Ancient DNA investigation of prehistoric salmon resource utilization at Keatley Creek,British Columbia,Canada

This study applied ancient DNA techniques to achieve accurate species identifications for the archaeological salmon remains recovered from the prehistoric pithouse village of Keatley Creek in British Columbia, Canada. Previous archaeological studies indicate that economic stratification within the community might have resulted in differential access to some preferred salmon species, such as sockeye and chinook. Unambiguous ancient DNA species identification now makes it possible to more accurately address the issue of early salmon resource utilization in the region. This study analyzed 60 salmon remains from two specialized structures and two residential structures in order to identify any species differences among bony salmon remains found within the structure. Although high success rates (over 90%) were obtained for ancient DNA tests, only three species (chinook, sockeye and coho salmon) were identified from the remains. Pink salmon was not identified among the tested sample, despite the fact that it was originally assumed to be a staple species for the site's native inhabitants. The absence of pink salmon in our sample significantly altered the picture of early salmon fishing activities in the region. As a result, the effects of economic stratification on differential access to the remaining so-called preferred species of sockeye and chinook within the four structures studied were not as dramatic as previously thought, although differences among the structures could still be observed.     

Resource Intensification and Resource Depression in the Pacific Northwest of North America: A Zooarchaeological Review

In the Pacific Northwest of North America, researchers routinely suggest changes in human use of animals explain hunter-gatherer organizational changes and development of cultural complexity. For example, most models developed to explain developing cultural complexity invoke salmon in some fashion. Yet until recently, fish remains were not carefully studied and more generally, zooarchaeological evidence has not been systematically used to test models of culture change. This study reviews the 10,000-year-old faunal record in the Pacific Northwest to test predictions drawn from models of resource intensification, resource depression and hunter-gatherer organizational strategies. The records from two subareas, the South-Central Northwest Coast (Puget Sound/Gulf of Georgia) and the Northern Columbia Plateau, are examined in detail, representing 63 archaeological sites. While minor changes in animal use are evident, the overall record is characterized by stability rather than change.     

Do you never get tired of salmon? Evidence for extreme salmon specialization at Prince Rupert harbour,British Columbia

Faunal evidence from five village sites at Prince Rupert harbour, British Columbia reveals very high levels of dependence on one food resource, salmon, during the period from 500 BC to AD 1000. At some of these sites, it appears that little else in the way of vertebrate fauna was consumed. Comparisons with faunal data from other parts of the Northwest Coast show that the Prince Rupert villagers during this period were extreme salmon specialists, as highly focused on this one resource as any the Northwest Coast culture, and among the most highly resource specialized hunter–gatherer cultures worldwide.     

Addressing seasonal site use through ancient DNA species identification of Pacific salmon at Dionisio Point,Galiano Island,British Columbia

We use ancient DNA analysis to identify Pacific salmon vertebrae to species in order to provide an important line of evidence that helps to establish the timing of seasonal residence at a Pacific Northwest Coast village site. Ancient DNA results from House 2 at Dionisio Point allow a characterization of the salmon fishery. Ten of eleven randomly selected smaller-sized salmon vertebrae were positively identified as sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) while only a single pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) was identified. Of the 322 whole salmon vertebrae identified from House 2 occupation deposits during zooarchaeological analysis, 58 percent measure less than 8.0 mm and 70 percent are less than 8.5 mm in maximum transverse diameter. Together with documented aspects of the material record from Dionisio Point, most notably the vertebrate fauna from House 2, the indication that sockeye was the primary focus of the Dionisio Point salmon fishery suggests the site was inhabited during the spring and summer. This approach to the identification of season-specific site occupation has the potential for application over much of the Northeast Pacific.     

Process, perception, and practice: Time perspectivism in Yosemite native demography

Multiple concepts of time apply to archaeology—from analytical time used to organize and interpret the archaeological record to the time of lived experience of those individuals responsible for creation of the archaeological record. This paper demonstrates how these disparate concepts of time can be reconciled through a perception-based approach to time perspectivism, which invokes multiple analytical scales working from the minimum scale of the average human lifespan. This approach is demonstrated through a case study of hunter–gatherer demographic change in Yosemite Valley in the central Sierra Nevada of California.     

