Hallo Mark
This is preliminary anecdotal information from Romano-British North
Cornish coastal site, UK.  I haven't done the analysis yet.  Not the
tropical or subtropical environment you are working with but just to add
to the pool of information you will gather...

Amongst very substantial deposits of limpets, mussels and dog whelks are
carapace and claw remains of the edible (brown) crab Cancer pagurus.
The thickness of these 'shells' suggests the animals were very large (I
haven't worked out carapace width yet), substantially bigger than
anything you see on the fishmonger's slab today.  First impression is
that only large individuals were harvested. 

>From a completely direction, from analysis of modern day subtidal
biogenic sediments, carapace fragments are rare compared to skeletal
remains of many other carbonate secreting invertebrates and compared to
observed densities of live decapods in benthic communities.  Your
colleague Peter Hogarth will know about the decalcification that occurs
prior to ecdysis and this, and the fact that recently moulted
individuals consume some of the shed exoskeleton, are explanations
offered for the paucity of decapod shell in seabed sediments.  This
wouldn't apply to harvested animals but the preservation potential of
the shell is one aspect to consider.

Regards Jan
In message <[log in to unmask]>, Mark Beech
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>"Crustaceans were probably more important economically than their
>presence in archaeological sites suggests" p.45.  Reitz, E.J. and Wing,
>E.S. (1999). Zooarchaeology. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge
>University Press.
>
>Inspired by this....  I am currently trying to track down published
>references to the study of archaeological crab remains, and am
>particularly interested in any literature relating to tropical or
>sub-tropical areas. I am currently collaborating with Peter Hogarth (an
>Indo-Pacific decapod specialist in the Biology dept. here at York
>University) in a regional study of archaeological crab remains from the
>Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The archaeological material comes from a
>collection of sites ranging in date from about 6000 - 3000 BP. What
>would be particularly useful are more substantial publications which
>deal with problems of identification, quantification and size
>reconstruction. We are especially interested in any evidence suggesting
>size decrease through time from over exploitation. The most common crab
>species occurring in our archaeological samples are blue swimming crabs:
>Portunidae: Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) and the mud crab:
>Portunidae: Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1755).
>
>Take a quick peek at these websites if you want to see what they look
>like:
>
>http://www.ciesm.org/atlas/Portunuspelagicus.html
>
>http://lionfish.ims.usm.edu/~musweb/nis/Scylla_serrata.html
>(note the use of a beer can as a photo scale!)
>
>I have come across a few articles by Elizabeth Wing and related
>co-workers which include a mention of crabs in their analyses of
>bioarchaeological remains from excavations in Florida/the Caribbean
>region, BUT can anyone suggest any other published studies? I would
>imagine that there must be other literature in the Americas and
>particularly in Australia/Oceania/the Pacific which could be of
>interest?  Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
>
>best wishes,
>
>Mark Beech
>___________________________________
>
> Department of Archaeology
> University of York
> The King's Manor
> York YO1 7EP
> UK
> Tel: +44 1904 434995
> Fax: +44 1904 433902
> email: [log in to unmask]
> web:  http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~mjb117
>          http://www.markbeech.com
>___________________________________
>
>

-- 
Janice Light
88 Peperharow Road
Godalming  Surrey
GU7 2PN, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1483 417782
Mob: 0973 322681
email: [log in to unmask]

Carbonate Group, Dept of Geology
Royal Holloway University of London
Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
email: [log in to unmask]


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