Paul W. Parmalee

FRESHWATER MUSSELS AS A PREHISTORIC FOOD RESOURCE

of food resources at the interspecies level. Data pertinent to the calculation of both quantitative and qualitative food potential of many of the vertebrate animals represented in archaeological contexts are extant. These data are lacking for freshwater mussels, frequently found in archaeological sites in eastern North America. Information relevant to determining the food energy provided by freshwater mussels common to much of the Mississippi River drainage is presented. Results are applicable to more credible interpretations of prehistoric subsistence as related to animal food resources.

Prehistoric and modern freshwater mussel (mollusca: bivalvia: unionoidea) faunas of the Tennessee River: Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee

The Tennessee River, approximately 1050 km in length, originates with the confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers at Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee, USA. It flows southwest to about Huntsville, Alabama, where the mainstem changes to a north-westerly direction across northern Alabama, then flows north along the western edge of Middle Tennessee toward its confluence with the Ohio River in Kentucky. Approximately 159 450 specimens of freshwater mussels recovered from 15 prehistoric aboriginal sites, reported in the literature and/or identified by the authors, represent at least 75 species. At least 24 of these species occurred throughout the entire length of the mainstem Tennessee River. Collections from the 1800s and throughout the major dam construction era (1920s–mid 1940s) showed a distinct reduction in the distribution and diversity of mussels from the prehistoric period. Today, the river, now a series of impounded reservoirs along its entire length, shows a further reduction in species diversity coupled with significant changes in assemblages from those of prehistoric and pre-impoundment periods. Several populations of indigenous mussel taxa, once abundant throughout the river, are now reduced to a few isolated and functionally extinct (non-reproducing) relict individuals. The majority of species adapted to shoal areas were extirpated or became extinct as a result of impoundment or other detrimental anthropogenic factors. Copyright

Cranial Morphology and Systematics of an Extraordinary Sample of the Late Neogene Dwarf Tapir, Tapirus polkensis (Olsen)

Abstract The previously poorly known “Tapiravus” polkensis Olsen, 1960 (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Tapiridae) is now known from abundant, well preserved specimens from both the type area in central Florida and from the Gray Fossil Site (GFS) in eastern Tennessee. The latter has produced over 75 individuals, the greatest number of tapirids from a single fossil site, including many articulated skeletons. Almost all linear measurements taken on skulls, mandibles, and cheek teeth from GFS have coefficients of variation less than 10 (most between 3 and 7), indicating the presence of a single species. However, the sample reveals considerable intraspecific variation for a few key morphologic features, including development of the sagittal crest, outline shape of the nasals, and number and relative strength of lingual cusps on the P1. The Florida sample of T. polkensis is more limited, but has the same state as the GFS sample for all preserved characters of systematic significance, and while the Florida teeth are on average smaller (especially narrower lower cheek teeth), they fall either within or just below the observed range of the Gray Fossil Site population. The new material supports a reassignment of “Tapiravus” polkensis to the genus Tapirus, and demonstrates that the geologic age of the species is significantly younger than previously thought, Hemphillian rather than Barstovian. Tapirus polkensis is the smallest known North American Tapirus, and smaller than any of the extant species in the genus, with an estimated average mass of 125 kg.

Prehistoric and Pre-Impoundment Populations of Freshwater Mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidaue) in the South Fork Holston River, Tennessee

Abstract The South Fork Holston River is one of three major tributaries of the Holston River, originating in Smyth County in southwestern Virginia and flowing southwesterly and then northwesterly to where it enters the Holston River at Kingsport, TN. Three dams constructed in the 1950s, Fort Patrick Henry, Boone and South Holston, impounded the entire stretch of river flowing through Tennessee. Identification of shell recovered from two prehistoric aboriginal sites, Eastman Rockshelter (40SL34) and Site 40SL330, and from two collections of relic shells plus species recorded from four localities by Ortmann (1918), provide evidence for a diverse and abundant naiad fauna prior to impoundment. Thirty-five species of mussels historically inhabited stretches of the South Fork Holston River flowing through Tennessee; all have been extirpated. Populations of Actinonaias pectorosa, Lampsilis fasciola, Fusconaia subrotunda, and Ptychobranchus subtentum appear to have been four of the most abundant naiads inhabiting the river. In addition to the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, the giant floater (Pyganodon grandis) and paper pondshell (Utterbackia imbecillis) are invader species now common throughout the reservoirs.

Inferred Arikara Subsistence Patterns Based On a Selected Faunal Assemblage From the Mobridge Site, South Dakota

The Mobridge Village (39WW1), a single component PostContact Coalescent site situated along the Missouri River near the city of Mobridge, South Dakota, has been subjected to the digging activities of relic collectors for at least four decades. Unmodified animal remains which abound in the disturbed middens have previously been ignored. During a period of several days in June 1975 and 1976 a sample of approximately 2,000 bones, representing at least 36 species and 152 individuals, was recovered. Identification and analysis of this material provides data which indicate the former significance of bison and other herbivores as major sources of meat for these people. A variety of small mammals comprised a valued supplemental food resource; the avian species complex suggests that the majority of birds may have been taken for their plumage or body parts rather than as food. A detailed analysis and discussion of the Canis material is presented.