A Late Holocene Population Bottleneck in California Tule Elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes): Provisional Support from Ancient DNA

Zooarchaeological analyses have suggested a possible case of late Holocene resource depression in California tule elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes). We develop and conduct a preliminary independent test of this here based on trends in genetic diversity derived from ancient DNA extracted from archaeological elk bone. Mitochondrial DNA sequence data from 24 tule elk temporally dispersed across the late Holocene deposits of the Emeryville Shellmound, California, provide provisional support for a decline in genetic diversity and a population bottleneck beginning about 1600 B.P. Final confirmation of this pattern must await complete replication of the sequences. Stable isotope analyses of the elk bone provide a record of change in the terrestrial environment across the period of deposition and no suggestion that climate change may have played a role in an elk population decline. The analysis has implications for our understanding of change in human behavior and biology during late Holocene of central California, the methodology of resource depression analyses, and the conservation biology of tule elk.     

The emergence of status inequality in intermediate scale societies: A demographic and socio-economic history of the Keatley Creek site,British Columbia

Explaining the emergence of status inequality in human societies is an important priority for many anthropological archaeologists, particularly those whose research includes intermediate scale societies (complex hunter–gatherers and early agriculturalists). Yet, fine grained records of emergent inequality are still exceedingly rare. This paper outlines a fine-grained record of cultural change from the Keatley Creek site, a complex hunter–gatherer village in British Columbia, in which it is possible to recognize the emergence of inequality and its demographic and economic correlates. Results of the study suggest that status inequality emerged abruptly after an extended period of socio-economic stability in the village under conditions of adversely altered resource conditions, demographic packing, and subsistence resource diversification and extensification.     

城镇可持续生活供水价格研究--以陕西省关中地区为例

本分析了关中地区城镇生活水价现状和问题,得出了城镇生活水价是不可持续的结论,即水价低于供水生产成本,水价结构不合理。在探讨可持续水价的调整原则的基础上,提出了价格杠杆调节关中生活水价的措施,包括：逐步把水价调整到成本水价以上的水平,并调整水价结构,使之能反映供水成本和水资源价值;实行累进加价制度,对超定额用水征收高水价;实施季节性水价等。     

Investigating the presence of ancient absorbed organic residues in groundstone using GC–MS and other analytical techniques: a residue study of several prehistoric milling tools from central California

Analysis of absorbed organic molecules in groundstone could provide a valuable means to study resource use and processing in antiquity. The following study analyzed extracts from the surfaces of several central California milling tools to assess whether organic residues remained from prehistoric resource processing. It also sought to determine which source identification methods are likely to be successful at providing information about the type, or even the specific identify, of resources that were processed. Lipids (primarily fatty acids) were analyzed using GC–MS and the presence of phenolic compounds was assessed with UV-Vis spectroscopy. Milling surfaces were compared to previously broken surfaces from the same tool with the assumption that both surfaces had been exposed to similar post-depositional conditions. Results supported the presence of ancient residues in milling tools. A higher concentration of fatty acids was recovered from milling surfaces than paired broken surfaces. Furthermore, measurable amounts of azelaic acid (an oxidation product of some unsaturated fatty acids) were present in most milling surfaces, but not in broken surfaces. However, results also indicated that environmentally absorbed lipids formed a significant portion of the total lipid content. Thus, it is suggested that future analyses employ a biomarker approach, rather than criteria based on ratios of common fatty acids, to identify sources of organic residues in prehistoric milling tools.     

A Test of Ideal Free Distribution Predictions Using Targeted Survey and Excavation on California’s Northern Channel Islands

Using targeted survey, excavation, and radiocarbon dating, we assess the extent to which human settlement patterns on California’s northern Channel Islands fit predictions arising from the ideal free distribution (IFD): (1) people first established and expanded permanent settlements in the regions ranked high for environmental resource suitability; (2) as population grew, they settled in progressively lower ranked habitats; and (3) changes in the archaeological record associated with high population levels such as increases in faunal diversity and evenness in high-ranked habitats are coincident with the expansion to other areas. On Santa Rosa Island, the early permanent settlements were located in both high- and middle-ranked locations, with the most extensive settlement at the highest ranked locations and only isolated sites elsewhere. Settlement at a low-ranked habitat was confined to the late Holocene (after 3600 cal BP). Drought influenced the relative rank of different locations, which is an example of climate adding a temporal dimension to the model that episodically stimulated population movement and habitat abandonment. Because the IFD includes a wide range of cultural and environmental variables, it has the potential to be a central model for guiding archaeological analysis and targeted field research.     

