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Prehistoric shellfish-harvesting strategies: implications from the growth patterns of soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Kent G. Lightfoot ,
Robert M. Cerrato  and
Heather V. E. Wallace
Kent G. Lightfoot
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
Robert M. Cerrato
Affiliation:
Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook NY 11794-4364, USA
Heather V. E. Wallace
Affiliation:
Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook NY 11794-4364, USA
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Abstract

Shellfish-gathering is the stuff of many a hunter-gatherer economy. It is technically hunting – the beasties are animals – but they conveniently sit in the mud and on the rocks ready to be gathered. A new means of studying growth-rings in clam shells gives insight into shellfish-gathering and the seasonal pattern of life-ways in southern New England.

Type
Notes
Information
Antiquity , Volume 67 , Issue 255 , June 1993 , pp. 358 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1993

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