Green, Jennifer

For several decades, archaeologists have studied the utilization of marine, estuarine, and riverine
resources by Florida’s prehistoric people. Looking into the past to see how prehistoric people utilized
their environment helps to lend insight into the effects on human and non-human populations. My
research aims to reconstruct the environmental habitat zones present at the Jupiter Inlet I Site at the
time of occupation based upon the molluscan, or shellfish, species identified. Furthermore, I will show
preliminary data from archaeological excavations in order to determine whether there are changes in
the kinds and quantities of molluscan species through time at this archaeological site.

The Jupiter Inlet I site is situated between the Atlantic coast and the Loxahatchee
River in southeast Florida. Although excavations were previously conducted, faunal
remains were not systematically collected until recently. Molluscan remains recovered in
2010 are examined to reconstruct past ecological habitats, identify which water bodies
were used for extracting resources, and document changes in molluscan species over
time. Based upon identifications, only brackish and marine species are represented,
indicating that the Loxahatchee River was brackish rather than freshwater during the time
of occupation and that the site inhabitants were collecting mollusks from both the lagoon
and coastal waters.