By the Sea Shore: Examining the Prehistoric Shell Industry of the Rio Grande Delta

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In North America the archaeologically defined prehistoric culture of the Rio Grande Delta is essentially unknown outside of the state of Texas. Even within Texas the culture of the Rio Grande Delta is poorly understood. Adding to this obscurity is the lack of cross-border communication or collaboration between researchers regarding the material culture of the area. This absence of awareness is unfortunate considering the potential for new understanding the area offers. Though the Rio Grande Delta is a marginal environment, the people of the area exploited the rich marine resources available to them in economically and socially significant ways. The Delta peoples maintained a thriving shell industry, creating a wide assortment of tools and ornaments that dominate the material record. This shell industry enabled the Delta inhabitants to maintain ties with surrounding groups, including the Huasteca farther south along the Gulf Coast. Based on an analysis of the A. E. Anderson Collection housed at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, in this paper I will examine the central role of the shell industry to gain a greater understanding of the lifeways and cultural dynamics of the prehistoric Rio Grande Delta.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23567