Dear Zooarchers,

In many Scottish island settlement sites, (e.g. brochs and roundhouses etc) and on the Isles of Scilly you find 'tanks' or stone boxes, often lined with clay that have been interpreted as storage for shellfish etc.  I seem to remember that the reconstruction at Skara Brae went so far as to have large plastic crabs in their tank (no water though).  I would like to say we have found them left with shellfish or crustacea in them, but they are generally empty - no doubt as rotting marine things  are really most foul. 

References - if you need some let me know (I know of no summary of tank construction/date location) - perhaps it would be a good dissertation for a student.  There is an on-line reference to them with regard to brochs at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_112/112_254_276.pdf

Jacqui  




>>> Peter Bogucki <[log in to unmask]> 12/06/2006 21:52 >>>
In 1978, at the Neolithic site of Brzesc Kujawski in Poland, we excavated a 
pit dug into clay that appeared to have once held water and had a layer of 
relatively intact Unio shells.    We hypothesized that it was for the 
live-storage of shellfish, turtles, and other such aquatic life from the 
adjacent lakes and streams (complemented by a lot of other lacustrine fauna 
like fish and waterfowl elsewhere on the site, reflecting a keen interest in 
such resources.)    It's described in a 1981 article in World Archaeology 
that can be found at 
http://www.princeton.edu/~bogucki/BoguckiGrygielWA1981.pdf 
I wish I could say that in the last three decades we've found more of these 
pits at contemporaneous sites nearby, but unfortunately, that's not the 
case.   It seemed like a good idea at the time.

--Peter Bogucki
[log in to unmask] (private)





>From: "Gregory G. Monks" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "Gregory G. Monks" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask] 
>Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] shellfish storage
>Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:26:32 -0500
>
>Hello Canan,
>	A  possibly related feature is described for the Coast Salish of  British 
>Columbia on Canada's west coast. Cobbles heated in a fire  were placed in a 
>shallow pit, covered with green boughs or leaves,  and fresh clams were 
>placed on the vegetation. More vegetation was  added, then the pit was 
>covered with earth. Once cooked, the clams  were removed, eaten fresh, or 
>processed for storage. The reference is:
>
>Barnett, Homer G. (1955) The Coast Salish of British Columbia.  Originally 
>published by the University of Oregon Press, later re- published by 
>Greenwood Press. Page 61 in the latter edition.
>
>One can imagine that clay-lined pits might have constituted a more  
>permanent and re-useable version of the oven described above and that  the 
>clay may have been heated directly by a fire built in the pit,  thus 
>replacing the stones.
>
>	Not incidentally, the clams from these features constitute excellent  
>candidates for seasonality analysis if one can reasonably assume that  all 
>those in one sealed feature were collected within a day or so of  each 
>other. See Monks and Johnston (1993) Estimating season of death  from 
>growth increment data: a critical review. ArchaeoZoologia  vol.  V, no. 2, 
>pp. 17-40.
>
>Regards,
>Greg Monks
>
>Gregory G. Monks, Ph.D.
>Professor, Associate Head
>[log in to unmask] 
>(204) 474-6332
>
>Ancora imparo
>
>
>
>On Jun 10, 2006, at 5:53 PM, canan cakirlar wrote:
>
>>Dear colleagues,
>>
>>There's a prehistoric site in Turkish Thrace, on the Aegean coast.  Namely 
>>Hocacesme. Archaeologists are reporting that they found  thousands of 
>>shells recovered in pits. The shells appeared to have  been sorted in 
>>species and sizes. The pits were lined with clay and  sealed with clay. I 
>>havent seen photos of this find. The project  director is interpreting the 
>>find as remains of shellfish storage  activity. I don't know of any 
>>comparatives. If anyone knows of such  a phenomenon, I would appreciate a 
>>reference or any thoughts about  what this find might be.
>>
>>thank you!!!
>>
>>
>>
>>Canan Cakirlar, M.A.
>>
>>http://www.urgeschichte.uni-tuebingen.de/index.php?id=251&L=1 
>>
>>Inst. für Urgeschichte
>>Eugenstr. 40
>>D-72072 Tübingen
>>
>>tel: 00 49 7071 301 340
>>__________________________________________________
>>Do You Yahoo!?
>>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>>http://mail.yahoo.com 
>