades Pond sites, including River Styx, Ramsey Pasture and Cross Creek, had horseshoe shaped sand mounds or earthworks surrounding a central mound used for burials.