Keywords
Archaeology; Zooarchaeology; Tortoise; Ais; Turtle; Florida
Abstract
As people live in an area, they leave behind an assortment of cultural items they once utilized. Some of these items may include pottery or bones from animals they used as food. Analysis of these bones can give a glimpse into how they managed their resources in the environment around them, including which ecosystems they chose to exploit, and which taxa they prioritized for consumption or cultural purposes. The Indian River Lagoon in Florida is a diverse costal lagoon with many various overlapping ecosystems and ecotones available for prehistoric peoples to utilize. Comparing the frequency of taxa representing different local environments such as the marine, terrestrial, and estuary environments will help us to understand how the people who lived at the Penny site prioritized these many resources. This study intends to analyze turtle remains specifically because different species are present in all three environments. Amongst the four analyzed test units at the Penny site, 1,417 turtle elements were identified. Overall, turtle shell (carapace or plastron) was the most identified element across each analyzed test unit. Results demonstrate that turtles were not only consumed, but their shell was used for cultural purposes as well.
Thesis Completion Year
2024
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Zavodny, Emily
College
College of Sciences
Department
Anthropology
Thesis Discipline
Anthropology
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
Griffin, Alexandria, "Identifying the Use of Turtles and Tortoises at the Prehistoric Penny Site at Cape Canaveral" (2024). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 62.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/62
Rights Statement
