TY - JOUR
T1 - Late Pleistocene and Holocene coastal palaeoeconomics
T2 - A reconsideration of the molluscan evidence from northern Spain
AU - Bailey, Geoff N.
AU - Craighead, Alan S.
PY - 2003/2
Y1 - 2003/2
N2 - The worldwide increase in shell midden deposits on coastlines during the Holocene has been variously explained as the result of human population growth, economic intensification, changes in the visibility of midden deposits with changes in sea level, or climatic and environmental changes. Since coastlines are relatively unstable in geological and ecological terms, and since many archaeological sequences span periods of major climatic change, a critical issue is the ability to disentangle palaeoenvironmental from cultural and anthropogenic effects. We draw on a case study from the cave sequences of northern Spain to illustrate the problems and possibilities of palaeoeconomic and palaeoenvironmental interpretation, using studies of palaeogeographical context and analysis of abundance, taxonomic representation, ecological tolerances, size, growth structures, and other physical and chemical characteristics of the molluscs themselves. We demonstrate that the dominant, but by no means exclusive, factor in archaeologically visible long-term changes in shell-gathering behavior is environmental change rather than cultural change.
AB - The worldwide increase in shell midden deposits on coastlines during the Holocene has been variously explained as the result of human population growth, economic intensification, changes in the visibility of midden deposits with changes in sea level, or climatic and environmental changes. Since coastlines are relatively unstable in geological and ecological terms, and since many archaeological sequences span periods of major climatic change, a critical issue is the ability to disentangle palaeoenvironmental from cultural and anthropogenic effects. We draw on a case study from the cave sequences of northern Spain to illustrate the problems and possibilities of palaeoeconomic and palaeoenvironmental interpretation, using studies of palaeogeographical context and analysis of abundance, taxonomic representation, ecological tolerances, size, growth structures, and other physical and chemical characteristics of the molluscs themselves. We demonstrate that the dominant, but by no means exclusive, factor in archaeologically visible long-term changes in shell-gathering behavior is environmental change rather than cultural change.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=2442686540&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/gea.10057
DO - 10.1002/gea.10057
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:2442686540
VL - 18
SP - 175
EP - 204
JO - Geoarchaeology-An International Journal
JF - Geoarchaeology-An International Journal
SN - 0883-6353
IS - 2
ER -