Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-02T17:57:45.944Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paleocoastal Marine Fishing on the Pacific Coast of the Americas: Perspectives from Daisy Cave, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Torben C. Rick ,
Jon M. Erlandson  and
René L. Vellanoweth
Torben C. Rick
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, torrey@oregon.uoregon.edu
Jon M. Erlandson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, jerland@oregon.uoregon.edu
René L. Vellanoweth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Humboldt State University, One Harpst St., Areata, CA, 95521-8299, rvllwnth@humboldt.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Analysis of over 27,000 fish bones from strata at Daisy Cave dated between about 11,500 and 8500 cal B.P. suggests that early Channel Islanders fished relatively intensively in a variety of habitats using a number of distinct technologies, including boats and the earliest evidence for hook-and-line fishing on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. The abundance of fish remains and fishing-related artifacts supports dietary reconstructions that suggest fish provided more than 50 percent of the edible meat represented in faunal samples from the early Holocene site strata. The abundance and economic importance of fish at Daisy Cave, unprecedented among early sites along the Pacific Coast of North America, suggest that early maritime capabilities on the Channel Islands were both more advanced and more variable than previously believed. When combined with a survey of fish remains from several other early Pacific Coast sites, these data suggest that early New World peoples effectively used watercraft, captured a diverse array of fish, and exploited a variety of marine habitats and resources.

