Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 8 September 1978:
Vol. 201. no. 4359, pp. 911 - 913
DOI: 10.1126/science.201.4359.911
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Early Archeological Evidence for Shellfish Collecting

THOMAS P. VOLMAN 1

1 Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637

Geologic evidence, supported by infinite carbon-14 dates and Middle Stone Age cultural associations, indicates that two open-air shell middens recently found at Sea Harvest and Hoedjies Punt, Saldanha Bay, South Africa, date from the terminal part of the Last Interglacial, about 70,000 to 60,000 years ago. These middens are among the oldest known records for systematic human exploitation of marine resources anywhere in the world. The faunal contents of the middens suggest that the Middle Stone Age people who accumulated them utilized marine resources less intensively than their Later Stone Age successors in similar coastal settings.

Submitted on February 13, 1978
Revised on May 8, 1978


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Inaugural Article: The Ysterfontein 1 Middle Stone Age site, South Africa, and early human exploitation of coastal resources.
R. G. Klein, G. Avery, K. Cruz-Uribe, D. Halkett, J. E. Parkington, T. Steele, T. P. Volman, and R. Yates (2004)
PNAS 101, 5708-5715
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)