Freshwater Mussel Identification and Analysis from the River Bend Site, 48NA202
Creators: name: Lippincott, Kerry
Publisher: name: The Wyoming Archaeological Society
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Belle Fourche River Basin
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/21342/belle-fourche-river-basin
subject: North Platte Basin
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/86320/north-platte-basin
subject: Late Prehistoric
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/3245/late-prehistoric
subject: Late Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/32/late-archaic
subject: Protohistoric
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/147/protohistoric
subject: Middle Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/3094/middle-archaic
subject: Shoshone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/66/shoshone
subject: Besant
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/679/besant
subject: 48NA202
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/132547/48na202
subject: McKean
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/132548/mckean
subject: 48CK7
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/6740/48ck7
subject: River Bend
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/132546/river-bend
subject: Butler-Rissler
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/132549/butler-rissler
subject: 48NA1000
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/132550/48na1000
subject: Shell
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/14/shell
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Chipped Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2/chipped-stone
subject: Dating Sample
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/3/dating-sample
subject: Fauna
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/4/fauna
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal

description: The subject of freshwater mussels in Wyoming archaeology is of more importance than might first appear and seems not to have been recognized by students of Wyoming archaeology. A significant body of data exists concerning mussels’ biological description, ecology, and relationships as well as the archaeological identification and prehistoric cultural connections of mussels. The following draws on those data and applies it to an example of Wyoming’s archaeologically recovered mussels from the River Bend site (48NA202). Many different aspects of freshwater mussel valves are potentially available for archaeological identification. Just as with other kinds of faunal elements, it is possible to identify species, side, portion, sex, age, and time of death if the appropriate parts of the animal are preserved. Based on those identifications, it might then be possible to reconstruct a part of the local environment, to evaluate the importance of mussels in the site inhabitants’ diet, and to develop hypotheses about the human or social nature of resource utilization. Some, but not all, of these factors are actually realizable with the River Bend site specimens. This effort is one in a continuing series of identifications and analyses detailing the occurrences of freshwater mussels at Great Plains archaeological sites (Lippincott 2000).