Shrimp: The Endless Quest for Pink Gold

3. Glory Days

Because shrimp are such an abundant resource, archaeologists assume that ancient people ate them. Barbara Voorhies at the University of California speculated that the elevated pavements of small clamshells that she found in the coastal wetlands of Chiapas, Mexico were shrimp-drying platforms. They appeared much different from the regular kitchen middens, or garbage dumps where people haphazardly tossed their clam and oyster shells. She also discovered the remains of clay hearths, which she suggested were used to preserve shrimp when the sun wasn’t shining.

By sifting through the dirt and shells, she uncovered the nearly fossilized vertebrae of tiny fish that are typical of shrimp bycatch in small meshed seines still used in the ...