The Shell Midden Sites of Senegambia Reference library
Alioune Dème and Moustapha Sall
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...landscape, where the sea plays a major role in rituals and power relations. We will first define the geographical and cultural settings of the littoral where the shell midden sites are located. We will then move to the eustatic event that engendered the formation of natural shell middens: the Nouakchottien. We will focus next on the anthropogenic shell midden by describing the three broad shell midden archaeological areas. Finally, we will focus on Soukouta, where new data are shedding new light on Senegambian protohistory. The Senegambian Littoral Senegambia...
Shell Middens and Coastal Prehistory Reference library
John Parkington and Ruan Brand
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
... Middens and Coastal Prehistory Introduction Coastal shell middens, that is, archaeological deposits that are visually and materially dominated by discarded marine shells (shell matrix deposits in another terminology; Hausmann et al. 2019 ; Villagran 2019 ), are valuable opportunities for reconstructing relationships between hunter-gatherers, landscapes, and resources ( Claassen 1998 ; Erlandson 2001 ; Parkington 2006 ; Shiner et al. 2013 ; Stein 1992 ; Waselkov 1987 ). Shellfish remains in these middens are easy to sample (there are lots of...
Côte d’Ivoire Shell Middens: Specificity and Evolution Reference library
N’doua Etienne Ettien
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...on what was learned from the different studies of shell middens on the Ivorian coast, this article will examine the major characteristics of these shell middens and will raise the question of their future. This examination relies on an analysis of reports from research projects, scientific publications, dissertations, and data collected in the field in order to report on their general state of conservation. The following discussion is structured, first of all, around the spatial distribution of the shell middens, then their structure, and finally their current...
Clams Reference library
Joseph M. Carlin
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2 ed.)
...), ocean quahog ( Arctica islandica ), hard-shell clam ( Mercenaria mercenaria ), soft-shell clam ( Mya arenaria ), and Manila clam ( Tapes philippinarum ). Before Europeans arrived in America, Native Americans harvested clams. Huge piles of clamshells or kitchen middens identify old Indian campsites. Native Americans used the hard-shell clam, also known as a quahog, as a source of food and medium of exchange and for sealing friendships. The purple part of the shell, along with the white part of periwinkle shells, were fashioned into beads, strung on sinew,...
oyster Reference library
The Oxford Companion to Food (3 ed.)
...cucullata , a species with one shell dimpled round the rim and the other equipped with corresponding protuberances, thus ensuring a very tight fit when the two close. This oyster is well known in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Australasian oysters include the Sydney rock oyster, Crassostrea commercialis , which is probably the most esteemed of all seafoods for Australians. This has a counterpart in the North Island of New Zealand, C. glomerata . Prehistoric middens composed of infinite quantities of mollusc shells are witness to the importance of the...
The Early Iron Age of Botswana Reference library
Catrien van Waarden
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...game ranged from zebra to hyrax, indicating herding, hunting, and snaring ( Pearson 1984 ). A hardpacked white deposit in a test pit at the center of the site, at 40–77 cm in depth, suggests a kraal. A kraal-midden at the front of the site may have been for small stock. Also present were charred seeds of sorghum, millet, a legume, morula nut shells ( Sclerocarya caffra ), and possibly a monkey orange ( Strychnos spinosa ) seed. Red ochre, specularite, and micaceous schist were present. Finely ground mica-schist resembles graphite and with red ochre was used...
United Arab Emirates Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East
...sites, and a series of French missions under Serge Cleuziou and Rémy Boucharlat was inaugurated in 1977 to investigate Hili 8, Rumeilah, and Mleiha. Meanwhile, numerous other foreign teams began projects in the mid- and late 1980s at sites ranging from prehistoric shell middens to the medieval port of Julfar. Many of these are still underway. The UAE occupies an important area at the base of the Arabian Gulf and consists of four environmental zones. The flat, sandy desert foreland on the coast, which extends from the bottom of the Qatar to the...
