The effects of sampling on the analysis of archeological molluscan remains: A quantitative approach

Woo, Katherine; Faulkner, Patrick; Ross, Anne

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.08.001

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Identifications were based only on diagnostic features on individual fragments, rather than assuming that fragments derive from common taxa (Driver ; Szabó ; Woo et al . ). All taxonomic nomenclature was verified following the World Register of Marine Species online database (WoRMS Editorial Board ).…”

Section: Methods Of Mollusc Analysismentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Molluscs were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level using Indo-Pacific molluscan reference collections housed at the University of Queensland Pacific Archaeology Laboratory, and reference books and manuals (Carpenter & Niem 1998;Cernohorsky 1967;Poppe 2008). Identifications were based only on diagnostic features on individual fragments, rather than assuming that fragments derive from common taxa (Driver 2011;Szabó 2009;Woo et al 2015). All taxonomic nomenclature was verified following the World Register of Marine Species online database (WoRMS Editorial Board 2015).…”

Section: Methods Of Mollusc Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two millennia of mollusc foraging on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands: Sustained marine resource use on a Pacific atoll

Harris

Weisler

2017

Archaeology in Oceania

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Small, remote islands, such as low coral atolls, with nutrient‐poor, biogenic soils for food crops and vulnerability to extreme weather, have long been considered marginal environments for human habitation. Yet, four decades of archaeological research in the atoll archipelago of the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia have demonstrated sustained human occupation there for over two millennia. Here, we present a fine‐grained analysis of mollusc remains from four recently excavated archaeological sites (4476 total MNI / 14843 total NISP) combined with mapping and analysis of extant benthic habitats, on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands. We examine spatial and temporal variability in mollusc foraging practices from prehistoric village sites and ephemeral camp sites across the windward–leeward exposure gradient. Our analysis demonstrates that foragers targeted a rich assemblage of taxa from different habitats, reflecting a foraging strategy that was adapted to local environmental conditions. Human foraging over 2000 years documented no observable human impacts to molluscs or nearshore intertidal marine ecosystems, challenging previous notions of atolls as marginal, exceptionally difficult settings for human habitation.

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Section: Methods Of Mollusc Analysismentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methods Of Mollusc Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Two millennia of mollusc foraging on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands: Sustained marine resource use on a Pacific atoll

Harris

Weisler

2017

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…Zooarchaeological samples are the amalgamation of multiple sampling events through time, and sample adequacy is important in any community‐focused research (Woo et al. ). To ensure complete sampling of the late Holocene community, we used a rarefaction curve in R package vegan to eliminate samples that did not adequately represent community richness (R Core Team ; Oksasnen et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prioritizing sites for conservation based on similarity to historical baselines and feasibility of protection

Popejoy

Randklev²,

Neeson

et al. 2018

Conservation Biology

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The concept of shifting baselines in conservation science implies advocacy for the use of historical knowledge to inform these baselines but does not address the feasibility of restoring sites to those baselines. In many regions, conservation feasibility varies among sites due to differences in resource availability, statutory power, and land-owner participation. We used zooarchaeological records to identify a historical baseline of the freshwater mussel community's composition before Euro-American influence at a river-reach scale (i.e., a kilometer stretch of river that is abiotically similar) in the Leon River of central Texas (U.S.A.). We evaluated how the community reference position and the feasibility of conservation might enable identification of sites where conservation actions would preserve historically representative communities and be likely to succeed. We devised a conceptual model that incorporated community information and landscape factors to link the best conservation areas to potential cost and conservation benefits. Using fuzzy ordination, we identified modern mussel beds that were most like the historical baseline. We then quantified housing density and land use near each river reach identified to estimate feasibility of habitat restoration. Using our conceptual framework, we identified reaches of high conservation value (i.e., contain the best mussel beds) and where restoration actions would be most likely to succeed. Reaches above Lake Belton were most similar in species composition and relative abundance to zooarchaeological sites. A subset of these mussel beds occurred in locations where conservation actions appeared most feasible. Our results show how to use zooarchaeological data (biodiversity data often readily available) and estimates of conservation feasibility to inform conservation priorities at a local spatial scale.

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“…Both in fact were applied during work at the Neolithic settlement of Arbon Bleiche 3 in the Canton of Thurgau ([ 27 , 28 ]). Yet while the results gleaned from large and small-volume bulk samples have been compared in the past ([ 24 , 25 , 29 ]; see also [ 30 , 31 ]), no direct systematic comparison has been undertaken of the findings stemming from large-volume bulk and small-volume monolith samples except for those of Arbon Bleiche 3 ([ 32 ], 413–414; [ 33 ], 84–85, although the sieving methods of each differed). The reason behind the lack of comparisons is that they are arduous and time-consuming to carry out especially in wetland sites with complex stratigraphic sequences.…”

Section: Introduction and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeobotanical and isotopic analyses of waterlogged remains from the Neolithic pile-dwelling site of Zug-Riedmatt (Switzerland): Resilience strategies of a plant economy in a changing local environment

Steiner

Martínez-Grau²,

Bernasconi³

et al. 2022

PLoS ONE

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The excellent preservation of the waterlogged botanical remains of the multiphase Neolithic pile-dwelling site of Zug-Riedmatt (Central Switzerland) yielded an ideal dataset to delve into the issue of plant economy of a community spanning several decades. The study identified a major change in crops where oil plants played a key role in the site’s initial phase before being supplanted over the course of a few decades by naked wheat, barley and pea. Wild plants continued to be gathered albeit in different proportions. In the latest settlement phase, the changes in the local vegetation and in the values of the analyses of carbon stable isotopes suggest a less humid environment. The hypothesis is that the changes perceived in the plant economy represent a resilience strategy adopted by the inhabitants in reaction to short term local climatic alterations. The two types of soil sampling techniques (monolith and bulk) allowed comparing these results. While the density of plant remains appears to be underestimated among the samples collected by the monolith technique, the proportions of economic taxa remain unaffected. The findings thus reveal that when the bulk samplings are distributed carefully throughout multiphase sites and avoid mixing stratigraphical units, and if the samplings are representative of all archaeological features from a whole area, then each of the two techniques offer analogous results.

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The effects of sampling on the analysis of archeological molluscan remains: A quantitative approach

Cited by 9 publications

References 55 publications

Two millennia of mollusc foraging on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands: Sustained marine resource use on a Pacific atoll

Two millennia of mollusc foraging on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands: Sustained marine resource use on a Pacific atoll

Prioritizing sites for conservation based on similarity to historical baselines and feasibility of protection

Archaeobotanical and isotopic analyses of waterlogged remains from the Neolithic pile-dwelling site of Zug-Riedmatt (Switzerland): Resilience strategies of a plant economy in a changing local environment

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