Paleodietary analysis of a San Francisco Bay Area shellmound: stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of late Holocene humans from the Ellis Landing site (CA-CCO-295)

The late Holocene archaeofaunal record of the San Francisco Bay Area demonstrates temporal declines in the abundance of low-cost, high-ranked marine and terrestrial resources. During later periods of occupation, faunal assemblages are often dominated by lower-ranked, higher-cost resources, suggesting an increase in diet breadth through time. Archaeological resource intensification models argue that this marks a late Holocene decline in foraging efficiency in the Bay Area, driven by human-induced harvest pressure. This study examines dietary change in the region using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from 65 human burials, spanning two temporal components (cal AD 55–890 and cal AD 762–1550) at the Ellis Landing site (CA-CCO-295). The strong linear relationship between collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope values reflects both marine and terrestrial food consumption, with individuals showing a high level of dietary variability at the site. No temporal trend or meaningful sex differences were found in isotope values. The widening of diet breadth predicted by the archaeofaunal record occurred prior to the occupation of the Ellis Landing shellmound site. The trend in exploiting a greater amount of terrestrial resources during the Middle and Late Period in central California was supported by isotopic evidence.     

The role of canids in ritual and domestic contexts: new ancient DNA insights from complex hunter–gatherer sites in prehistoric Central California

This study explores the interrelationship between the genus Canis and hunter–gatherers through a case study of prehistoric Native Americans in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento Delta area. A distinctive aspect of the region's prehistoric record is the interment of canids, variously classified as coyotes, dogs, and wolves. Since these species are difficult to distinguish based solely on morphology, ancient DNA analysis was employed to distinguish species. The DNA study results, the first on canids from archaeological sites in California, are entirely represented by domesticated dogs (including both interments and disarticulated samples from midden deposits). These results, buttressed by stable isotope analyses, provide new insight into the complex interrelationship between humans and canids in both ritual and prosaic contexts, and reveal a more prominent role for dogs than previously envisioned.     

Using ancient DNA identification and osteometric measures of archaeological Pacific salmon vertebrae for reconstructing salmon fisheries and site seasonality at Dionisio Point,British Columbia

Determining the diversity of salmon species represented in archaeological contexts is critical to understanding patterns of salmon harvesting and consumption, storage practices and seasonal patterns of resource exploitation by precontact peoples of the Northwest Coast. We present species determinations generated for salmon vertebrae from the Dionisio Point site (DgRv-003) in coastal southwestern British Columbia, a well-preserved village site that dates to between 1500 and 1300 cal BP. Molecular species identification was possible for 70 Pacific salmonid vertebral elements recovered from one excavated plankhouse at the site. Coupled with osteometric measures, we determine that residents of the plankhouse fished primarily for chum, sockeye and pink salmon, with a lesser emphasis on chinook, coho and steelhead. These results indicate a diverse fishery that likely occurred between July and December, suggesting a mid summer through winter season of occupation for the village.     

Tracking Fish and Human Response to Earthquakes on the Northwest Coast of Washington State,USA: A Preliminary Study at Tse-whit-zen

Evidence of large earthquakes occurring along the Pacific Northwest Coast is reflected in coastal stratigraphy from Oregon to British Columbia, where there also exists an extensive archaeological record of Native American occupation. Tse-whit-zen, a large Native American village dating between ～2800 yrs BP and the historic era, located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, was excavated with exceptionally fine stratigraphic control allowing for precise comparison of these natural and cultural records. Here we report on the ～10,000 fish remains from one 2 × 2 m excavation block; this assemblage spans the timing of one seismic event, allowing study of changes in relative taxonomic abundance through time that may coincide with earthquakes or other environmental changes. Results indicate a wide variety of fish taxa were used throughout the dated occupation. Comparisons of fish use before and after one earthquake event shows a decline in salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) and an increase in herring (Clupea pallasii), shifts consistent with earthquake-related habitat loss. This serves as a pilot study for a large-scale collaborative project that is drawing on the range in animal types (invertebrates, mammals, birds, and fishes) to assess human response to gradual and abrupt environmental change at Tse-whit-zen.     

