Posted on 11/27/2019 8:57:31 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Snails known as impressed odostomes, Boonea impressa, are common parasites of oysters, latching onto a shell and inserting a stylus to slurp the soft insides. Because the snail has a predictable 12-month life cycle, its length at death offers a reliable estimate of when the oyster host died, allowing Florida Museum of Natural History researchers Nicole Cannarozzi and Michal Kowalewski to use it as a tiny seasonal clock for when people collected and ate oysters in the past.
Stowaways on discarded oyster shells, the snails offer new insights into an old question about the shell rings that dot the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi.
"People have been debating the purpose of these shell rings for a very long time," said Cannarozzi, the study's lead author and Florida Museum environmental archaeology collection manager. "Were they everyday food waste heaps? Temporary communal feasting sites? Or perhaps a combination? Understanding the seasonality of the rings sheds new light on their function."
Cannarozzi and Kowalewski, Thompson Chair of Invertebrate Paleontology, analyzed oysters and snails from a 230-foot-wide, 4,300-year-old shell ring on St. Catherines Island and compared them with live oysters and snails. They found that island inhabitants were primarily harvesting oysters during late fall, winter and spring, which also suggested the presence of people on the island tapered off during the summer.
The seasonality of the shell ring may be one of the earliest records of sustainable harvesting, Cannarozzi said. Oysters in the Southeast spawn from May to October, and avoiding oyster collection in the summer may help replenish their numbers.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
I would imagine that any oyster that is cooked like fried oysters, oyster stew, and the like would be safe year round. It is the raw ones that can make you very sick. ANyone have more info on that? Each your the end of July, I go to the Chincoteague Island fairgrounds and pony auction. I always have a fried oyster sandwich, yum. These are deep fat fried, so cooked really hot.
Jewish and Muslim dietary laws are especially important in lands where there is very little fire wood for thorough cooking. Thus limits on pork and seafood. Also the Muslim laws of washing hands before praying 5 times a day probably saved many lives. The punishment of cutting off the right hand for stealing was likely a death sentence as people usually ate from a communal pot/tray. The right hand was for eating, and the left hand for wiping your butt after pooping. Thus, no right hand—starvation. On the other hand, again many people who did not get intestinal diseases from sharing food with the wrong hand. Probably one reason the religion spread so successfully. More soldiers did not die of stupid illnesses than did those of their enemies.
I love them. Ever tried mignonette? Wine vinegar, shallo, black pepper and tarragon.
And once upon a time Key Westers thought food was grown in cans ...
/bingo
/bingo
Only 8 times? Geez, in my youth I could manage 4 or 5 without eating oysters.
Yes, but the parasitic snails did.
Once you read the first paragraph, there is nothing to either dispute or support the claim about months with R’s........that was a waste of time.
Michael Wood visited an island off the area of India in his documentary "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" -- the locals don't eat shellfish, won't do it, so the piles of discards were potentially left behind by Alexander's army. Pretty neat.
I'm pretty sure I've never eaten oysters -- apart from (and a little perversely) the smoked, canned variety, served (and this is the perverse part) on kosher crackers. It was a *great* party finger food.
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll (read by Roy Macready)
lol
Thanks GC.
The chocolate yule logs were amazing, too.
The tough part is lighting the chocolate. /jk
Sorry I put that gun to your head to come on into the topic and pretend you've read it.
Because the snail has a predictable 12-month life cycle, its length at death offers a reliable estimate of when the oyster host died, allowing Florida Museum of Natural History researchers Nicole Cannarozzi and Michal Kowalewski to use it as a tiny seasonal clock for when people collected and ate oysters in the past... They found that island inhabitants were primarily harvesting oysters during late fall, winter and spring, which also suggested the presence of people on the island tapered off during the summer.
Unlike most people, I DID read it and unfortunately the paragraph you just supplied from the article still makes no sense........
I guess my intelligence level doesn't match up to yours so that's where the problem likely lies.............
;^)
http://www.google.com/search?q=Mallomar
I think the Planet of Cookies was discovered using the telescope on Mount Mallomar.
According to Sheldon Cooper, months with an “r” in them are also the only times to drink hot cocoa.
Hello trebb, how are you my friend?
You mean Sheldon Cooper, the smelly pooper? lol
“A brave man it was who first an oyster et”
It's true. You can also eat oysters year round if you live in a town that has both oysters and a name with an 'R' in it. Damariscotta, for instance. Dependable oysters.
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