Hi,
On the north west coast of Washington and British Columbia we get crab
shell in the shell middens. Usually it's burnt crab claw tips. We don't
find them in large amounts but they show up fairly regularly in small
quantities. I have also seen body shell, but in even smaller amounts. The
rarity of body shell bits may reflect identification problems as much as
poor preservation.
Cheers, Becky Wigen
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce J. Bourque" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 7:13 AM
Subject: [ZOOARCH] crustaceans
>A colleague and I have been puzzling about the absence of crustacean
> remains in Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Maine shell middens. He points
> out that lobster and crab chitin in particular is well calcified and
> therefore should survive in this carbonate-rich environment. I
> counter that in over forty sites I have examined I have recovered a
> single small carbonized fragment of crab claw. Even accidental
> inclusions should have produced many more recoveries if chitin is
> preserved in shell middens.
>
> So my basic question is where in the world and under what conditions
> have archaeologists recovered crustacean shell? And secondarily, has
> anyone examined the structure of chitin in this regard?
>
> Bruce J. Bourque
> Chief Archaeologist
> Maine State Museum
> Augusta, Maine 04333
>
> and
>
> Senior Lecturer in Anthropology
> Bates College
> Lewiston, Maine 04240
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