GEOCHEMISTRY AND SEASONALITY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MERCENARIA MERCENARIA SHELLS

Shell middens in the Gulf of Maine have a potential to document the development of coastal environments and Native American interactions with the environment during the Late Archaic and Ceramic Periods of regional prehistory (ca. 4000 BP – AD 1600). This work assess palaeoenvironmental evidence from two prehistoric shell middens (Long Island North and the Basin Site) and one recent historic period shell midden (Malaga Island) located in the New Meadows River embayment in Maine. Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes from Mercenaria mercenaria shells, and the archaeological representation of shellfish species over time are investigated as evidence for changes in water temperature and marine influence in the embayment during the past 4000 years; analysis of modern living shells provides analogical data. Stratigraphy and particle size analysis of intertidal vibracores show evidence of intertidal habitat development, archaeological site erosion, and glaciomarine sediments. Paired uranium series and radiocarbon dates are used to investigate the chronology of shell midden formation, and are compared with associated artifacts to contribute to Late Archaic and Ceramic Period artifact chronologies. Shellfish growth bands and vertebrate faunal remains provide evidence for different seasonal patterns of resource procurement at the prehistoric sites including winter components from the Late Archaic through Middle Ceramic Periods at the Basin Site and a year round component during the Middle Ceramic Period at Long Island North.