Hello,

I was wondering if anyone else has a way of identifying northern (pinto) abalone in shell midden deposits on the NWC of North America.  I am aware of the work down in southern California.  However, those abalone are quite different in terms of durability to the northern variant.  I am interested in any chemical or other physical techniques for id’ing fragments of shell and in separating it from other similar shell.

I have reviewed a number of available databases and papers doing faunal analysis – it would appear that northern abalone is rarely mentioned or encountered.  The major shell components of middens on the north coast of BC that concerns us are clams, mussels, and barnacle (in varying proportions).   In these contexts abalone appears rare, though I have been wondering if it is more of a combination of id’ing techniques and the location of sites that most previous research in the region has focused on.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Charles Menzies
--
Charles R. Menzies, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Anthropology and
Director of the Ethnographic Film Unit at UBC
Department of Anthropology, UBC
6303 NW Marine Drive
Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1

+1-604-822-2240

email: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]

http://www.charlesmenzies.ca
http://anthfilm.anth.ubc.ca
http://www.ecoknow.ca

PLEASE NOTE:   UBC is changing the faculty email system.  The old @interchange emails we soon cease to function.  Please update your address book to [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask].