My work sought to understand the depositional environment and the micro-environmental setting using fossil gastropods. The Center For Indigenous Research will be maintaining a Virtual Mammoth web page where one can follow the progress of the excavations. The following report is on file with the Center for Indigenous Research . The recovery of gastropods has been limited to three non-diagnostic fragments. The study of terrestrial and aquatic gastropods has significance in the understanding of archaeological and paleontological sites.
Gastropods serve as excellent sources of proxy environmental data.
Further, taphonomic analysis can aid in understanding of various cultural and non-cultural site formation processes. In this study, I sought to examine the fossil gastropods from the Dry Gulch mammoth site. In addition, a limited sample of a modern aquatic gastropod fauna was also collected from a possible modern environmental analog. I arrived on site to discover the excavation well underway, with excellent stratigraphic exposure. Profiles were cleaned to remove loose material that could contaminate the sample, and samples were then cut from the vertical exposures.