Mesolithic shellfish exploitation in SW Italy: seasonal evidence from the oxygen isotopic composition of Osilinus turbinatus shells

Abstract

a b s t r a c tOxygen isotope analyses were carried out on the topshell Osilinus turbinatus from archaeological sites with the aim to investigate the temporal exploitation patterns by Mesolithic groups inhabiting coastal caves in SW Italy. In order to assess the present day O. turbinatus intra-annual d18 O variability, living specimens were collected monthly at Marina di Camerota (SW Italian peninsula). Their shell-edges were analysed and the seasonal results were compared with archaeozoological material. Our findings show that Mesolithic O. turbinatus exploitation was carried out almost exclusively during the colder and intermediary seasons (e.g. autumn, winter, spring), with very sporadic harvesting during the warmer seasons. Results suggest a possible regional exploitation pattern of O. turbinatus by Mesolithic groups inhabiting this region.

Changing patterns of eastern Mediterranean shellfish exploitation in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene: Oxygen isotope evidence from gastropod in Epipaleolithic to Neolithic human occupation layers at the Haua Fteah cave, Libya

“…It has since been employed in many archaeozoological studies around the world (e.g. Bailey et al, 1983;Deith, 1986;Mannino et al, 2003Mannino et al, , 2007Colonese et al, 2009;Burchell et al, 2013a,b;Eerkens et al, 2013;see Andrus, 2011;Prendergast andStevens, 2014 andThomas, 2015 for recent reviews).…”

“…Bailey et al, 1983;Deith, 1986;Colonese et al, 2009;Mannino et al, 2007Mannino et al, , 2011. These data can be combined with other archaeological data to gain a more complete picture of site use patterns throughout the year (e.g.…”

“…Epipaleolithic to Mesolithic shellfish foraging patterns have been elucidated from various archaeological sites in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions (e.g. Mannino et al, 2003Mannino et al, , 2007Mannino et al, , 2011Colonese et al, 2009). However, so far little attention has been paid to the southern Mediterranean and northern coast of Africa.…”

The microstratigraphic record of human activities and formation processes at the Mesolithic shell midden of Poças de São Bento (Sado Valley, Portugal)

“…Seasonality patterns are one of the aspects of human behaviour that have recently been extracted from shell mound deposits (see e.g. Surge et al 2013;Colonese et al 2009Colonese et al , 2012, as they enable season of shellfish gathering to be determined through oxygen isotopic analysis of shell growth lines. At the regional scale, shell middens have also been explored as palaeoenvironmental proxies.…”

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“…6.1). Gastropods have been analyzed for oxygen isotopes from other archaeological contexts in other regions (e.g., Mannino, Spiro, and Thomas, 2003;Mannino et al, 2007;Colonese et al, 2009), and presumably the southeastern U.S. species would be similar in at least some respects.…”