The molluscs of Bestansur, Iraqi Kurdistan: A case study of Early Holocene Helix salomonica exploitation in the Zagros

Molluscs have been found at a number of Neolithic sites in the Zagros and interpreted as a food source, and are also ubiquitous in the archaeological material from the site of Bestansur in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Helix salomonica recovered at the site in significant numbers display a high degree of uniformity in size and were found in association with cultural material and features, supporting the conclusion that they represent anthropogenic material. However, molluscs are unlikely to have been more than a supplemental and possibly seasonal food resource; molluscs produce much waste and the resilience and visibility of shells in the archaeological record is out of proportion to their food value, when compared with the remains of other food sources. In order to understand how the activities of gathering, cooking, eating and discard of molluscs were organised, the results from the excavations are combined with ethnoarchaeological and experimental investigations, from the Zagros and beyond. The results show that the activities related to molluscs were communal, with cooking and eating taking place in external spaces. The debris was discarded in distinct areas indicating the site-wide organisation of space.