[Dtwg] turtles

[Rebecca A Saunders]

Andrew (et al.)!
Sorry for the slow reply. At the moment, I'm finishing up the semester.
The short answer is: I don't know of any specific ethnohistoric remarks about turtle (terrapin) abundance off the top of my head, and I don't have access to my library. Here are a few things I do know about use:
-the idea among many New and Old World cultures that the earth is on the back of a turtle--so the turtle is 'fundamental' (see slide)
-at the Clovis period (ca. 11,000 BP) Gault site in Texas, turtles were the most abundant food item (i.e., more heavily relied on than Pleistocene megafauna)
-in coastal sites anyway (lower Atlantic, central and panhandle Gulf), in latter prehistory, turtle is a consistent inclusion in middens, but most abundant protein and calories source is small (nettable) fishes.
-Where I have found the most turtle in latter sites is in ceremonial contexts, where they may have served (heh) as food items, but they were also used to make rattles.
Some years ago, a student from Italy contacted me about turtles, and I sent her the attached. I'm sorry, the format is unwieldy, but I don't have a good way to fix it from home.--As it turns out, I can't send this all at once, so I'll send a few at a time.

I'd be happy to revisit this when I have better access to my books.




Dr. Rebecca Saunders

W.G. Haag Professor of Archaeology

Department of Geography and Anthropology

B19 Gym-Armory (Cox Communication)

Mail: 119 Foster Hall, LSU

225-578-6562




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