Making Mounds Out of Midden: A Behavioural Analysis

Summary

The contents of shell-bearing sites are routinely used to make inferences regarding resource availability, subsistence practices, technology, and as proxies for past environments. Variability in the genesis of shell matrix within an archaeological site and the cultural context of its use and reuse can introduce bias into these interpretations. The authors previously developed a model of shell matrices inferred as midden, mound, and feasting deposits based on visual characteristics, artifact profiles, and radiocarbon dating. The present study refines and broadens this model through additional analyses and tests its efficacy against shell deposition sequences at a temporally and geographically unrelated archaeological site. It is further demonstrated that identification of matrix type is categorically possible and a fundamental first step before interpretations of shell matrix as proxy for environmental or cultural conditions can be made.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Recent Considerations of Coastal Subsistence Practices in the Southeastern USA

Keywords

Spatial Coverage