Ochre Use in the Middle Stone Age Reference library
Tammy Hodgskiss
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...Shelter ( Evans 1994 ), Mwulu Cave ( de la Peña 2018 ), Olieboompoort ( Watts 1998 , 2002 ), Wonderkrater ( Backwell et al. 2014 ), Wonderwerk ( Beaumont and Vogel 2006 ; Watts et al. 2016 ), and Zombepata ( Cooke 1971 ). Ochre is often found in western Cape coast shell middens ( Parkington 2003 ). Excavations at Porc Epic Cave in Ethiopia revealed 4,213 pieces of ochre, 3,792 of which were analyzed ( Rosso et al. 2014 ). The pieces date to between 41,000 and 33,000 years ago. There is a range of raw materials, and reds and dark reds are most...
Squirrels Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Mammals (3 ed.)
...defense is most intensive close to the midden, where the stakes are highest, and most evident in the autumn, when new cones are ready to harvest and dispersing juveniles are attempting to establish territories of their own. The area defended around “primary” middens varies in size between years. When cone crops are good, juvenile recruitment is high, because territories of adults shrink and there is plenty to eat. Young, transient animals can temporarily reside between territories centered on primary middens. When cone crops fail, however, juvenile...
Sea Level Reference library
Encyclopedia of Global Change
...between Denmark and Sweden, flint artifacts have been recovered in shallower water and dated to 6400 bce . Along the coast of Brazil between Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul are thousands of shell middens reaching up to 25 meters in height and containing a record of changing sea levels for the past 6,000 years. In South Carolina, the oldest shell middens (4,200–3,300 years bp ) occur near the mouths of estuaries, whereas the younger ones (3,300–1,000 bp ) occur further landward and up estuary, implying a response by prehistoric folk to a rising sea...
Western Mexico Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures
...Michoacán. Another neighboring cave, Cueva de los Portales, excavated in 1992 , has yielded a series of preceramic occupations from between 5000 and 2000 bce , which include some basalt and obsidian artifacts. On the Nayarit coast, to the south of San Blás, a huge shell midden has been dated to 2000 bce , and it belongs to an economy of specialized collectors. A number of specialists are of the opinion that Western Mexico might some day provide data on the appearance of early domesticated maize, given the presence in the region of two wild...
Scientific Dating Methods in African Archaeology Reference library
Vincent J. Hare and Emma Loftus
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources
...charcoal associated with a midden at the outskirts of the large palace wall, and calibrates to a likely age range 1290–1420 ce (2 σ ) according to the Southern Hemisphere curve, in agreement with five other dates from the pre-walling archaeological deposits (not shown in figure 4A ). The second date, Pta-7243, is from a male skeleton, buried inside the enclosure, and calibrates to a slightly later age range 1390–1480 ad (2 σ ), consistent with the second Khami phase. The third date, Pta-7103, is on charcoal from a midden that accumulated after the...
The African Middle Stone Age Reference library
Alexander F. Blackwood and Jayne Wilkins
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...to Coming Millennia . Edited by P. V. Tobias , M. A. Raath , J. Moggi-Cechi , and G. A. Doyle , 327–336. Florence: Firenze University Press. Parkington, J. E. 2003. “Middens and Moderns: Shellfishing and the Middle Stone Age of the Western Cape, South Africa.” South African Journal of Science 99: 243–247. Parkington, J. E. 2006. Shorelines, Strandlopers and Shell Middens . Cape Town: Creda Communications. Parkington, J. E. 2010. “Coastal Diet, Encephalization, and Innovative Behaviors in the Late Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa.” In Human...
Ethnographic Analogy in Archaeology: Methodological Insights from Southern Africa Reference library
Mark McGranaghan
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources
..., “Megamiddens and Mega-Refusals over the Years: A Final Reply to Parkington,” South African Archaeological Bulletin 71, no. 203 (2016): 94–97; Antonieta Jerardino , “Large Shell Middens in Lamberts Bay, South Africa: A Case of Hunter–Gatherer Resource Intensification,” Journal of and Archaeological Science 37 (2010): 2291–2302; and Antonieta Jerardino , “Large Shell Middens and Hunter–Gatherer Resource Intensification along the West Coast of South Africa: The Elands Bay Case Study,” Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 7, no. 1 (2012):...
