Changing patterns of eastern Mediterranean shellfish exploitation in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene: Oxygen isotope evidence from gastropod in Epipaleolithic to Neolithic human occupation layers at the Haua Fteah cave, Libya

Abstract

The seasonal pattern of shellfish foraging at the archaeological site of Haua Fteah in the Gebel Akhdar, Libya was investigated from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic via oxygen isotope (δ18O) analyses of the topshell Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus. To validate this species as faithful year-round palaeoenvironmental recorder, the intra-annual variability of δ18O in modern shells and sea water was analysed and compared with measured sea surface temperature (SST). The shells were found to be good candidates for seasonal shellfish forging studies as they preserve nearly the complete annual SST cycle in their shell δ18O with minimal slowing or stoppage of growth. During the terminal Pleistocene..