O estudo de oito sambaquis do litoral sul do Estado de Santa Catarina e de um concheiro da Terra do Fogo permitiu entender a dinâmica dos processos de formação de diferentes tipos de concheiros. No caso dos sambaquis catarinenses, o objetivo principal foi compreender os processos de formação culturais(atividades humanas) e naturais (tafonômicos) e suas mudanças ao longo do tempo, a partir da análise estratigráfica de sítios cuja cronologia envolve todo o período de ocupação humana pré-histórica da região (c. 7400-1000 anos AP). No caso fueguino, realizou-se o estudo micro-estratigráfico de um concheiro etno-histórico, para servir como modelo interpretativo na formulação de hipóteses sobre a formação dos concheiros. Os métodos utilizadospara caracterização dos sedimentos arqueológicos incluíram: granulometria, zooarqueologia, isotopia de C e N ( \'? POT.13\'C e \'? POT.15\' N), micromorfologia e microscopia eletrônica de varredura. Utilizou-se também a analogia experimental com fogueiras acesas em diversos contextos conhecidos e queima controlada de moluscos. Três tipos de sambaquis foram analisados: quatro de padrão estratigráfico conchífero; dois de núcleo arenoso; e dois em montículo ictiológico. A formação do primeiro e terceiro tipos seguiu um padrão recorrente e contínuo que envolve retrabalhamento de elementos depositados e queimados em localdiferente do final. Estes elementos incluem resíduos alimentares, como conchas, restos de peixe (ossos e tecidos) e material vegetais (carvões e plantas de ciclo fotossintético \'C IND.3\'), assim como componentes terrígenos relacionados com o substrato sedimentar nos arredores do sambaqui e com sedimentos provenientes dos bancos de moluscos explorados. Os sambaquis de núcleo arenoso representam ocupações efêmeras, mas planejadas. A sua formação envolveu levantamento de montículos de areia e/ou aproveitamento de dunas eólicas, com posterior deposição de moluscos e resíduos de fogueiras. Desta análise, extraem-se duas implicações substanciais: 1) o hábito de retrabalhamento de resíduos pode ter incluído a destruição dos locais de moradia, nunca achados até o momento, associados aos grandes sambaquis; 2) a correspondência entre o processo de formação identificado nos montículos ictiológicos e nos sambaquis conchíferos sugere continuidade na atividade deposicional, apesar da mudança dematéria prima (substituição das conchas por restos de peixe) e da adoção da tecnologia cerâmica em tempos recentes. O concheiro etno-histórico analisado paracomparação geo-etnoarqueológica foi formado a partir de ocupações domésticas, recorrentes durante pelo menos um século. A análise do anel de conchas periférico possibilitou caracterizar micromorfologicamente os episódios de deposição massiva de conchas, pisoteamentoe abandono do sítio. A análise das fogueiras localizadas na área central do concheiro permitiuidentificar estruturas de combustão de temperatura alta e moderada (superior e inferior a 500° C, respectivamente). A comparação das microfácies do concheiro fueguino com as microfácies identificadas nos sambaquis catarinenses mostra diferentes trajetórias pré-deposicionais, relacionadas, no primeiro caso, com a deposição imediata e secundária de detritos de alimentação nos arredores do local de moradia, e, no caso dos sambaquis, com a sucessão intrincada de ações de deposição, queima e transporte, associada à formação de depósitos terciários. Estas observações corroboram a maior complexidade no processo de formação dos sambaquis. / To understand site formation processes in shell sites, eight sambaquis(shell mounds) from the southern coast of Santa Catarina and one shell midden (conchero) from Tierra del Fuego were studied. For the sambaquis of Santa Catarina, the aim was to understand the cultural and natural formation processes (human activities and taphonomy) and the way they changed through time through the whole period of prehistoric human occupation in the region (c. 7400-1000 years BP). In Tierra del Fuego, the micro-stratgraphic study of an ethnohistoric shell midden was done to serve as model for hypothesis on formation processes of shell sites. The methods used for characterization of archaeological sediments included: grain-size analyses, zooarchaeology, C and N isotopy (\'? POT.13\'C e \'? POT.15\' N), micromorphology and scanning electron microscopy. Experimental archaeology was done using different hearths lit on known contexts and by controlled burning of mollusk shell. Three types of sambaquis were analyzed: four shell mounds; two sand mounds; and two fish mounds. Formation of the first and third group followed a recurrent and continuous pattern of reworking of items, accumulated and burnt in a different location than the final. These items included food refuse, like shell, fish remains (bone and tissue) and plant material (charcoal and residues of \'C IND.3\' plants), as well as terrigenous components from the sedimentary substrate of the surroundings of the site and from the exploredshell beds. Sand mounds are ephemeral but planned occupations. Their formation involved rising of a sand