Mollusc Remains from an Archaeological Rock Shelter Site on the Buffalo National River, Arkansas, Southeastern USA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Zooarchaeological mollusc assemblages can show communities as they existed prior to any extensive modern impacts, representing an ecological baseline against which current populations can be evaluated. Here data are presented from the Pruitt Shelter sites (Late Woodland-Early Mississippian; ca. AD 700–1300), located on the Buffalo National River (Arkansas), where over 1000 freshwater mussels and over 20,000 gastropods (aquatic and terrestrial combined) were recovered. To date, these archaeofaunas represent the most detailed and robust mollusc assemblage from the Ozark Highlands, while also demonstrating biogeographical, paleoenvironmental, and population characteristics that should be valuable to modern conservation efforts in the region.