전자저널 > 전자저널 > Seasonality of shellfish collection determined by growth-line analysis of the hard clam, Meretrix petechialis (Lamarck) recovered from the Eurwang-dong Shell Midden, Incheon, Korea

Seasonality of shellfish collection determined by growth-line analysis of the hard clam, Meretrix petechialis (Lamarck) recovered from the Eurwang-dong Shell Midden, Incheon, Korea

Deog-im An and Dong-Ki Ryu

Hanseo University, Seosan 31962 , Korea Kunsan National University, Gunsan 54150, Korea

Growth-line analysis was carried out on 80 hard clam (Meretrix petechialis) from the Neolithic Age Eurwang-dong Shell Midden, Incheon, Korea, to determine the seasonality of shellfish collection and site occupation. Growth increments and the marginal index (MI) of the specimens were examined. And then the marginal index was compared to the monthly MI of modern specimens under the assumption that the growth pattern was the same as it is today. MI of the archaeological specimens ranged from 0.12 to 1.55 and was divided into four categories: < 0.63, spring; 0.63-0.76, summer; 0.76-0.89, fall; ? 0.89, winter collection. As a result, 57 specimens (71.25%) of 80 specimens represented spring, 8 (10.0%) summer, 3 (3.75%) fall and 12 (15.0%) winter collection. The result indicates that shellfish could be collected year-round at the site with an emphasis on spring. Based on the size distribution of shells and the content of the midden, however, it seems that the midden site was not occupied permanently throughout the year but was used repeatedly but temporally for shellfish gathering and processing.

v31_4_25-30.pdf (970.2K), Down : 144, 2016-04-25 10:53:58