See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Geochemical and Geoarchaeological Analysis of Shell Middens: Climate, Ecology, and Culture
Abstract:
Each of these questions can be addressed using sclerochronological analysis of shell midden taxa. As an example, we characterize the temporal pattern of annual growth increment formation in modern hard clam (Mercenaria spp.) shells from the southeastern United States. Year-round collections from six modern hard clam populations at monthly intervals from Litchfield Beach, SC (N = 505), St. Catherines Island, GA (N = ~720), Kings Bay, GA (N = 451), Indian River, FL (N = 1100), Cedar Key, FL (N= 259), and Charlotte Harbor, FL (N = 399) were used to track seasonal patterns of annual shell increment formation. Oxygen isotopic analyses of the growth increments were used to validate the seasonal formation of these structures and show that a couplet of light and dark shell increments reflects one year of life. When applied to archaeological (ca. 5000 YBP to AD 1513) hard clams (N = ~5200), a year-round pattern of procurement was identified. Further, the mean ontogenetic age of hard clams declined with human population growth and/or intensification of harvest.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Geochemical and Geoarchaeological Analysis of Shell Middens: Climate, Ecology, and Culture