Shellfish

Midden: a buried pile of discarded shells

For thousands of years, shellfish have been vital to the lives of people living around Greenwich Bay. Residents of the area began to use shellfish around 2,700 years ago. Within 200 years, shellfishing was well established. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the age of the shells.

Quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria), soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), and oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were the most important species, although scallops and blue mussels were also eaten, along with slipper shells, whelks, and ribbed mussels. At Greenwich Cove, researchers also found surf clam shells, arranged in a pattern of overlapping concentric circles. Since surf clams live in deeper waters, they are believed to have been brought from somewhere else, possibly to be used as tools.

Soft-shell clam

Blue mussel

Scallop

Knobbed Whelk