Return to the Shellfish Beds: New Insights on Use of California Sea Mussels (Mytilus californianus) and Turban Snails (Tegula spp.) Based on Harvesting Experiments

ABSTRACT

Sea mussels and turban snails are among the most abundant mollusks recovered from central California middens. Experimental harvests of these and other shellfish have been conducted to help interpret archaeological findings, but methodological complications have plagued many of the early experiments. Here we report results of harvest experiments of mussels and turban snails completed between 2016 and 2022 on the Pecho coast of San Luis Obispo County. We developed a local formula to convert umbo thickness measurements into whole mussel valve length, and this article reports new return rates, including one of over 1,500 kcal/hour for mussels obtained by an experienced shellfish collector. This rate demonstrates the importance of accumulated knowledge in subsistence experiments, and suggests that mussels have higher dietary potential than previously thought. Archaeological mussel size profiles suggest that a selective (plucking-like) strategy was associated with sustainable harvest for at least the last 5,000 years on the Pecho coast.

RESUMEN

Los mejillones de mar y los caracoles turbante se encuentran entre los moluscos más abundantes recuperados de los basureros del centro de California. Se han realizado cosechas experimentales de estos y otros mariscos para ayudar a interpretar los hallazgos arqueológicos, pero las complicaciones metodológicas plagaron muchos de los primeros experimentos. Aquí informamos los resultados de los experimentos de cosecha de mejillones y caracoles turbante completados entre 2016 y 2022 en la costa de Pecho del condado de San Luis Obispo. Desarrollamos una fórmula local para convertir las medidas del grosor del umbo en la longitud total de la válvula del mejillón y reportamos nuevas tasas de retorno, incluida una de más de 1,500 kcal/hora para mejillones obtenida por un recolector de mariscos experimentado. Esta tasa demuestra la importancia del conocimiento acumulado en los experimentos de subsistencia y sugiere que los mejillones tienen un potencial dietético más alto de lo que se pensaba anteriormente. Los perfiles arqueológicos del tamaño del mejillón sugieren que una estrategia selectiva (similar al desplumado) se asoció con la captura sostenible durante al menos los últimos 5,000 años en la costa de Pecho.

KEYWORDS:

• Shellfish
• mussels
• sustainability
• harvesting strategies
• experimental archaeology

Acknowledgments

We thank Mike Taggart, Kelly Kephart, and especially Steven Pengilley for facilitating our access to the Diablo Cove shellfish beds. All collections were completed under the provisions of Fish and Game Scientific Collection Permit SC-13917. For their assistance with the archaeological research at CA-SLO-7 and CA-SLO-1370/H, we are indebted to Mike Taggart, Maggie Trumbly, Leroy Laurie, and Barry Price, and especially to our yak tichu tichu yak tilhini northern Chumash partners, Mona Tucker and Matthew Tucker, who served as monitors on the projects. We also thank Rachel Burgess for measuring the archaeological umbos from CA-SLO-1370/H.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).