From Pleistocene Mariners to Complex Hunter-Gatherers: The Archaeology of the California Channel Islands

California’s Channel Islands were home to some of the most distinctive Native American peoples along the Pacific Coast. Never connected to the mainland during the Quaternary, the Channel Islands have an impoverished terrestrial flora and fauna, but some of the richest and most productive marine environments in the Americas, including diverse kelp forest, intertidal, and offshore marine habitats. Native Americans occupied the Channel Islands for roughly 13,000 calendar years until the early nineteenth century, providing one of the longest and best preserved records of maritime hunter-gatherers in the Americas. We provide an overview and analysis of Channel Islands archaeology, from the relatively mobile peoples who colonized the islands during the Late Pleistocene to the complex hunter-gatherers documented by early Spanish explorers. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of Channel Islands archaeology for enhancing knowledge on a number of broad anthropological issues, including coastal and aquatic adaptations, seafaring, cultural complexity, trade and exchange, and ancient human impacts on the environment.     

Prehistoric Human Impacts to Marine Mollusks and Intertidal Ecosystems in the Pacific Islands

From long-term stratigraphic records in Pacific Island archaeological sites, researchers have documented alterations to molluskan species richness and abundance, decreases or increases in mollusk shell size and, in rare cases, human foraging may have contributed to the extirpation of mollusk taxa. Mollusks perform critical ecosystem functions in tropical intertidal environments, including improving water quality through filtration, regulating algal cover, and increasing habitat and substratum complexity through ecosystem engineering. These critical ecosystem functions can be negatively affected by human foraging, possibly contributing to decreased resilience of coral reefs to climatic alterations. We review modern ecological research on human impacts to mollusks and intertidal ecosystems that illustrates the mechanisms and effects of human foraging. We then examine centuries to millennial scale archaeological records from the Pacific Islands to understand long-term, time-averaged trends in human impacts to intertidal ecosystems.     

δ18O Analyses of the Humpbacked Conch (Gibberulus gibberulus): Evaluating a Proxy for Reconstructing Sea-Surface Temperature at Chelechol ra Orrak,Palau

ABSTRACT

In Palau, Micronesia, marine resources, particularly shellfish, played a vital role in human subsistence for millennia. Despite the vast array of molluscan species in archaeological assemblages, there is a dearth of data on nearshore palaeoecology or prehistoric shellfish foraging practices. In this study, we analysed stable oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O) values present in the calcium carbonate shell of Gibberulus gibberulus from the Chelechol ra Orrak archaeological site to reconstruct average nearshore sea-surface temperatures (SST) from approximately 1500–1100 cal BP. Modern shellfish samples and environmental data were collected from intertidal zones near the site and x-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to identify the biomineralogical composition of G. gibberulus. These steps provide necessary information for the selection of the proper oxygen isotope-to-SST conversion formula. The selected formula was applied to δ¹⁸O samples from archaeological shells to reconstruct prehistoric SST averages. The results of this proxy validation study verify that G. gibberulus accurately records ambient SST and can be used to reconstruct ancient nearshore conditions. These findings also contribute to the establishment of an environmental baseline, which can be used to examine how environmental changes may have influenced the availability of molluscan taxa that in turn influenced human subsistence practices through time.     

A rare,late Paleocene molluscan faunule from the Kings Park Formation,Perth Basin,Western Australia

A shallow marine faunule of eight taxa from the Kings Park Formation of the Perth Basin is the first described Paleocene molluscan assemblage from Western Australia. These species are part of a depauperate suite of macroinvertebrates (molluscs, echinoids and corals) derived from deep, onshore caissons in Perth and are inferred to be late Paleocene in age, based on planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and associated age ranges of the molluscan fauna. Bivalves are Sarepta austranaxa sp. nov. (Sareptidae), Solemya kingsparki sp. nov. (Solemyidae), Periploma vivarirex sp. nov. (Periplomatidae), Parvamussium sp. nov.? (Propeamussiidae), Serripecten? sp. (Pectinidae) and Venericardia (Rotundicardia) petraea Darragh (Carditidae). Gastropods are Levifusus? sp. cf. L.? quadrifunifer Darragh (Buccinidae), and Columbarium rumatoides Darragh (Turbinellidae). Bivalves dominate the fauna in dark, glauconitic siltstone and sandstone facies; gastropods are of relatively poor preservation and low diversity.     

Sclerochronological analysis of archaeological mollusc assemblages: methods,applications and future prospects

Accreting skeletal tissues found in bone, teeth, otoliths and molluscan shell act as sensitive recorders of local environmental and climatic conditions. Owing to their robust nature, ubiquity and abundance in the archaeological record as well as the potential for high-resolution data acquisition, the accreting skeletal tissues of archaeological molluscs are increasingly employed as palaeoenvironmental proxies. Researchers have chiefly utilised such proxies to extend instrumental records of environmental conditions through palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and explore the impact of environmental and climatic change on human populations. However, the use of environmental proxies from the archaeological record can be hampered by a number of methodological challenges including inadequate sampling strategies, appropriate calibration, the use of inappropriate proxies and the broad extrapolation of localised results. This paper reviews the use of molluscan shell from archaeological contexts as palaeoenvironmental proxies. We focus on the application of sclerochronology—a suite of high-resolution physical and geochemical data recovery methods widely used in conjunction with molluscan shell. This paper presents an overview of the potential of these techniques in approaching more nuanced understandings of human-environment interactions and how they can be more successfully incorporated into archaeological research.     

Focused,intense and long-term: evidence for granular ark (Anadara granosa) exploitation from late Holocene shell mounds of Blue Mud Bay,northern Australia

Explanatory frameworks relating to the appearance of shell mounds and the exploitation of molluscs (particularly the sand/mudflat bivalve Anadara granosa) during the late Holocene have tended to emphasise stasis and continuity. Very few analyses have adequately investigated the intensity of human predation during the mound period and the potential effects on the particular prey species. To this end, the biological and ecological characteristics of A. granosa, the dominant molluscan species for much of the known period of occupation in the region, are considered in detail, in combination with assessing the potential for human impact through predation via the measurement of 9106 A. granosa valves from three shell mounds. In explaining long-term economic change in this region of northern Australia, the focus has been placed on the analysis of relative changes and trends through time in prehistoric resource exploitation.     

Middle Holocene fishing strategies in East Africa: zooarchaeological analysis of Pundo,a Kansyore shell midden in northern Nyanza (Kenya)

A zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis is presented for the faunal remains from the Pundo shell midden in northern Nyanza province (Kenya), which contains Kansyore ceramics and dates to ca. 8000–7600 cal. BP. The faunal assemblage is overwhelmingly dominated by fish and molluscs, of which only the fish data are presented in detail. Taxonomic identifications suggest a diachronic change in relative species abundance, with cichlids becoming increasingly dominant, eventually comprising nearly 80% of the fish assemblage. The Pundo faunal data are compared with those from a number of other Kansyore sites. Pundo confirms that early Kansyore sites are purely forager sites, with domestic caprines only appearing at late Kansyore sites (post‐dating ca. 4400 cal. BP). Comparing ethological data for fish taxa found at Pundo and other lakeshore shell middens with those for fish taxa found at larger riverside sites, a seasonal round is suggested, in which short‐term fishing camps such as Pundo may have been occupied in the dry season, while riverside sites were probably occupied during the rainy season. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human remains in marine archaeology

Abstract

This paper deals with human remains in marine contexts, both from the intertidal zone and from below low water mark. Some of the legal and ethical aspects pertaining to human remains are discussed, with an emphasis on the English experience. Survival of human remains in marine environments is considered, and recovery procedures in fieldwork projects are discussed. Finally, drawing upon work from Britain and from other parts of Europe, particularly on remains from wreck sites, attempts are made to discern some of the more important directions for research on human remains from marine archaeological contexts.     

