We find river mussels on prehistoric sites in South Carolina regularly, but I don't recall seeing them on historic sites. FWIW, its common knowledge here that river mussels are not "good to eat" and nobody that I know of eats them. Whether that's true or not I don't know. When I was a kid my older brother told me he had tried one and emphatically said that it was "nasty", so I've never tried one. 

Occasionally mussels get mixed in with oysters (in brackish waters) and those are quite tasty. Generally we eat oysters steamed just enough to open the shell, so maybe cooking them is the problem.
 

 

Carl Steen
 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill <[log in to unmask]>
To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thu, Jan 24, 2013 9:03 am
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