Diversity in North Pacific shellfish assemblages: the barnacles of Kit’n’Kaboodle Cave, Alaska

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science Vol. 37; no. 12; pp. 3359 - 3369
• Main Authors: Moss, Madonna L., Erlandson, Jon M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: America and Arctic regions; Arctic regions; Crustaceans; Environmental studies; Fauna; Intertidal resources; Methodology and general studies; Mussels; Northwest Coast; Prehistory and protohistory; Alaska; Arctic; North America; United States of America; America; Crustaceans; Intertidal resources; Northwest Coast; Mussels; Shell midden; Shellfish; Fauna; Crustacean; Mollusc
• ISSN: 0305-4403; 1095-9238
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.08.004

Although the dietary importance of barnacles is recognized in Europe and elsewhere around the world, indigenous use of barnacles on the Pacific coast of North America has not been well-documented. On the Northwest Coast, most shell middens located along estuaries are dominated by clams (such as
Saxidomus,
Protothaca, etc.), while those on the outer coast are dominated by mussels (
Mytilus californianus). At Kit’n’Kaboodle Cave in southeast Alaska, the acorn barnacle
Semibalanus cariosus is unusually abundant over a 3500-year period, but is replaced by mussels over time. These results are placed within a larger geographic context to more closely examine patterns of barnacle use by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest.