The Holocene Naiad Record at Rodgers Shelter in the Western Ozark Highland of Missouri

Abstract

Freshwater mussels from Rodgers Shelter in the western Ozark Highland of Missouri have been identified and their place in the prehistoric subsistence economy assessed. Recent collections indicate that the present day naiad populations in the lower Pomme de Terre River are as diverse, if not more diverse, than prehistoric populations as reflected in the archaeological assemblage. When present day populations are used as an approximation of prehistoric naiad availability it is apparent that little use was made of this potential, albeit marginal, food resource until the Late Archaic Period. Variations in utilization of mussels are attributed to human population pressure in the western Ozark Highland. Differences in species recovered from Rodgers Shelter as compared to collections from the Pomme de Terre are a result of differential preservation and changes in the fluvial system. Size variation observed in several Midwest naiad assemblages recovered from archaeological contexts are also observed among a common mussel, Amblema plicata, at Rodgers Shelter. The wide distribution of this phenomena in the Midwest may correlate with regional climatic change delineated on the basis of other faunal and floral records.