mound and/or occupation over sand dunes, with deposition of shells and plant remains on top. Two substantial implications are extracted from this analyses: 1) the reworking of food residues may be destructing the remains of daily occupations associated with the large sambaquis, that have never been found to this moment; 2) the correspondence of formation process in shell mounds and fish mounds suggests continuity in the depositional activities, besides the change in material (substitution of shell by fish remains) and adoption of ceramic technology in recent times. The ethnohistorical site analyzed for geo-ethnoarchaeological comparison was formed by recurrent domestic occupations that lasted for a century. Analyses of the peripheral shell ring allowed the micromorphological characterization of episodes of massive shell deposition, trampling and site abandonment. Analyses of hearths located in the central habitation area showed micromorphological indicators of high temperature and moderate temperature combustion structures (over and under 500° C, respectivley). Comparison of microfacies from the fueguian shell midden and microfacies from the sambaquis shows different pre-depositional trajectories. In the first case, deposition is related with the immediate and secondary discard of food refuse around the living space. In the second case, formation is related with an intricate succession of deposition, burning and transport of items that resulted in a tertiary deposit. These observations corroborate the great complexity in the formation processes of sambaquis.

Em meio aos manguezais de Cananéia (extremo sul do litoral de SP), foram identificados, no âmbito do Programa Arqueológico do Baixo Vale do Ribeira, oito sambaquis que apresentam vestígios arqueológicos submersos. Com o objetivo de compreender a ocorrência desses sambaquis e de contextualizá-los espaço-temporalmente em meio às flutuações holocênicas do nível do mar, esta dissertação fundamentou-se em uma adaptação da técnica do Vibracoring, em métodos e técnicas da Arqueologia Subaquática, na abordagem geoarqueológica proposta por Waters (1992) e no estudo dos Processos de Formação adotados por Stein (1992). Dessa maneira, o presente trabalho pode identificar que o potencial de preservação e a distribuição dos sambaquis nessa região apresentam uma forte correlação com as oscilações do Nível Relativo do Mar, que ocorreram após o último máximo regressivo holocênico. Essas evidências indicaram também, que além de existirem chances reais de sambaquis totalmente submersos terem se preservado, nem sempre sítios relativos a um antigo nível marinho acabaram sendo destruídos ou ficando submersos. Em alguns casos, sambaquis que deveriam ter sido destruídos ou estarem submersos, encontram-se em terra, recobertos por sedimentos costeiros mais recentes ou protegidas por alguma formação geológica. Além de sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento e amadurecimento de uma Arqueologia Subaquática científica e para o estudo das curvas de Variação do Nível Relativo do Mar, esta pesquisa identificou algumas evidências importantes para a compreensão do fenômeno dos sambaquis, como por exemplo, a ocorrência de seqüências estratigráficas que atribuem diferenças funcionais e uma intencionalidade à construção de alguns sítios, assim como, datações que remetem a ocupação sambaquieira de Cananéia a uma antiguidade de quase 8.000 anos. / Among the Cananéia mangrove swamp (extreme south of São Paulo’s coastline), it was identified within the Archeological Programme of the Lower Ribeira Valley, eight shell middens within which could be found archeological submerged traces. Aiming at the understanding of these shell middens occurrence and the contextualisation in space and time in relation to the holocenic variations of the sea level, this monograph was based on an adaptation of the Vibracoring technique, underwater archeological methods and techniques, on the geoarcheological interpretation of Waters (1992), and on the studies of Formation Process adopted by Stein (1992). Thus, the shell middens preserving potential and distribution in this area shows a strong correlation with the sea related level changes, that occurred after the last holocenic regressive maximum. These evidences also indicated that not only were there real chances that completely submerged shell midden were preserved but also that it is not always that sites related to an ancient sea level ended up into being destroyed or kept submerged. In some cases, some that should have been destroyed or kept submerged, are seen in land covered by recent coast sediments or protected by any geological feature. Besides contributing to the development and maturation of the scientific underwater archeology and for the studies of the curves of the sea related level changes the research also identified some important evidences to the understanding of the shell middens phenomenon such as the occurrence of stratigraphic sequences that attach functional differences and an intention in building some sites, such as the one dated back to almost 8.000 years ago when Cananéia was first inhabited by the people of the shell middens

