Invertebrate Ethnofaunal Remains from Ellis Island

Summary

This report describes and interprets a collection of archaeological shell specimens from Ellis Island National Historic Monument. As part of mitigation efforts during the construction of the National Park Service Museum of Immigration, archaeologists under the direction of John Pousson carried out excavations at a Native American shell midden site on Ellis Island. The site contained a variety of artifacts and archaeobiological materials dating from the Late Archaic through Woodland Period. This report focuses on a sample of the invertebrate remains recovered, using aspects of invertebrate ecology and shell shape to explore the paleoenvironmental conditions around Ellis Island. This study also aims to detect aspects of human harvesting selection and possible indications of post-depositional taphonomic processes evident in the shell assemblage. Finally, the Ellis Island shell assemblage is compared to some other shell midden sites to help contextualize the findings.

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