Molluscan evidence for diet and environment at Saar in the early second millennium BC

Molluscan shells were abundant throughout the archaeological deposit at Saar. Analysis of species composition and abundance provided evidence for marine food in the diet and for local marine environments. The most important edible species were bivalves such as pearl oyster and clams with smaller numbers of gastropods, for example conch and muricid snails. The range of archaeological species indicated that there were no major changes in the intertidal marine habitats. They have not provided further evidence for the location of the prehistoric coastline which might have differed from the present day. Flotation samples contained small freshwater gastropods which have not been recorded previously from sites in the Arabian Gulf. These gave evidence for the use of water in the site and for nearby freshwater springs.     

Changes in invertebrate taxa at two pre-Columbian sites in southwestern Jamaica, AD 800–1500

Excavations at two pre-Columbian sites at Paradise Park, Parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, revealed significant changes in mollusk use through time. The sites are located on a low dune ridge in a tropical forest between a mangrove swamp and sawgrass morass on Bluefields Bay. One site (Wes-15a) dates to the 9th century AD and contains only Ostionan (redware) pottery. It is located 240 m to the east of a Meillacan (White Marl/Montego Bay style) site dated to the 15th century AD (Wes-15b). The molluscan fauna in the Ostionan site is dominated by species that prefer freely circulating, high salinity seagrass habitats (i.e., Strombidae, Cardiidae, and Veneridae). In marked contrast, Lucinidae and Melongenidae dominate the Meillacan deposits, taxa that favor habitats of low circulation, lower salinity, and muddier substrates that are often associated with mangroves in Jamaica. Cultural and environmental factors that may have contributed to the observed shift in resource use are discussed.     

The Efficiency of Flotation Compared with Other Methods for Recovering Assemblages of Terrestrial and Aquatic Gastropods from Archaeological Deposits,with Reference to the Site of Pico Ramos (Basque Country,Spain)

ABSTRACT

We analysed assemblages of shells of land snails and small aquatic and wetland gastropods from a late Mesolithic-early Neolithic deposit in the cave of Pico Ramos (Basque Country). Shells were recovered by hand during excavation and all excavated deposit was processed by flotation, with a 250 μm mesh to recover floating material and a 1.0 mm mesh to recover the heavy fraction. The total assemblage comprised 5780 individuals (MNI) among 33 taxa, the sieved sub-assemblage having the highest proportions of these (2841 MNI in 31 taxa) and the hand-picked sub-assemblage the lowest (698 MNI in 11 taxa). Eleven taxa were absent from the flotation sub-assemblage, although the recovered MNI (2241; 39% of the total MNI) was high. The palaeoecological implications of the results are considered. Adult and large-sized juvenile shells of the edible land snail Cepaea nemoralis are abundant in the hand-picked sub-assemblage, but it is the absence of small-sized juvenile shells in the flotation and wet-sieved sub-assemblages that permits the inference that the species was collected for consumption. Wet sieving is therefore essential, both for interpreting hand-picked samples and in particular for the recovery of representative assemblages of land molluscs.     

10,000 years of human predation and size changes in the owl limpet (Lottia gigantea) on San Miguel Island,California

To investigate potential human impacts on California Channel Island shellfish stocks over the past 10,000 years, we measured 1718 owl limpet shells from 19 archaeological components on San Miguel Island. Inhabiting the middle intertidal zone of Pacific Coast rocky shores, owl limpets are slow-growing mollusks that can live for 30 years and reach lengths of over 100 mm. Recent ecological studies indicate that owl limpets are highly susceptible to heavy human predation, which results in reduced mean shell sizes among Lottia populations along the coasts of Alta and Baja California. On San Miguel Island, we identified a significant trans-Holocene reduction in mean owl limpet size, beginning more than 6500 years ago and accelerating at least 4400 years ago. Fluctuations in limpet size show no clear correlation with changes in sea surface temperature and marine productivity, suggesting that increased predation by growing human populations was primarily responsible for the reduction in Lottia size over time. Our results provide further evidence that prehistoric peoples significantly influenced nearshore fisheries long before the development of the commercial and industrialized fisheries of historic times.     

