Contextual and Nutritional Analysis of Freshwater Gastropods from Middle Archaic Deposits at the Hayes Site, Middle Tennessee

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2575141
AutoresWalter E Klippel (University of Tennessee at Knoxville, autor de correspondencia), Darcy F Morey (0000-0001-5158-3435, University of Tennessee at Knoxville)
Año1986
Volumen51
Número4
Páginas799-813
Fecha de publicación1986-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/280866
OpenAlexW2333576161
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas19

The role of shellfish in the diet of hunter-gatherers in North America is poorly understood. Specifically, the interpretation of freshwater gastropods from archaeological sites as food remains has been a subject of professional debate. Data from the Hayes site (40ML139), a stratified Archaic midden on the Duck River in Tennessee, suggest that freshwater gastropods were procured in considerable quantities and utilized as a food resource. Evidence supporting this interpretation includes (1) quantities of gastropods in the midden, (2) stratigraphic relationship between shell-bearing strata and shell-free strata, and (3) pH analysis of associated sediments. Although gastropods provide relatively little meat and are a poor source of food energy compared to other animal species such as deer, they contain relatively high concentrations of several important vitamins and minerals. Thus, their primary value may have been nutrient content rather than food energy. This consideration, coupled with seasonal variation in their availability, suggests summer and/or fall as most likely periods of gastropod procurement

Archaeology · Biology · Fishery · Geography · Midden · Resource (disambiguation) · Taphonomy · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology