Sorry, Wrong Phylum: A Neophyte Archaeomalacologist’s Experiences in Analyzing a European Atlantic Sea Urchin Assemblage

Abstract

This paper discusses a recent approach to analyzing the sea urchin remains recovered from a pit of the Gallic Empire era of the Roman period above the Baie de Lannion, northern Brittany, France. Possible solutions for northeast Atlantic urchin assemblages to some problems which all archaeo-zoologists face (identification, the generation of MNI data, diagnosis of butchery methods, and reconstructing the nature of the population exploited) are outlined. The implications for the state of the discipline of archaeomalacology of the diversity of sources consulted, and a number of instances of parallel work by others, are discussed.