Prehistoric Butchery and Consumption of Birds in the Kingdom of Tonga,South Pacific

We evaluate the preservational attributes (element frequency, breakage, burning, cut-marks, rodent gnawing, and age) of ca. 500 bird bones from three prehistoric archaeological sites on the Polynesian islands of Foa and Lifuka in the Ha‘apai Group, Kingdom of Tonga. Two of the sites lie in calcareous beach sands whereas the third is the refuse infilling of a well. Although differing in age, all three sites are unequivocally cultural in origin, as evidenced by rich artifact assemblages and various sedimentological features (pits, hearths, etc.) that reflect human activities. The sites also contain bones from a diverse assemblage of marine fish, marine and terrestrial reptiles (sea turtles, iguanas), and terrestrial mammals (fruit bats, rats, pigs, dogs). We find no evidence for deposition of bones (bird or otherwise) in these Tongan sites by non-human agents. This is expected given that we are unaware of any non-human species or geological process that would concentrate the bones of fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals on a beach ridge or in a well in Tonga. This is especially the case since the species range from very small to very large, and represent marine, fresh water, coastal, and forested habitats. Nevertheless, clear evidence of cultural involvement cannot be discerned on most individual bones, whether bird or non-bird. Furthermore, most taphonomic attributes (element frequency, breakage, burning, and cut-marks) of bones of a domesticated species (the chicken, Gallus gallus) resemble those found on bones of indigenous landbirds. We believe that all bones in any zooarchaeological assemblage should be evaluated carefully to determine who or what was responsible for their deposition. We see no reason, however, why bird bones should be held to some standard higher than those applied to the bones of other taxa, as some have suggested.     

Coastal Feasts: A Pleistocene Antiquity for Resource Abundance in the Maritime Deserts of North West Australia?

ABSTRACT

Located on the edge of Australia's North West continental shelf, Barrow Island is uniquely located to address a number of research questions, such as the antiquity and changing nature of Indigenous occupation, including shifting uses of regional economic resources in response to post-glacial sea-level rise. These questions are addressed from a range of archaeological, zooarchaeological, and geoarchaeological disciplines. Although only preliminary, results to date indicate the presence of marine resources dating to before sea-level stabilization (～ 7.5 ka) that contain both dietary and utilitarian species, including high-ranked species such as sea turtle. The marine assemblages reflect a variety of habitats and substrates with a 17,000-year record for the presence of a former tidal marsh or estuary. We also note recently obtained ¹⁴C and OSL dates that extend the dietary marine faunas and initial occupation to well before 41 ka. This demonstrates that consumption of coastal resources began prior to the Holocene, when we begin to observe more widespread evidence of marine resource exploitation in the broader Canarvon Bioregion of northwest Australia. This evidence supports arguments for further research to directly test both the productivity of, and human reliance on, marine habitats from initial occupation.     

Insect species associations characterise past occupation sites

Assemblages of insects, mainly beetles (Coleoptera) from nine archaeological occupation sites in Northern England and one in Northern Ireland have been analysed statistically (principally using Spearman's rank-order correlation between pairs of species) in order to identify associations of taxa. Some sites gave strong and fairly discrete groupings, which could be related to individual insect habitats, or spatially or successionally related habitats, or to taphonomic pathways. Where less sharp groupings were identified, they included elements from those seen repeatedly elsewhere and appeared to reflect the character of the site, for example juxtaposition of habitats (as in stable manure), very uniform conditions, or rarity of insect habitats. It is concluded that, with suitable caution, analyses of this kind represent a transferable methodology of great value in obtaining archaeologically relevant information, as well as in improving our understanding of the way insects adapted to artificial habitats in the past.     

