Land Snails from St. Elzear Cave, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec: Antiquity ofCepaea Hortensisin North America

Abstract

ABSTRACT The presence of the European land snail, Cepaea hortensis (Muller, 1774), in archaeological deposits indicates its existence in North America before the arrival of post-Columbus European settlers. We address whether this species arrived in North America before Viking explorers. Evidence from cave deposits in St. Elzear de Bonaventura Cave on the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, suggests that C. hortensis appeared in North America prior to arrival of the Vikings about 1000 YBP and possibly more than 7850 YBP. The presence of the larger snail species Anguispira alternata (Say, 1816) and Neohelix albolabris (Say, 1817) in cave levels representing tundra to taiga conditions, coupled with their absence as far north as modern taiga, suggests that some large snails may not disperse quickly enough to occupy all favorable habitat made available by warming climates.