Mid-Holocene Mollusk Availability and Use in Middle Tennessee

This thesis examines the faunal remains from Site 40DV7, a shell-bearing Archaic through Mississippian period site in Middle Tennessee. The goal of the investigation is to answer three research questions about human behaviors during the warming climatic changes of the Mid-Holocene. The faunal analysis examines the environmental conditions present during the Archaic period in the Middle Cumberland River Valley, site seasonality, and subsistence techniques used by inhabitants of the archaeological site. Animal behavioral ecology coupled with biogeographic distributions of fauna and flora identify the climatic conditions of the Archaic period in the Southeast as similar to conditions today. A similarity in climate results in the culture choice of greater exploitation of bivalves during the Mississippian period, rather than an environmental factor. Examination of behavioral characteristics of seasonally and non-seasonally specific flora and fauna indicate a year-round habitation of the site. Finally, analysis of ethnographic analogies of three hunter-gatherer groups identify multiple subsistence techniques used by the inhabitants of Site 40DV7.