Estimation of Spatio-Temporal Correlations of Prehistoric Population and Vegetation in North America

We discuss a simple methodology to enable a statistical comparison of human population with the vegetation of North America over the past 13,000 years. Nonparametric kernel methods are applied for temporal and spatial smoothing of point data obtained from the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database, which results in sequences of maps showing the development of population and different plant taxa during the Holocene. The estimation of smooth spatial and spatio-temporal cross-correlation functions is proposed in order to detect relationships between population and vegetation in fixed time intervals. Furthermore, the effects of varying environment on demographic changes as well as potential impacts of populations on plant taxa over time are analyzed. Pointwise confidence bands for cross-correlation functions are computed and a robustness analysis is performed to assess the significance of obtained results. Considering the example of oak, an interpretation of our results for eastern North America shows the value of this methodology.     

A spatial approach to upland vegetation change and human impact: the Aber Valley,Snowdonia

Abstract

Uplands have long been considered important ‘barometers’ for human-environment relationships. Five pollen sequences from the upper Aber Valley (Snowdonia), across an altitudinal gradient, reveal that human impacts have varied temporally on small spatial scales in the region. Woodland taxa persisted into the later Holocene at lower altitudes and sites located at higher altitude reveal a more open landscape history, possibly as a result of increased exposure limiting tree growth at high elevation. Continuous pastoral human land use is evident in the high upland (400 to >600 m AOD) landscape with evidence of clearing, burning and grazing indicators throughout the records covering the last ～6000 years, with increased activity apparent during the last 2000 years. There is no clear evidence to suggest that climate change (e.g. deteriorating climatic conditions from ～850 BC) resulted in land abandonment and it appears more likely that climatic shifts could have led to changes in human land management. The results demonstrate that pastoral land use varied at different altitudes across the Aber Valley upland, and have highlighted the value and potential of high/fine spatial sampling in providing insights into land use history and the mosaic of habitats that result.     

A Multi‐disciplinary Approach to the Archaeological Investigation of a Bedrock‐Dominated Shallow‐Marine Landscape: an example from the Bay of Firth,Orkney, UK

Investigation of shallow‐marine environments for submerged prehistoric archaeology can be hampered in many localities by extensive bedrock exposure and thus limited preservation potential. Using the concept of ‘seamless archaeology’ where land‐based archaeology is integrated across the intertidal zone through to the offshore, a multi‐disciplinary approach is essential. This approach taken in the Bay of Firth, Orkney uses geophysics, historical archive and ethno‐archaeology, coastal geomorphology, palaeo‐environmental analyses and sea‐level science, and allows a clearer understanding of the landscape in which prehistoric settlers lived. While acknowledging the limitations of the preserved environment, we are successful in identifying areas of archaeological potential on the sea‐bed for both upstanding structural elements as well as sediment preservation that contains evidence for human occupation. This has wider implications beyond Orkney's World Heritage sites to provide a blueprint for similar studies elsewhere in the coastal zone. © 2012 The Authors     

A Late Holocene vertebrate food web from southern Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia)

This study presents isotopic data (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N from bone collagen) for 104 samples representing 29 vertebrate taxa from late pre-contact through to contact era (ca. 2000 – 100 BP) Haida Gwaii (British Columbia, Canada) from a wide variety of mostly marine organisms. The results demonstrate the considerable isotopic variability that characterizes potential prey items in coastal contexts and underscores the need for baseline faunal data to interpret human subsistence practices. Based on these data, a detailed marine food web was constructed, which provides insight into local ecological conditions. We present a simple method for quantifying the trophic level of ancient fauna using δ¹⁵N of bone collagen. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the reconstruction of human diet.