Methods for inferring oyster mariculture on Florida's Gulf Coast

Jenkins, Jessica A.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2017.02.001

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Evidence for oyster mariculture during the occupation of Shell Mound is described elsewhere (Jenkins 2017) and need not be repeated here in detail. In short, shells from subtidal reefs in certain contexts bear evidence for culling, and the deposits in which these shells are concentrated are dominated by left valves.…”

Section: Technology Of Feastsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maritime Ritual Economies of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

Sassaman

Blessing

Goodwin³

et al. 2019

Am. Antiq.

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Places such as Poverty Point, Mound City, and Chaco Canyon remind us that the siting of ritual infrastructure in ancient North America was a matter of cosmological precedent. The cosmic gravity of these places gathered persons periodically in numbers that challenged routine production. Ritual economies intensified, but beyond the material demands of hosting people, the siting of these places and the timing of gatherings were cosmic work that preconfigured these outcomes. A first millennium AD civic-ceremonial center on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida illustrates the rationale for holding feasts on the end of a parabolic dune that it shared with an existing mortuary facility. Archaeofauna from large pits at Shell Mound support the inference that feasts were timed to summer solstices. Gatherings were large, judging from the infrastructure in support of feasts and efforts to intensify production through oyster mariculture and the construction of a large tidal fish trap. The 250-year history of summer solstice feasts at Shell Mound reinforces the premise that ritual economies were not simply the amplification of routine production. It also suggests that the ecological potential for intensification was secondary to the cosmic significance of solstice-oriented dunes and their connection to mortuary and world-renewal ceremonialism.

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Section: Technology Of Feastsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Timing of events aside, oyster mariculture likely sustained or even enhanced the health and productivity of subtidal reefs. In comparing the sizes of shells from early and later contexts Jenkins (2016, 2017) finds no evidence for resource depression but rather an increase in height and height-to-length ratio of shell over time.…”

Section: Technology Of Feastsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maritime Ritual Economies of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

Sassaman

Blessing

Goodwin³

et al. 2019

Am. Antiq.

Self Cite

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“…Archaeological assessments of intensity, seasonality, and sustainability of oyster harvesting in the past provide us with a unique perspective on the long-term history of human-oyster interactions. These type of studies are increasingly used toward developing a more robust understanding of historical ecology of estuarine and coastal systems for various regions of the southeastern USA, including the Chesapeake Bay [43] and the gulf coast of Florida [44,45]. How past human populations may have mitigated problems associated with overharvesting or resource depletion has important implications for contemporary issues regarding the sustainability of estuarine environments in the face of environmental degradation and human harvesting pressures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal oyster harvesting recorded in a Late Archaic period shell ring

Cannarozzi

Kowalewski

2019

PLoS ONE

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The function of Late Archaic period (5000–3000 B.P.) shell rings has been a focus of debate among archaeologists for decades. These rings have been variously interpreted as a product of seasonal feasting/ceremonial gatherings, quotidian food refuse generated by permanent dwellers, or a combination of seasonal and perennial activities. Seasonality of shell rings can be assessed by reconstructing the harvest time of oysters (Crassostrea virginica), the primary faunal component of shell rings. We estimated the timing of oyster harvest at St. Catherines Shell Ring (Georgia, USA) by statistical modeling of size frequency distributions of the impressed odostome (Boonea impressa), a parasitic snail inadvertently gathered by Archaic peoples with its oyster host. The odostome samples from three archaeological excavation units were evaluated against resampling models based on monthly demographic data obtained for present-day populations of Boonea impressa. For all samples, the harvest was unlikely to start earlier than late fall and end later than late spring, indicating that shell deposits at St. Catherines Shell Ring formed seasonally with substantial harvesting activities restricted to non-summer months. For all samples, the resampling models indicated that harvesting activities likely occurred during multiple months. However, these analytical outcomes would also be expected in the case of extensively time-averaged records of short-term, non-summer harvest events. Regardless of the exact harvest duration, the results point to seasonal harvesting and suggest that Archaic populations may have opted out of consuming summer oysters to focus on other resources, avoid unpalatable food, decrease pathogen risks, or ensure sustainable harvesting.

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“…66‐7; Drennan, 2010, pp. 182‐7; see also Jenkins, 2017, p. 79 for a precedence), which was calculated using the formula:

\begin{equation*}{\mathrm{\ \chi }}^2 = \mathop \sum \limits_{i = 1}^k \frac{{{{\left( {{O}_i - {E}_i} \right)}}^2}}{{{E}_i}}\end{equation*}

where χ2 is the chi squared value, k is the number of categories, O i is the observed number of counts in category I and E i is the expected number of counts in category i .…”

Section: Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The archaeology of 19^th century oyster consumption in Melbourne

Marshall

2024

Archaeology in Oceania

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This paper presents comparative research on marine shell from four 19th century historical archaeological sites in Melbourne. The shell derives predominantly from Mud Oyster (Ostrea angasi) and Sydney Rock Oyster (Saccostrea glomerata) commercially harvested from natural reefs along the south‐east Australian coastline. The research collects quantitative data that informs on the 19th century oyster industry and investigates inter‐site shell variability and its implications for processing, consumption and discard. Dredging of subtidal reefs provides an explanation for the numerical dominance of oyster, the presence of subfossil cultch (Anadara) and the wide range of minor shellfish. Mud oyster and Sydney rock oyster comparisons in valve size, sided counts and preservation record significant differences within and between sites due to the origins, depositional conditions and the processing of the shell. These data form the basis of two models. The first predicts the archaeological representation of reef dredging and ranks shellfish according to categories, from live oysters to dead shell sampled from the reef substrate. Based on oyster shell anatomy and the separate uses of the right (lid) and left (dish) valves, the second model considers how oyster processing and consumption is characterised archaeologically in differential valve counts and pairing rates.

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Methods for inferring oyster mariculture on Florida's Gulf Coast

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Maritime Ritual Economies of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

Maritime Ritual Economies of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

Seasonal oyster harvesting recorded in a Late Archaic period shell ring

The archaeology of 19^th century oyster consumption in Melbourne

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Methods for inferring oyster mariculture on Florida's Gulf Coast

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Maritime Ritual Economies of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

Maritime Ritual Economies of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

Seasonal oyster harvesting recorded in a Late Archaic period shell ring

The archaeology of 19th century oyster consumption in Melbourne

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Resources

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The archaeology of 19^th century oyster consumption in Melbourne