An Analysis of Urchin Harvesting at Tse-Whit-Zen Village
Research on marine resources indicates size-selective harvesting reduces the population size over time. Tse-Whit-Zen Village's shell midden, on the Olympic Peninsula, has remains of two different urchin species used as food by early inhabitants. The remains are fragmented, making comparisons of body size over time impossible. The size of ossicles (in the urchin's jaw) are linearly related to body size, but it is difficult to differentiate ossicle fragments by species. I measured 550 ossicles and statistically assigned them to species. I then examined the average size of each species over time to determine whether size-selective harvesting could be observed archaeologically.
Object Details
Creators/Contributors
- Benson, Erin - author
- Sarah, Campbell, - contributor
Collection
collections Scholars Week | Conferences and Events
Identifier
1012
Date Issued
May 14th, 2015
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