Shell midden sclerochronology

Sclerochronological analysis of shell midden faunal remains offers a unique opportunity to study climate and environmental change in relation to human activity. Middens exist near most aquatic habitats almost worldwide for much of the late Pleistocene and Holocene. They afford good preservation of accretionary calcium carbonate remains, such as mollusk shells and fish otoliths, in comparatively well-dated contexts. As such, midden samples are a source of sequential proxy records of past climate and environmental conditions and may provide detailed pictures of human-environment interaction. However midden samples present several challenges to the development and application of sclerochronological proxies, including unique taphonomic concerns. Here these challenges are outlined within descriptions of the major applications of midden sclerochronology; archeological concerns including season of capture, reconstructing the history of anthropogenic environmental impacts, and paleoclimate/environment proxy reconstructions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.