Past Human-Shark Interactions
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Past Human-Shark Interactions" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Shark remains from archaeological sites are not normally focused on, and this symposium will address that study gap. We bring together zooarchaeologists whose research has included sharks to stimulate idea exchange and further the field as a whole. Sharks were eaten, their vertebrae were used as beads and pendants, their skin used as shagreen, and their teeth were used in weaponry, jewelry, and as magico-religious items. Shark teeth in particular were traded to inland areas. Capture methods were unique among fin-fishers and included a range of unique fishing gear such as large wooden hooks, small dugout canoes, and sometimes shark rattles. Although most sharks were captured from warmer marine waters, some were also caught in more temperate areas, and so this symposium will appeal to a wide range of archaeologists.
Other Keywords
Zooarchaeology •
Coastal and Island Archaeology •
Shark •
Mississippian •
Subsistence and Foodways •
Ideology •
Cahokia •
Environment •
Use-Wear Analysis •
Symbols
Geographic Keywords
Barbados (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
South America (Continent) •
United States of America (Country) •
Belize (Country) •
Republic of Panama (Country) •
Co-operative Republic of Guyana (Country) •
Netherlands Antilles (Country) •
Republic of Suriname (Country) •
Aruba (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)
- Documents (10)
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Extant Shark Tooth Artifacts at Cahokia (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cahokia is one of the most important archaeological sites in North America and was populated from AD 1000 to 1300. It was mound-building center with exotic lithics, ceramics, marine shell beads, and shark teeth. Here, I present information on 21 Greater Cahokia extant shark teeth along with contextual and chronological information. None of the teeth are...
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The Historical Ecology of South Florida Shark Diversity and Indigenous Harvest (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Sharks are among the world’s most endangered vertebrate taxa, including recent estimates of approximately 71% loss in abundance over the past 50 years due to human impacts. Zooarchaeological baselines of shark diversity, distribution, and exploitation hold great promise for contributing essential historical context in the assessment of contemporary patterns...
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Human-Shark Interactions in the Interior of North America: A Relational and Historical Perspective (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In a previous article, Betts et al. (2012) explored the spiritual relationship between sharks and humans in the Atlantic Northeast. For peoples with relational ontologies, using, wearing, and trading shark teeth not only signaled a sacred relationship with the shark but also an identity embodied by this conspecific; namely, a way of life connected to the...
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Interdisciplinary Science and Fishers’ Local Ecological Knowledge of Sawfishes in the Yucatán Peninsula (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Knowledge of sawfishes is still scant for Latin America. Pristis pristis (largetooth sawfish) and Pristis pectinata (smallthooth sawfish) are critically endangered. In the Yucatán Peninsula (YP) these species populated coastal landscapes. We collected 290 surveys of fishers’ Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) with a geospatial component and reviewed 74...
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Shark Interactions in Early Times: A Comparison of Some Sites from Colombia and Panama (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The data obtained from the zooarchaeological remains of some Panamanian Pacific sites and Colombian Caribbean Sites allowed for unprecedented discussions about the role of sharks in the lifestyle of precolumbian inhabitants on the intermediate area. People captured and processed sharks, using their body parts both as a food source and for ornaments. These...
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Shark Remains in Brazilian Coastal Settlements (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Precolonial Brazilian coastal sites are rich in shark centra and teeth. They are frequently found inside the sediment matrix or as funeral deposits. The presence of shark teeth has been approached from zooarchaeological and ethnohistorical perspectives along with experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis. The Rio do Meio site was used as a study case....
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Shark Teeth Research Opportunities Broadened by Innovations in Materials Science (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The study of sharks in the archaeological record provides plentiful research opportunities within the lenses of social zooarchaeology and materials science. The convergence of these two themes when analyzing artifact shark teeth presents unique advantages and challenges to understanding how past people perceived sharks and made use of their physical...
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Sharks and Rays and Sambaquieiros: A View from Piaçaguera (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Precolonial groups used various types of raw materials for manufacture of tools and adornments: rocks, clay, fibers, bones, shells, among others. In general, lithic and ceramic assemblages gain more focus from researchers due to their ubiquity and better preservation. Shell mound sites, however, provide a context in which faunal remains are the main...
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Species Identification of Shark Vertebrae Using Collagen Type 1: Toward Ichthyoarchaeological Identification (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Sharks are apex predators, and their presence in the world’s waters serves as an indicator of the health of marine ecosystems. The species-specific identification of sharks in archaeological materials is essential for reconstructing ancient exploited ecosystems and improving current marine baselines to support conservation efforts as these fish are severely...
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The “X”-Ray Files: Preliminary Results on the Identification of Shark Species Using X-Ray Technology and Its Implications for a Better Understanding of the Economic and Symbolic Role Played by Sharks in Prehispanic Andean Societies (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Past Human-Shark Interactions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Shark fisheries were an important economic activity carried out by small-scale maritime communities in the prehispanic Andean coast since at least the second millennium BC. New evidence found in Huanchaco, north coast of Peru, suggests that during the fifth and seventh centuries of our era, sharks became an essential source of proteins in the daily diet and...