Archaeology Project 2003 Field Season

The focus of the 2003 summer work will involve limited excavation and more detailed analysis of the shell remains recovered from 15.157. The focus of the excavations will be to open up a 1 x 1 meter unit between Test Pit I and Test Pit D, where the remains of a hearth, stones, and bone were uncovered. The other major focus of our research efforts will be sampling modern Mya arenaria communities representing different degrees of human selection pressure and comparing them to archaeological sample populations recovered from the Brewer Cove site. Through size distribution analyses, we hope to draw inferences about the type of habitats and technologies used by the inhabitants to procure soft shell clam and the degree to which human selection pressures are reflected in the Mya arenaria archaeological assemblage. Rusack Fellow, Amy Hodges ('05) and Anne Henshaw will collaborate with Lindsey Whitlow and his students who are studying the behavioral effects of green crab on contemporary Mya communities. Our students will be sampling the same modern communities and the results of their research should prove mutually informative. This type of cross-disciplinary training exemplifies the type of research we encourage in Coastal Studies.

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