Coastal Adaptations in North and South Carolina

Abstract

Coastal occupation of North and South Carolina from the Late Archaic through Woodland periods demonstrates intensive use of shellfish, including unique patterns of shell ring construction along the southern coast of South Carolina and smaller middens to the north. Shell middens capture the complexity of the interactions between humans and their surroundings in prehistory, revealing how human action affected the environment. For shellfish specifically, harvest pressure was a selective force on coastal hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, and eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, populations, which is just one way in which human–environmental interactions may have permanently altered the ecosystem.