Using modern eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) habitat to predict prehistoric shell midden site locations: a case study of Chester River, Maryland, 2019

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Men

Identifier: b7930095

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of theses written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate Anthropology program. The holdings are primarily bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of university requirements for the Master of Arts degree.

From the Collection:

During the fall 2022 semester (in instances where the requisite waivers were received from consenting student authors), the Monmouth University Library, together with the University's Graduate School and Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, began providing open access to select full-text digital versions of current theses and dissertations through links to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global website in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog. Links to these open access digital publications can also be found in the "External Documents" section under any conforming titles that are listed among the holdings itemized in the collection inventory for this finding aid.

Dates

Creation: 2019

Creator

Menke, Christopher J. (Christopher Jacob) (1992- ) (Person)
Davidov, Veronica, 1978- (Thesis advisor, Person)
Fouad, Geoffrey (Thesis advisor, Person)
Veit, Richard F. (1968- ) (Thesis advisor, Person)
Monmouth University (West Long Branch, N.J.). Urban Coast Institute (Funder, Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Collection holdings may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (723-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Patrons must complete a Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to gain access to the collection holdings. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Extent

1 Items (print book) : 38 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches (28 cm).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Introduction

Oysters have been an important resource for humans for thousands of years. They provided easy access to protein with little effort required to harvest, and their shells could be used as tools and as a temper in the manufacture of ceramics. The abundance of oysters made them a dietary staple for the people living along the Chesapeake Bay, and for the Europeans who first settled here. The wealth of shell fish led to overharvesting and the depletion of oysters in modern times. It is because of this that the study of oysters and shell fish is important to our understanding of both past cultural behaviors and the future of this natural resource. The use of oysters in prehistory was so prolific that there are archaeological sites that are composed entirely of shell fish refuse that are known as shell middens. Identifying these prehistoric sites is the first step to better understanding them.

It is a fundamental premise of modern archaeology that human behavior is patterned; therefore, locational behavior - that is, where sites or settlements are places across the landscape - should exhibit non-random tendencies.... The basic theory behind the development of an archaeological location model is that if tendencies or patterns exist between site locations and one or more regionally distributed variables, then a model can be constructed through the exploration of those tendencies (Brandt, Groenewoudt, Kvamme 1992: 269)

Since oysters represent the primary resource found at shell midden sites in Maryland, it is important to understand how the resource impacted site location. Mapping the location of oyster resources and comparing them to known shell midden sites should provide the basis for a resorce specific model for predicting where prehistoric shell middens occur.

Two predictive models were created for this project. The first model was created using the areas of the river that best represented modern oyster habitat. The second model excluded this oyster habitat data as a means of comparing how important this habitat data is for identifying prehistoric shell midden sites. By comparing the two models, one with the resource location and one without, the importance of oyster resources on archaeological site location can be examined.

Partial Contents

Introduction -- 1. Delmarva prehistory -- 2. Oysters and middens -- 3. Data and methods -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- List of tables -- List of figures.