Echinoids: An atlas for the identification of parts, determination of morphology, definitions of terminology and their relevance to archaeology

Abstract

Although not as common as vertebrates or molluscs, echinoids (sea urchins) do occur in coastal archaeological sites; they were probably a source of food and the spines of some species were potentially tools. However, the necessary expertise to identify even complete specimens, let alone their disarticulated ossicles, is not generally available. Herein, we provide a suite of tools that will enable preliminary determination of echinoid remains in an archaeological context, including photographs of complete tests and disarticulated elements, discussions of them and definitions of the main terms. More or less complete specimens will be obvious and should be identifiable to genus, at least. Although disarticulated elements may be difficult to identify even to genus, the nature of all ossicles should be determinable.