Leiden University Student Repository

Stuijt, Catharina (2016)

Molluscs that matter: The use of molluscs on five late pre-colonial sites (~AD1000-1500) in de north-western Dominican Republic.

Master thesis | Archaeology (MA/MSc)

This research aims at determining the uses of marine and land molluscs (meat and shell) in five late pre-colonial sites (~AD1000-1500) located in the north western part of the Dominican Republic. The specific systematic archaeological survey was carried out in order to obtain the representative samples. The following research questions were formulated: 1) Which molluscan species and in what quantity have been recovered in each site? 2) Is there any quantitative/qualitative change visible in the shell material recovered in each site as the sites’ locations move further inland from the coast? 3) What was the function of the molluscs whose shells were recovered in each site? 4) What socio-economic processes could have caused these changes observed in the composition of shell assemblages? These questions were answered with the data that was generated by the analyses of the gathered archaeological material.

molluscs

Dominican Republic

late pre-colonial

~AD1000-1500

Author

Stuijt, Catharina

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Specialisation

Archaeology of the Caribbean

Supervisors

Hofman, C.L.
Atczak, A.T.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en