Intensified mollusk exploitation on Nevis (West Indies) reveals similar to six centuries of sustainable exploitation

摘要

In this study, we conducted one of the most detailed and comprehensive analyses to date of a pre-Columbian mollusk assemblage in the Caribbean. The robust sample, from the island of Nevis in the northern Lesser Antilles, comprised more than 58,000 individuals recovered from a 25 m(2) (40 cm deep) midden deposit at the Late Ceramic Age (ca. AD 890-1440) site of Coconut Walk. Using this sample, we examined mollusk exploitation over a ca. 600-year time period, which revealed heavy dependence on only a few species. Statistical analysis demonstrates that even though mollusk harvesting intensified through time, there was an increase of more than 10 % in the average individual weight of the three main species and a ten-fold increase in harvesting generally. These data, in conjunction with a previously observed size increase of one of the three taxa (Nerita tessellata)-which was increasingly preyed on through time-infer a level of sustainability contra to prey-choice models in which over-exploitation is an expected outcome. Overall, the foraging of mollusks at this site appears to have been sustainable for similar to six centuries based on the absence of evidence for over-harvesting and increase in size during the time of occupation, regardless of its causation (anthropogenic, climatic, environmental, or otherwise).