Oyster Demographics and the Creation of Coastal Monuments at Roberts Island Mound Complex, Florida

Sampson, Christina Perry

doi:10.1179/2168472314y.0000000008

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Together, these data demonstrate a range of human influence on oyster size in the past but general resilience to Native American harvest pressure in several North American C. virginica populations. These data add to a growing body of research around the world that documents a continuum of ancient human influence on shellfish populations, ranging from human-induced reduction of shellfish size from overexploitation to continuity and size increases that may have resulted from changing environmental variables, especially nutrient increases (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Elsewhere in North America, analyses of late Holocene Crassostrea virginica from Florida (35) and New York's Hudson River estuary (36) also document continuity in oyster size and no prehistoric size declines. Analysis of shell rings in the southeastern United States suggests a mix of human influence, with some arguing for significant human impact (37) and others for more limited effects (38).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery

Rick

Reeder-Myers

Hofman

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Estuaries around the world are in a state of decline following decades or more of overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Oysters (Ostreidae), ecosystem engineers in many estuaries, influence water quality, construct habitat, and provide food for humans and wildlife. In North America's Chesapeake Bay, once-thriving eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations have declined dramatically, making their restoration and conservation extremely challenging. Here we present data on oyster size and human harvest from Chesapeake Bay archaeological sites spanning ∼3,500 y of Native American, colonial, and historical occupation. We compare oysters from archaeological sites with Pleistocene oyster reefs that existed before human harvest, modern oyster reefs, and other records of human oyster harvest from around the world. Native American fisheries were focused on nearshore oysters and were likely harvested at a rate that was sustainable over centuries to millennia, despite changing Holocene climatic conditions and sea-level rise. These data document resilience in oyster populations under long-term Native American harvest, sea-level rise, and climate change; provide context for managing modern oyster fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere around the world; and demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach that can be applied broadly to other fisheries.historical baseline | archaeological shellfish | fossil shellfish | marine fisheries | environmental management

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery

Rick

Reeder-Myers

Hofman

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Some authors attribute the concentration of shells to the remains of intensive food extraction supporting, perhaps, large populations of people [ 37 , 38 ]. Sampson [ 39 ] summarises arguments put forward by a number of authors that large concentrations of shell might result from feasting. Bailey (pp.…”

Section: Expectations For Smd Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variability in shell mound formation at Albatross Bay, northern Australia

Holdaway

Fanning

Petchey³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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We report the results of 212 radiocarbon determinations from the archaeological excavation of 70 shell mound deposits in the Wathayn region of Albatross Bay, Australia. This is an intensive study of a closely co-located group of mounds within a geographically restricted area in a wider region where many more shell mounds have been reported. Valves from the bivalve Tegillarca granosa (Linnaeus, 1758) were dated. The dates obtained are used to calculate rates of accumulation for the shell mound deposits. These demonstrate highly variable rates of accumulation both within and between mounds. We assess these results in relation to likely mechanisms of shell deposition and show that rates of deposition are affected by time-dependent processes both during the accumulation of shell deposits and during their subsequent deformation. This complicates the interpretation of the rates at which shell mound deposits appear to have accumulated. At Wathayn, there is little temporal or spatial consistency in the rates at which mounds accumulated. Comparisons between the Wathayn results and those obtained from shell deposits elsewhere, both in the wider Albatross Bay region and worldwide, suggest the need for caution when deriving behavioural inferences from shell mound deposition rates, and the need for more comprehensive sampling of individual mounds and groups of mounds.

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“…For example, remarkably well-preserved remains of a Middle Woodland feast were recently recovered at the Biltmore Mound in western North Carolina; consisting of elements from diverse animal species and exotic artifacts, this assemblage has been interpreted as evidence for Hopewellian ceremonialism in the Appalachian Summit (Kimball et al 2010(Kimball et al , 2013. The construction of Mound A at Roberts Island, Florida, also may relate to communal feasting activities, insofar as the oyster shells in mound fills appear to have been collected and processed over a shorter period of time-perhaps corresponding with a feasting event-than those from midden deposits (Sampson 2015). Though a much larger site, Kolomoki has produced a more modest record of feasting that appears to have been directed toward household-level solidarity (Pluckhahn et al 2006).…”

Section: Feasting and Mortuary Ritualmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local and “Global” Perspectives on the Middle Woodland Southeast

Wright

2016

J Archaeol Res

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During the Middle Woodland period, from 200 BC to AD 600, south-eastern societies erected monuments, interacted widely, and produced some of the most striking material culture of the pre-Columbian era, but these developments are often overshadowed by the contemporaneous florescence of Hopewell culture in Ohio. I argue that the demonstrable material links between the Middle Woodland Southeast and Midwest demand that we cease to analyze these regional archaeological records in isolation and adopt multiscalar perspectives on the social fields that emerged from and impacted local Middle Woodland societies. In synthesizing recent research on Middle Woodland settlement, monumentality, interaction, and social organization, I make explicit comparisons between the Middle Woodland Southeast and Ohio Hopewell, revealing both commonalities and contrasts. New methodological approaches in the Southeast, including geophysical survey techniques, Bayesian chronological modeling, and high-resolution provenance analyses, promise to further elucidate site-specific histories and intersite connectivity. By implementing theoretical frameworks that simultaneously consider these local and global dimensions of Middle Woodland sociality, we may establish the southeastern Middle Woodland period as an archaeological context capable of elucidating the deep history of the Eastern Woodlands as well as long-standing issues surrounding middle-range societies.

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Oyster Demographics and the Creation of Coastal Monuments at Roberts Island Mound Complex, Florida

Cited by 11 publications

References 15 publications

Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery

Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery

Temporal variability in shell mound formation at Albatross Bay, northern Australia

Local and “Global” Perspectives on the Middle Woodland Southeast

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