Sclerochronology (Other Keyword)
1-5 (5 Records)
Archaeologists are beginning to apply two new analytical techniques to estuarine mollusk shells: inferring paleo-salinity from sclerochronological oxygen isotope profiles and assessing anthropogenic waste loading from mollusk nitrogen isotope measurements. These related approaches may offer insight into subsistence priorities and environmental alteration, but data from each should be interpreted with caution until these proxies are more completely validated. Potential uses and limitations of...
Impact of Prehistoric Cooking on Proxy Signatures in Shell Midden Constituents (2017)
The analysis of geochemical proxies in skeletal remains has become a standard tool in shell midden research. Sub-seasonally resolved proxy records provide information about environmental and anthropological aspects such as ancient climate conditions, fishing and foraging seasonality or site occupation pattern. However, as subsistence was the primary purpose for fishing activities in most prehistoric cultures, it is likely that many shell midden constituents were subjected to processing methods...
Leukoma Seasonality and Maturity in the Locarno Beach Phase sites of the middle Salish Sea (2016)
Leukoma staminea sclerochronology data are now available from several mainland sites along the middle portion of the Salish Sea dating to the Locarno Beach Phase (~3500-2400 bp). Western Washington University field schools have conducted several seasons of test excavations, resulting in an extensive collection of shell from spatially distinct sites of this phase. Leukoma seasonality and maturity data from these sites will be used in combination with a modern sample of to address questions of...
Stable oxygen isotopic evidence of mobility and site seasonality on the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA (2015)
Stable oxygen isotope analyses are commonly used in archaeology to assess the seasons-of-death of fishes and molluscs, and to make inferences about seasonal aspects of human mobility and resource use. We present stable oxygen isotope sequences from 33 bivalve shells, representing four taxa, and eight fish otoliths, representing two taxa. These were recovered from two sites located on the Gulf Coast of Alabama: Plash Island (AD 325–642) and Bayou St. John (AD 650–1041). Specimens recovered from...
The use of fish vertebrae and otoliths for sclerochronological analysis of a Mesolithic Shell midden: advantages and limitations. (2016)
The onset of the Holocene in the Iberian Atlantic coast is associated with the appearance of the Mesolithic shell middens, which reflected new subsistence patterns that have been commonly characterized by the intensification of aquatic resources exploitation. Recently, sclerochronological analysis of shell midden faunal remains has been seen as fundamental to infer climatic and environmental changes, human settlement, resource exploitation and seasonal occupation. However, fish bone and...