Hunter-Gatherer/Farmer Interactions in Uganda Reference library
Elizabeth Kyazike
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...African Foragers .” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History . Oxford: Oxford University Press, Prendergast, Mary Elizabeth ., and Paul Jeremy Lane . 2010. “Middle Holocene Fishing Strategies in East Africa: Zooarchaeological Analysis of Pundo, a Kansyore Shell Midden in Northern Nyanza (Kenya).” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 20 (1): 88–112. Robertshaw, Peter . 1994. “Archaeological Survey, Ceramic Analysis, and State Formation in Western Uganda.” African Archaeological Review 12 (1): 105–131. References Alexander, J. 1977...
Southern African Stone Age Reference library
Nuno Bicho
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...in Mozambique, these are made with the microburin technique ( Bicho et al. 2018a ). Bone tools, including polished types, and shell and wooden artifacts are also present, together with ostrich eggshell and ochre ( Deacon and Deacon 1999 ; Lombard et al. 2012 ). Plant foods, together with coastal resources, were likely very important, as in previous periods, and are seen at some sites, for example the very large shell middens in the southern Cape region of South Africa. There are many sites that belong to Wilton, which is present in most, if not all,...
The Archaeology of Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria Reference library
Chioma Vivian Ngonadi
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...appeared to be undisturbed, it was suggested by the archaeologists who excavated the sites that these artifacts must have been deposited at the ceremonial area and subsequently suddenly abandoned. In the midden, the recovered materials include potsherds, worked stones, and some bits of iron, glass, palm kernel, and shells. The earliest layer of the midden was dated to 805 bce uncal. ( Chikwendu 2002 ). Anambra valley is also a key site in the discussion on the archaeology of Igboland. This site was first excavated in 1979 and was led by F. N. Anozie and...
Interactions among Precolonial Foragers, Herders, and Farmers in Southern Africa Reference library
James R. Denbow
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources
...of a clay-plastered reed structure were uncovered. Fragments from a similar burned reed structure were also exposed at Nqoma. Such structures are still commonly seen around the Okavango today. The second test pit, fifty meters away from the first, revealed a bone-filled refuse midden. Although a calibrated 9th-century radiocarbon date aligns temporally with the date suggested by the Divuyu ceramics from Xaro1, the ceramics from Qogana are different. They are charcoal-tempered like most other ceramics from this period in northern Botswana, but most vessels...
Origin and Development of Agriculture in New Guinea, Island Melanesia, and Polynesia Reference library
Tim Denham
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Agriculture and the Environment
...gradually transformed agricultural practices from a sole focus on food to the additional production of surplus for animal fodder. Three sites illustrate the continuity of arboricultural practices in lowland New Guinea and Island Melanesia during the mid- to late Holocene: Dongan midden in the Sepik-Ramu Basin on New Guinea dates to c. 6800–6000 cal bp ( Fairbairn & Swadling, 2005 ; Swadling, Araho, & Ivuyo, 1991 ); Apalo in the Arawe Islands, near New Britain dates from 4250–4050 cal bp to possibly c. 1000 cal bp ( Gosden & Webb, 1994 ; Specht &...
The Archaeology of Gender in Sub-Saharan Africa Reference library
Lyn Wadley
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources
...Skeletons three thousand years or older revealed more even carbon isotope ratios for men and women, implying that social change occurred, perhaps altering gender relationships. 86 Large shell middens two to three thousand years old with few domestic features support the interpretation of high marine food consumption by men. 87 The dates of the “mega-middens” overlap to some extent with other significant changes on the landscape. Herding of livestock supplemented hunting and gathering in much of sub-Saharan Africa, and this obviously had implications...
