Ts’a7inwa (gooseneck barnacles) as a proxy for archaeological efforts to understand shellfish as food in Nuu-chah-nulth territories
Date
2019-10-03
Authors
Efford, Meaghan Karyn
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Abstract
This thesis examines the comparative abundance of shellfish from archaeological assemblages on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Nuu-chah-nulth territories. Eighteen sites spanning the Nuu-chah-nulth region emphasize the diversity in invertebrate foods that have been consumed 5000-150 years ago: Yaksis Cave, Loon Cave, and Hesquiat Village at Hesquiat Harbour; Chesterman Beach; Spring Cove; Ts’ishaa, Ch’ituukwachisht (North and South), Tl’ihuuw’a, Shiwitis, Huumuuwaa, Maktl7ii, Huts’atswilh, Kakmakimilh, Kiix7iin, and Huu7ii. Invertebrate zooarchaeology is an understudied field that has the potential to impact ecological restoration and conservation efforts. Ubiquity, or frequency of occurrence, provides a measure of abundance for a target taxa or species through a percent presence/absence approach. Regionally conventional methods of invertebrate analysis, including weight-based quantification, primarily favour heavy and robust bivalves, such as clams and mussels, and diminish the presence of other frequently occurring invertebrates. Ubiquity-based quantification shows how frequently ‘other’ shellfish have been utilized over time and across archaeological deposits. Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes polymerus) are often considered rare, an unimportant intertidal resource, but ubiquity-based analyses show that they are far more abundant than previously appreciated. A methodological combination of these two approaches shows vastly different perspectives on shellfish abundance, and this has implications for how the dietary role of shellfish is understood and discussed in archaeological discourse.
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Invertebrate archaeology, Zooarchaeology, Historical Ecology, Nuu-chah-nulth