This dissertation is concerned with the analysis of a late portion of the Crescent Beach shell midden (DgRr 1 ) situated on Boundary Bay in the southern Fraser River Delta of British Columbia. The basic objectives of this study are the recovery and analysis of shell midden layers and their constituents to obtain information on Coast Salish subsistence activities, and to initiate a better understanding of shell midden formation. The cultural history of the Strait of Georgia region is viewed as a 5,000 year long Tradition of Coast Salish Cultures. To place the archaeological materials from Crescent Beach in their proper cultural ecological perspective, the environmental, ethnographic and archaeological setting of the site and surrounding region is examined. The historic ecological communities of Boundary Bay are reconstructed and the abundance and availability of species of economic value determined. Ethnographic Coast Salish Culture and economic strategies are examined and possible settlement patterns reconstructed for Boundary Bay. To assist in identifying subsistence activities at Crescent Beach a shell midden model is presented outlining the systemic and archaeological transformation processes responsible for the site's development. In light of this model and the above environmental and ethnographic data the most probable seasons of site occupation are suggested. Archaeological data were recovered by the hand trowel excavation of a block of shell midden layers and the matrix, provenienced within a 0.25 m2 unit, was waterscreened through a 1.45 mm mesh screen. In total some 24 m3 of shell midden weighing 28.8 t were excavated. Recove of midden constituents was accomplished through a multiple tier sampling system. Radiocarbon estimates of 1350 to 480 B.P., place the 31 layers recovered from Crescent Beach in the Developed Coast Salish Culture. Seasonality dating of shellfish growth patterns and analysis of layer constituents indicate the site was a shellfish and herring harvesting camp occupied in February and March. Layers recovered from Crescent Beach reflect shellfish and herring processing (steaming, sorting, refuse discard, and meat preservation) as well as the immediate consumption of other foods. Artifacts indicate the manufacture, mostly in bone and antler, of tools used in fishing, woodworking and hide processing, the latter two activities conducted at the site. Procurement of shellfish, crab and most fish species probably took place along the 3 km stretch of beach south of the site where present ecological communities contain identical resources as found in the site. Petroglyphs and a fort-lookout site also attest to the use of this area. Shellfish were the most common faunal remain, followed by a much lesser quantity of fish, waterfowl and some large mammals. In addition to the Crescent Beach site, the Deep Bay site (DiSe 7) and Shoal Bay site (DcRt 1) may also be seasonal shellfish and herring harvesting camps, and it is suggested that Whalen II (DfRs 3) and the Locarno Beach site (DhRt 6) may have had similar uses. This evidence and the fact additional seasonal sites dating to the Locarno Beach Culture have been identified indicates the Proto-Coast Salish had a specialized economic system by 3,500 B.P. and possibly earlier. Indications of social ranking are also evident by this time. The approach followed in this study indicates accurate information on economic strategies may be obtained from shell middens. Where research is interested primarily in seasonality, settlement pattern and subsistence the controlled excavation of small blocks of shell midden layers, fine mesh water screening, and analysis of small numbers of shell samples will be adequate. This has important implications for the study and resource management of the shell middens of the Strait of Georgia region. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The history of death is entangled with the history of changing social values, meaning that a shift in attitudes to death will be consistent with changes in a society’s world view. Late Mesolithic shell middens in the Tagus and Sado valleys, Portugal, constitute some of the largest and earliest burial grounds known, arranged and maintained by people with a hunting, fishing, and foraging lifestyle, c 6000–5000 cal BCE. These sites have been interpreted in the light of economic and environmental processes as territorial claims to establish control over limited resources. This approach does not explain the significance of the frequent disposal of the dead in neighbouring burial grounds, and how these places were meaningful and socially recognized. The aim of this dissertation is to answer these questions through the detailed analysis of museum collections of human burials from these sites, excavated between the late nineteenth century and the 1960s. I examine the burial activity of the last hunter-gatherers of the south-western Iberian Peninsula from an archaeological perspective, and explain the burial phenomenon through the