Applying a Measure for Determining Season of Oyster Harvesting: A Case Study of a Pre- Columbian Florida site, USA

Abstract

Over the past two decades, several methods have been developed for determining seasonal patterns of shellfish collecting in archaeological faunal assemblages. One such technique involves the use of the impressed odostome (Boonea impressa), a gastropod that is an ectoparasite of oysters and often found in archaeological oyster middens when fine recovery methods (1.6 mm screen or smaller) are employed. Shell length measurements of archaeological odostomes are correlated with modern studies on the snail’s annual growth cycle, ultimately indicating season(s) of oyster harvesting by the site inhabitants. This technique is applied to the archaeological faunal assemblage at Greenfield Site No. 5 (8DU5541), a pre-Columbian site located along the Atlantic coast in northeast Florida, U.S.A. Over 6,000 odostomes were recovered in the 1.6 mm mesh screens. Shell length measurements indicate that oysters were harvested in the summer through late autumn months (July-November).