Mussel Drying and Food Storage in the Late Holocene, SW Cape, South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9333346 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher S Henshilwood (0000-0002-2818-293X, corresponding author), Christopher Henshilwood, Peter Nilssen, J Parkington (0000-0001-6127-6826) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 103-109 |
| Publication date | 1994-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Field Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0093-4690 • E-ISSN: 2042-4582 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1179/jfa.1994.21.1.103 |
| OpenAlex | W1965090077 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 31 |
| References cited | 6 |
Very large and homogenous open air shell middens ("megamiddens") along a stretch of Atlantic coastline in the SW Cape reflect hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies dramatically different from those employed before and after the megamidden phase. Presented here are the results of experiments in the drying and preservation of shellfish flesh as a means of understanding the behavior involved in depositing these middens. Various techniques for drying shellfish were attempted, the results of which were assessed by bacteriological and compositional analyses of the samples. Results indicate that shellfish can be dried effectively for later consumption with relatively little effort and technology. Bulk processing of mussels would appear to be one plausible explanation for the megamidden phenomenon. Dietary implications of this research are briefly considered
Agriculture · Aquatic animal · Archaeology · Biology · Cape · Fish · Fish <Actinopterygii> · Fishery · Flesh · Foraging · Geography · Holocene · Mussel · Shellfish · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Ecology · Environmental Science · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Recent Developments in African Offshore Prehistoric Archaeological Research, with an Emphasis on South Africa
Middle and Late Pleistocene paleoscape modeling along the southern coast of South Africa
Aquatic Innovation and Adaptation
Holocene later stone age hunter-gatherers south of the Limpopo River, Ca. 10,000-2000 B.P
The Archaeology of the West Coast of South Africa
To Salt or Not to Salt
The Use of Mollusc Shells as Tools by Coastal Human Groups
Depletion of a resource? The impact of prehistoric human foraging on intertidal mollusc communities and its significance for human settlement, mobility and dispersal
Preliminary Results from Excavations at Steenbokfontein Cave
Field processing and transport costs in shellfish gathering along the Cape west coast
Late Holocene shellfish exploitation in the Upper Mississippi River valley
Some reflections on the spread of food-production in southernmost Africa
Hunter-gatherer archaeology in southern Africa
Garbage, Storage or a Mussel Oven? a Case Study of a Shell Midden from Western Poland
Shell-fish from the Bronze Age Site of Clos des Châtaigniers (Mathieu, Normandy, France)
Shellfish exploitation in Stone Age Arctic Norway
Mussels and mongongo nuts
New Directions in South African Archaeozoology of the Last 2,000 Years
Hohokam Shell Middens along the Sea of Cortez, Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico
The role of shellfish in human subsistence during the Mesolithic of Atlantic Europe
A dating intercomparison study on Late Stone Age coastal midden deposits, South Africa
Excavations at Mike Taylor's Midden
Later Stone Age shellfishing behaviour at Dunefield Midden (Western Cape, South Africa)
Large Shell Middens and Hunter-Gatherer Resource Intensification Along the West Coast of South Africa
Strandloping as a Resource-Gathering Strategy in the Cape, South African Holocene Later Stone Age
Environment versus behaviour
Large shell middens in Lamberts Bay, South Africa
Exploitation des invertébrés par les sociétés précolombiennes des Petites Antilles
The Dead Must be Fed
Observations on the Archaeology, Paleoenvironment, and Geomorphology of the Puerto Peñasco Area of Northern Sonora, Mexico
Return rates from intertidal foraging from Blombos Cave to Pinnacle Point
Social, spatial and chronological patterning in marine food use as determined by ä 13 C measurements of Holocene human skeletons from the south‐western Cape, South Africa
Approaches to dietary reconstruction in the western Cape
Protein poisoning and coastal subsistence
Energy source, protein metabolism, and hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies
Willow Smoke and Dogs' Tails
| Unique citing works | 31 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,03 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2026 (31) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 30 |