Sego Lilies and Prehistoric Foragers: Return Rates,Pit Ovens,and Carbohydrates

Three experiments or simulations were undertaken to obtain a clearer understanding of the role of pit ovens and roots from dry, sagebrush-covered habitats in prehistoric forager subsistence. The archaeological record of north-central Wyoming containing cylindrical pits near dense stands of sego lily served as a model for these studies. They revealed that: (1) the post-encounter return rates for collecting and processing sego lily is relatively low at 207 kcal/h; (2) the design of pit ovens of this sort was for long-term moderate heat; and (3) long-term moderate heat transformed the large complex polysaccharides (probably starch) of sego lily into more easily digestible disaccharides and monosaccharides. Given the results of the experiments and archaeological and ethnographic evidence, small groups of foragers probably baked sego lily bulbs or a similar resource near the collection patches for immediate consumption. The use of this predictable, stationary resource would have served to buffer risk and would have provided required carbohydrates in the spring at the end of the nutritionally stressful time of the year.     

Declines in Mammalian Foraging Efficiency during the Late Holocene, San Francisco Bay, California

Resource intensification models that have been posited for prehistoric California predict decreases in foraging efficiency during the late Holocene, Using implications of the fine-grained prey model of optimal foraging theory, I derive an index of the efficiency of vertebrate prey choice from the relative abundances of large- and small-sized prey items. I then test the intensification models with late Holocene mammalian faunas from San Francisco Bay shellmounds. Dramatic linear decreases in the relalive frequency of artiodactyls compared to the smaller sea otters (Enhydra lutris) throughout the occupational histories of particular localities strongly support the resource intensification models. The declines in artiodactyl abundances are not correlated with late Holocene climatic indices developed for this region, with changes in the seasonal use of shellmounds, or with technological innovations. An intra- and interregionally consistent pattern in declining abundances of large mammals in environmentally distinct regions throughout California suggests that resource depression driven by human predators may be the single most important cause of the declines. These patterns have far-reaching implications concerning the long-term human role in structuring prehistoric ecosystems.     

资源、环境约束与制造业增长模式转变

本文运用非参数的环境生产前沿方法,通过构建产出端既包括行业产出增长,又包括污染物排放的方向性环境技术效率评价模型,以规模以上制造业28个行业为研究对象,采用线性规划求解方法,研究资源环境约束下制造业的增长模式,探讨制造业增长模式转变的可行性。认为,中国制造业环境技术效率提高明显;考察期内,烟草制品业、皮革毛皮羽毛(绒)及其制品业、通信设备计算机及其他电子设备制造业三个行业环境技术均达到了效率前沿面;2003年成为制造业和轻、重工业环境技术效率发生变化的转折点。在现有技术下,转变制造业高能耗、高污染的粗放型增长模式,使制造业向"低投入-高产出-低排放"的集约型增长模式转变具有一定的可行性。     

Can salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) be identified to species using vertebral morphometrics?

Remains of anadromous Pacific salmon and trout (genus Oncorhynchus) are common in archaeological sites from California to Alaska; however, morphological similarity generally precludes species identification, limiting the range of questions that salmonid remains can address in relation to past human use and ongoing efforts in conservation biology. We developed a relatively simple, rapid, and non-destructive way to classify salmon and trout vertebrae from archaeological contexts to species using length, height and the ratio of length to height. Modern reference material was obtained from all seven anadromous Oncorhynchus species native to the west coast of North America. A minimum of ten adult Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), chum (Oncorhynchus keta), coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were skeletonized and vertebra length and height were measured. Morphometric analyses compared species classification success based on Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Classification and Regression Trees (CART), and randomForest, with CART performing the best. Classification analyses used all seven species individually, but because of considerable overlap among several species we also conducted analyses on four species groupings. We assigned Chinook salmon and cutthroat to their own groups based on their dissimilarities from each other and the other species. The remaining species were divided into two group complexes (a) chum, coho, and steelhead; and (b) pink and sockeye. When we grouped species according to similar morphology, CART overall success rates increased, ranging from 92 to 100%. Individual species with the highest successful classification rates using CART were Chinook salmon and cutthroat, from 92 to 100%, respectively. We applied our classification to an assemblage of ancient (1000–3000 year old) salmonid vertebrae from the Swiftwater Rockshelters excavations on the upper Wenatchee River in Washington State, U.S.A.