lens of historical and humanist approaches to death and hunter-gatherers, on the basis of theoretical concepts of social memory, place, mortuary ritual practice, and historical processes. Human burials are investigated in terms of time and practice based on the application of three methods: radiocarbon dating and Bayesian analysis to define the chronological framework of the burial activity at each site and valley; stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen aimed at defining the burial populations by the identification of dietary choices; and archaeothanatology to reconstruct and define central practices in the treatment of the dead. This dissertation provides new perspectives on the role and relevance of the shell middens in the Tagus and Sado valleys. Hunter-gatherers frequenting these sites were bound by shared social practices, which included the formation and maintenance of burial grounds, as a primary means of history making. Death rituals played a central role in the life of these hunter-gatherers in developing a sense of community, as well as maintaining social ties in both life and death.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 1995. / The main concern of this study is the investigation of the events which initiated the symbolic construction of communities in the south-eastern Cape during the Holocene Later Stone Age. To understand and to explain the relationships which existed between different groups in this region a social approach was followed. The data presented in this thesis are a summary of the results obtained from a large number of open-air shell middens, a coastal shelter, Kabeljous River Shelter 1, two coastal caves, Klasies River Caves 1 and 5 along the Cape St Francis coast and The Havens Cave, one of several sites excavated in the adjacent Cape mountains. Lithic evidence from the coastal sites indicates that during the past ·+500 years two distinctly different stone tool industries co-existed side by side along the south-eastern Cape coast. Caves were first occupied between 5800 and 4200 BP by groups with a typical Wilton Industry. At ca 3000 BP the Wilton Indu.rry was 'replaced' in the caves by a macro lithic quartzite cobble industry, named the Kabeljous Industry, but was still present in open-air shell middens until ca 1900 BP. At Klasies River Cave 5 both industries were Pl esent in the cave from 4200 BP to ca 3000 BP. There are no marked differences in the subsistence activities between the two different lithic industries and therefore it is argued that the Kabeljous industry does not reflect technological adaptation to a coastal environment. Instead I argue that the stone tools, as part of material culture production, played an active role in communicating information between groups. Central to the understanding of these social relationships are the concepts of power relations and inclusion. Style was the medium through which groups expressed symbolic group identity and maintained social boundaries. Important however, is the fact that the power rclutinns generated by symbolic identity expression was not aimed at excluding ether groups from their territory, but rather at. inclusion.

Fifteen bone tool assemblages from shell midden sites were compared. Three of these are unpublished sites from Prince Rupert Harbor. They were grouped using cluster analysis. Inter and intragroup variation in bone tool assemblage structure was analyzed. One of the objectives of this study was to generate hypotheses about the function of the unpublished sites by comparing their bone tool assemblages with those from sites which are better understood by looking for underlying patterns in the bone tool assemblages. Other objectives were to test the utility of using bone tool assemblages as a diagnostic tool in analyzing sites and to test the utility of the cluster analysis procedure with this data set. Hypotheses were developed identifying possible site usage at the three Prince Rupert Harbor sites, Boardwalk (GbTo-31), Garden Island (GbTo-23), and Grassy Bay (GbTn-1). Bone tool assemblages were shown to be a useful aid in site analysis and cluster analysis was quite useful in identifying existing patterns in these data.

South Africa contains many archaeological resources including shell middens from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA). These shell middens give researchers insight into the behaviour of modern humans where the first fossil evidence appears in Africa around 200 000 years ago (Klein, 2008). Research into shell middens is therefore vital to understand the origin of human kind. This study investigates whether Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a useful tool for predicting locations of unknown shell midden sites using the characteristics of known areas of modern human habitation. This was done using suitability analysis and expert mapping techniques. Ground truthing of the results of the desktop analysis revealed that GIS is not a useful tool for predicting sites of modern habitation as the characteristics that determine human habitation are too variable.

