Applied Zooarchaeology of Freshwater Mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) Shell from Golson (22HU508), A Deasonville-Period Site on the Yazoo River, Mississippi

ABSTRACT

Excavations at Golson (22HU508), an archaeological site on the Yazoo River in western Mississippi, USA, produced an assemblage of over 4000 freshwater mussel shells, 77 percent of which were identifiable to species. Although limited spatial sampling of the deposits limits what can be said about past mussel community characteristics, twelve new river records for mussel species are derived from the assemblage. This typical result emphasises the value of archaeological shell assemblages for conservation biology and provides a rationale for why sites containing shell may be considered significant based upon their potential contributions to environmental history.

KEYWORDS:

• Applied zooarchaeology
• unionidae
• biogeography
• restoration ecology
• lower Mississippi River valley

Acknowledgements

We thank the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and PCI for giving us the opportunity to analyse the Golson Site shell assemblage, especially Jennifer Ryan for her help related to her work at the site. We also thank Bob Jones of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science for providing data related to modern mussel populations in the Yazoo River.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

C. Andrew Buchner http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2620-3119