Sustaining the shell middens: A coastal vulnerability assessment of shell midden sites within the Nansemond River tributary

Abstract

Shorelines have always been hubs of human activity and development meaning much of our cultural heritage is concentrated in coastal settings. In recent decades, changing environmental conditions and the effects of global warming (i.e., shoreline erosion, sea-level rise, land subsistence) threaten to destroy much of our remaining global coastal heritage. To prevent the further loss of archaeological contexts, this study seeks to develop a coastal vulnerability index through geospatial analysis to assess the vulnerability of 35 precontact shell midden sites along the Nansemond River in Suffolk, Virginia. The Nansemond middens offer a long-term history of how coastal inhabitants interacted with their surrounding landscape, with occupation of the area ranging from the Early Archaic period through European contact. This research considers various environmental and cultural variables used to determine which archaeological sites are most threatened by environmental changes and have the greatest potential to contribute valuable data to understand the past.