Indigenous coastal communities across the globe sustainably harvested oysters and other shellfish species for millennia. European colonialism and the emergence of market-based institutions, however, lead to the eventual demise of many oyster reefs and fisheries beginning in the late 1800 s. Circular shell rings situated on Georgia’s South Atlantic coast are the preserved remnants of Native American village communities during the Late Archaic (5000–3000 cal. BP). Mollusk shells from these archaeological contexts hold chemical clues into past human-environmental interactions and thus give insight into Indigenous histories and sustainable shellfish harvesting practices. In this paper, we interpret shellfish geochemistry data (oxygen isotopes, δ¹⁸O) from the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex within a theoretical framework of cooperation and collective action to understand the ways in which Ancestral Muskogean people of Sapelo Island, Georgia, effectively managed and sustained oyster reefs and other coastal fisheries during the Late Archaic. More specifically, δ¹⁸O values from 18 oysters and 57 clams were used to determine season of harvest and to estimate salinity values of the habitats from which the shells were harvested. Results demonstrate considerable variation in estimated salinity values and some statistically significant differences in δ¹⁸O and salinity values between shells harvested in different seasons. This indicates that the sedentary villagers who lived at the Sapelo Shell Ring Complex were moving around seasonally and using an array of habitats. We argue that this suggests the presence of social institutions or rules that governed the use of coastal estuaries so that mollusks were not overexploited.

几千年来，全球土著沿海社区以可持续的方式捕捞牡蛎和其他贝类物种。然而，欧洲殖民主义和以市场为基础的机构的出现导致许多牡蛎礁和渔业从 1800 年代后期开始最终消亡。位于佐治亚州南大西洋沿岸的圆形贝壳环是晚古风时期（公元前 5000-3000 年）美洲原住民村庄社区保存下来的遗迹。来自这些考古背景的软体动物贝壳为过去的人类与环境相互作用提供了化学线索，从而深入了解土著历史和可持续的贝类捕捞实践。在本文中，我们解释了贝类地球化学数据（氧同位素，δ ¹⁸O) 在合作和集体行动的理论框架内从 Sapelo 岛贝壳环复合体中了解佐治亚州 Sapelo 岛的祖传 Muskogean 人在晚古风时期有效管理和维持牡蛎礁和其他沿海渔业的方式。更具体地说，18 只牡蛎和 57 只蛤蜊的 δ ¹⁸ O 值被用于确定收获季节并估计收获贝壳的栖息地的盐度值。结果表明估计的盐度值存在相当大的差异，并且 δ ^{18存在一些统计学上的显着差异}不同季节收获的贝壳之间的 O 和盐度值。这表明居住在 Sapelo Shell Ring Complex 的久坐不动的村民正在季节性移动并使用一系列栖息地。我们认为，这表明存在管理沿海河口使用的社会制度或规则，因此软体动物不会被过度开发。