Building on the Vertebrate Data: Invertebrate Analysis Offers New Insights on Southeast Coastal Subsistence-Settlement Systems

Summary

Mollusc shell is often the most conspicuous component of coastal archaeological sites in southeastern North America. The shear abundance and bulk of the material presents logistical challenges during all stages of investigation, from excavation and recovery to analysis and curation. These challenges, combined with the assumption that molluscs were low-ranked resources, result in the tendency for zooarchaeological analyses of the coastal Southeast to focus on vertebrate remains, and to exclude invertebrates. We argue that the benefits of systematic analyses of invertebrate fauna far outweigh the costs, and should be a routine component of zooarchaeological investigations, despite the challenges involved. We present data demonstrating how the analysis of shellfish remains has informed our understanding of coastal economies, site function, seasonality of site use, and procurement locations and catchment areas in the coastal Southeast. These new insights significantly add to the models of resource use which are primarily drawn from vertebrate remains. Finally, we also offer some thoughts on mitigating the logistical challenges bulky shellfishes generate.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• 2016 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Elizabeth J. Reitz

Keywords

Spatial Coverage