I have read an account of a private from an IL regiment during the Civil
War where in he talks about how he and his fellows find a large bed of
mussels in the river next to where they were camped.  Believing they
were incredibly fortunate, they gathered several hundred of them so as
to have a feast.  Unfortunately frying them did not work so they tried
boiling them. To their chagrin, even after boiling for several hours the
mussels were still like rubber and inedible.

I believe Lou Brennan also excavated a large Native American mussel
midden along the Hudson.  

Cheryl Claasen also excavated test units through some deeply stratified
Native American mussel middens in several different states.  

KRD  

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bill
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 11:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Freshwater mussels on 18th century sites

Lyle,

The freshwater mussel shells recovered from the site are between three
and
four inches in length.  From what I have read Native Americans sometimes
dried or smoked them.  Herb Kraft excavated a pit at the Pahaquarra site
in
the Delaware Water Gap which contained about 7,000 freshwater mussels.
I
don't know if drying or smoking them would make them less rubbery but I
have
eaten mussels cooked by professional chefs that were the consistency of
chewing gum. 

Bill 

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lyle
E.
Browning
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 11:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Freshwater mussels on 18th century sites

On the question of consumption, assuming you're referring to the 4-5"
long
shell that is usually black on the exterior (at least the ones I saw in
the
incredibly polluted Tidewater James River in VA), how were they cooked
to be
edible? All reports I've had, including one attempt on my own, left a
rather
large rubber pellet;)

Unless they were meant to be consumed as some consume oysters, ie, as
sliders.

Lyle Browning


On Jan 24, 2013, at 10:30 AM, Bill wrote:

> Thanks Jim,
> 
> Yes I was aware of the button cottage industry in Delaware, in fact we
hit
a small deposit on the Route 301 project for DelDOT.  No evidence for
making
button, purely consumption.
> 
> Bill Liebeknecht
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Jim
> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 10:12 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Freshwater mussels on 18th century sites
> 
> Probably not the case in your situation, but freshwater mussels were
used
to make shell buttons. Cheryl Claasen published a SHA monograph on the
subject. Delaware sustained a cottage industry in making shell button
blanks
from imported shell, the blanks then shipped to Connecticut for
finishing;
but this was in the 20th century, ending abruptly in the early 1990s.
> 
> 
> 
> James G. Gibb
> 
> Gibb Archaeological Consulting
> 
> 2554 Carrollton Road
> 
> Annapolis, Maryland USA ?? 21403
> 
> 443.482.9593 (Land) 410.693.3847 (Cell)
> 
> www.gibbarchaeology.net ? www.porttobacco.blogspot.com
> 
> On 01/24/13, Bill<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Thanks! I will.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Keith
Doms
> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:15 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Freshwater mussels on 18th century sites
> 
> I think we had 1 or 2 from Block 1191 Wilmington but that is
nineteenth
century. Check with Alice to see if she had any from Thompson's Loss and
Gain.
> 
> KRD
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Bill
> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:06 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Freshwater mussels on 18th century sites
> 
> Recent excavations on an early 18th century site in central Delaware
recovered some freshwater mussel shells amongst the faunal remains.
> Normally freshwater mussels are associated with Native American sites
in
the Middle Atlantic region. This presents the possibility of a Native
American presence or interaction with the European inhabitants of the
site
(circa
> 1720 to 1735). Several glass seed beads recovered from floatation
further
support this theory. My question is: Has anyone found freshwater mussel
shells on non-Native American 18th century sites in the region? 
> 
> Thanks for your input in advance!
> 
> Bill Liebeknecht, MA, RPA
> Principal Investigator
> Hunter Research, Inc.
> Trenton, New Jersey