Le site d’Ucanal, dans le Petén au Guatemala près de la frontière avec le Bélize, est un site maya avec une très forte occupation et un grand centre cérémoniel actif durant le Classique terminal, une période où de nombreuses autres cités mayas étaient en ébullition politique ou en train d’être abandonnés. Les jeux de balle faisant partie des centres civiques ont très souvent été fouillés dans des optiques reliées aux activités cérémonielles et à l’élite. Ce mémoire propose d’étudier les déchets provenant des dépotoirs situés en périphérie du jeu de balle afin d’étudier les activités pratiquées par les spectateurs et non juste celles des officiants. Pour ce faire, une analyse globale de tous les artefacts (lithiques, céramiques et fauniques) du jeu de balle #1 du groupe A d’Ucanal a été réalisée. Des analyses de la distribution des artefacts entre les différentes zones du terrain de jeu et entre le terrain de jeu et d'autres contextes du site ont été entreprises afin d'identifier l'éventail possible d'activités associées au terrain de jeu d'Ucanal. Les résultats démontrent qu’en plus des activités rituelles généralement documentées en contexte de jeu de balle, le jeu de balle d’Ucanal est associé à des activités de festins qui impliquent une grande consommation de coquillages possiblement accompagnée de musique et de paris. / The archaeological site of Ucanal, located in the Petén region of Guatemala near the border with Belize, is a Maya site with a large population and active ceremonial centre during the Terminal Classic, a period in which other sites were wrought with political turmoil or were in the process of being abandoned. The ballcourts located in civic centers have often been researched from the perspective of formal ceremonial activities and the elite. This thesis proposes to study the debris from middens located on the outskirts of the Ucanal site ballcourt in order to study the activities practiced by spectators instead of focusing solely on the formal activities within the court itself. To do so, a holistic documentation of all the artifacts (lithic, ceramic and fauna) was conducted from excavations of ballcourt #1 of group A of Ucanal. Artifact distribution analyses between different zones of the ballcourt and between the ballcourt and other areas of the site were undertaken to identify the possible range of activities associated with Ucanal’s ballcourt. The results show that in addition to the ritual activities generally documented in the context of ball games, Ucanal's ballcourt was associated with feasting activities which involved freshwater shells and possibly the accompaniment of music and gambling.

Traditionally archaeology has referred to the anthropic sediments accumulated around prehistoric settlements with the blanket term ‘midden’. This is now recognised as an inadequate term to describe the complex formation processes and functions represented in these sediments. This thesis reviewed the body of evidence accumulated over the past century of research into Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements on the islands of the Scottish North Atlantic seaboard and extrapolated the many occurrences of ‘midden’. Several contexts emerged for these sediments including interior floors, hearths, exterior occupational surfaces, dumped deposits, building construction materials and abandonment infill. In addition, ‘midden’ is described added to cultivated soils to form fertile anthrosols. The way in which prehistoric communities exploited this material for agriculture and construction has been described through geoarchaeological research which implied that to past communities ‘midden’ was a valuable resource. This led to the formation of a model based upon a human ecodynamics framework to hypothesise sediment formation pathways. Rescue excavation at the Links of Noltland, Westray provided an opportunity to conduct a holistic landscape and fine resolution based study of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement to test this model. The research incorporated auger survey, archaeological and geoarchaeological excavation, thin section micromorphology and SEM EDX analyses. Sediments identified in literature review and recovered from the field site were described using this toolkit and set within a cultural and environmental context. Results demonstrate that anthropic materials were incorporated into all contexts examined. Discrete burning and maintenance activities were found to have taken place during the gradual accumulation of open-air anthropic sediments whilst incorporation of fuel residues and hearth waste into floors lead to the gradual formation of ‘living floors’ inside structures. An unexpected discovery was evidence of animal penning within late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age settlement and the in situ burning of stabling waste. Three types iv | P a g e of land management strategy which relied upon the input of anthropic sediments were evidenced and the range and extent of anthropic inclusions in the landscape recorded. Spatial interpolation of auger survey data utilised a new sub-surface modelling technique being developed by the British Geological Survey to explore soil stratigraphic relationships in 3D. SEM EDX analysis supported micromorphological analysis providing chemical data for discrete inclusions and assisting in the identification of herbivore dun ash and the Orcadian funerary product ‘cramp’. SEM EDX analysis was also applied to fine organo-mineral material for statistical testing of nutrient loadings across context groups. It was found that anthropic sediments were enriched in macro and intermediate plant nutrients Mg, P, K, S and Ca compared to geological controls, and the application of anthropic material to cultivated soils improved soil fertility for the three observed land management practices. The versatility of anthropic sediments was explored through discussion of context groups based upon the results of this research and the potential significance of this material to prehistoric communities is explored.