Archaeological Site or Natural Marine Community? Excavation of a Submerged Shell Mound in Ninigret Pond, Rhode Island

Underwater Shell Middens: Excavation and Remote Sensing of a Submerged Mesolithic site at Hjarnø, Denmark

“…Even on land, the presence of artefacts and vertebrate food remains in a shell deposit is not sufficient evidence that the mollusc shells are discarded food remains, since people may camp on the surface of natural shell deposits, with a resulting intermixture of natural and cultural materials, something long recognized in the Danish context (Troels-Smith 1995). In underwater deposits, the problems are compounded by the presence of natural death assemblages of shells on the seabed and the possibilities of redeposition and admixture (Jazwa and Mather 2014). Distinguishing criteria usually focus on the taxonomic composition and age-size structure of the mollusc shells, the condition of the shells and the ways in which they are accumulated, and the nature of the surrounding sedimentary matrix, supported in some cases by systematic comparison between known natural shell deposits and known cultural ones.…”

“…Searches for underwater shell middens have been attempted in several parts of the world, notably in North America, Europe, and the Red Sea, including diver inspection and use of sub-bottom survey for buried deposits, but their discovery has remained elusive, or else their status as cultural deposits has remained uncertain in the absence of more detailed excavation (Andersen 2009(Andersen , 2013Bailey et al 2007Bailey et al , 2015Easton 1993;Faught 2014;Gusick and Faught 2011;Jazwa and Mather 2014;Nutley 2014;Pearson et al 1986;Skaarup and Grøn 2004). Confirmed examples are very rare: only some freshwater shell deposits in the lake district of Japan (Hayashida et al 2014), and a recent discovery in the Gulf of Mexico (Cook Hale et al 2019).…”