Eva Laurie
I commenced a PhD research
studentship on the Coastal Shell Middens and
Agricultural Origins in Atlantic Europe Project in 2002. My aim is to
analyse differences in abundance, size, age and seasonality of the common
cockle, Cerastoderma edule, with a view to illuminating changing
anthropogenic practises and environmental conditions over the transitional
period between the primarily hunter-gathering Mesolithic and the introduction
of farming in the Neolithic.
I shall do this by constructing a modern analogue cockle data base against
which archaeological cockles can be compared. My primary archaeological
focus will be on the Danish shell middens of Norsminde and Krabbesholm.
I am also involved in the sorting and cataloguing of archaeological
marine shell from middens in Scotland, Ireland, Spain and Denmark. An
additional interest is the land snail species found on archaeological
sites and the contribution they can make to our understanding of changing
environment and site use.