Résumé

Résumé

El análisis de más de 27.000 huesos de pescado de Daisy Cave (Cueva de las Margaritas), cuyos estratos datan entre 11.500 y 8.500 cal B.P, sugiere que los primeros habitantes de Channel Islands (Las Islas del Canal), de la costa del Pacifico norteamericano, pescaron con relativa intensidad en una variedad de nichos ecológicos. Además, usaron un amplio número de distintas tecnologías incluyendo el uso de botes, anzuelos y cuerdas. La abundancia de los restos de especies de pescado y de los artefactos relacionados con la pesca han ayudado a la reconstructión dietética, sugiriendo que el pescado proporcionó más del 50% del alimento, siendo eso representado en las muestras de fauna de este sitio dentro del estrato del Holoceno Temprano. La importancia económica y la plenitud de pescado de Daisy Cave de esta parte de la costa del Pacifico, era sin precedente e indica que la capacidad marítima de los habitantes de los Channel Islands era más avanzada y variable de lo que se creía. Combinado esta informatión con otros estudios sobre restos de pescado de distintos sitios de la costa del Pacifico de entonce, sugiere que la gente del Nuevo Mundo usó con eficacia la tecnología marítima, capturando una diversidad de pescados y explotando una variedad de recursos marítimos de su medio ambiente.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 4 , October 2001 , pp. 595 - 613
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ackerman, R. E. 1992 Earliest Stone Industries on the North Pacific Coast of North America. Arctic Anthropology 29: 18–27.Google Scholar
Ackerman, R. E., Reid, K., Gallison, D., and Roe, M. 1985 Archaeology ofHeceta Island: A Survey of 16 Timber Units in the Tongass National Forest, Southeastern Alaska. Center for Northwest Anthropology Project Report No. 3. Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Broughton, J. M. 2000 Terminal Pleistocene Fish Remains from Homestead Cave, Utah, and Implications for Fish Biogeography in the Bonneville Basin. Copeia 2000: 645–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, V. L., and Schroeder, R. A. 1998 Do Digestive Processes Leave Diagnostic Traces on Fish Bones? Journal of Archaeological Science 25: 957–971.Google Scholar
Byrd, K. M. 1976 Changing Animal Utilization Patterns and their Implications: Southwest Ecuador (6500 B.C.-A.D. 1400). Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Casteel, R. W. 1976 Fish Remains in Archaeology and Paleoenvironmental Studies. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Colley, S. M. 1990 The Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological Fish Remains. Archaeological Method and Theory 2: 207–253.Google Scholar
Colten, R. H. 1991 Fishing During the Millingstone Horizon? New Data from the Glen Annie Canyon Site, Santa Barbara County. In Hunter-Gatherers of Early Holocene Coastal California, edited by Erlandson, J. M. and Colten, R.H. pp. 81–88. Perspectives in California Archaeology Vol. 1. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colten, R. H. 1993 Prehistoric Subsistence, Specialization, and Economy in a Southern California Chiefdom. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Archaeology Program, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Connolly, T. J., Erlandson, J. M., and Norris, S. 1995 Early Holocene Basketry and Cordage From Daisy Cave, San Miguel Island, California. American Antiquity 60: 309–318.Google Scholar
Dillehay, T. D., Calderon, G. A., Politis, G., and Beltrao, M. 1992 Earliest Hunters and Gatherers of South America. Journal of World Prehistory 6: 145–204.Google Scholar
Driver, J. C. 1992 Identification, Classification, and Zooarchaeology. Circaea 9: 35–47.Google Scholar
Engle, J. M. 1993 Distribution Patterns of Rocky Subtidal Fishes Around the California Islands. In Proceedings of the Third California Islands Symposium, edited by Hochberg, F. G., pp. 475–484. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. M. 1988 Cultural Evolution and Paleogeography on the Santa Barbara Coast: A 9600-Year l4C Record from Southern California. Radiocarbon 30: 25–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erlandson, J. M. 1994 Early Hunter-Gatherers of the California Coast. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. M. 2001 The Archaeology of Aquatic Adaptations: Paradigms for a New Millennium. Journal of Archaeological Research, in press.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. M., and Moss, M. L. 1996 The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition Along the Pacific Coast of North America. In Humans at the End of the Ice Age: The Archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, edited by Straus, L., Eriksen, B., Erlandson, J., and Yesner, D., pp. 277–302. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. M., and Moss, M. L. 2001 Shellfish Feeders, Carrion Eaters, and Aquatic Adaptations. American Antiquity 66: 413–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erlandson, J. M., Colten, R. H., and Glassow, M. A. 1988 Reassessing Owen's “Early Horizon” of the Southern California Coast: New Data on the Chronology of the Glen Annie Canyon Site (CA-SBA-142). Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 10: 237–245.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. M., Kennett, D. J., Ingram, B. L., Guthrie, D. A., Morris, D. P., Tveskov, M. A., West, G. J., and P. L. Walker, 1996 An Archaeological and Paleontological Chronology for Daisy Cave (CA-SMI-261), San Miguel Island, California. Radiocarbon 38: 355–373.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J. M., Rick, T. C., Vellanoweth, R. L., and Kennett, D. J. 1999 Marine Subsistence at a 9300 Year-Old Shell Midden on Santa Rosa Island, California. Journal of Field Archaeology 26: 255–265.Google Scholar
Eschmeyer, W. N., Herald, E. S., and Hammann, H. 1983 A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.Google Scholar
Fitch, J. E. 1969 Fish Remains, Primarily Otoliths, from a Ventura, California Chumash Village Site (VEN-3). In A Coastal Chumash Village: Excavation of Shisholop, Ventura County, California, by Greenwood, R. S. and Browne, R. O., pp. 56–71. Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences No. 8. Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
Fitch, J. E. 1972 Fish Remains, Primarily Otoliths, from a Coastal Indian Midden (SLO-2) at Diablo Cove, San Luis Obispo County, California. San Luis Obispo County Archaeological Society Occasional Paper 7: 101–120.Google Scholar
Gallegos, D. R. 1991 Antiquity and Adaptations at Agua Hedionda, Carlsbad, California. In Hunter-Gatherers of Early Holocene Coastal California, edited by Erlandson, J. M. and Colten, R.H. pp. 19–42. Perspectives in California Archaeology Vol. 1. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Gallegos, D. R., and Carrico, R. 1984 Windsong Shores Data Recovery Program for Site W-131, Carlsbad, California. Ms. on file at ERCE (WESTEC), San Diego, California.Google Scholar
Glassow, M. A. 1991 Early Holocene Adaptations on Vandenberg Air Force Base. In Hunter-Gatherers of Early Holocene Coastal California, edited by Erlandson, J. M. and Colten, R.H. pp. 113–124. Perspectives in California Archaeology Vol. 1. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Glassow, M. A. 1996 Purismeno Chumash Prehistory: Maritime Adaptations Along the Southern California Coast. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Fort Worth.Google Scholar
Glassow, M. A., and Wilcoxon, L. 1988 Coastal Adaptations Near Point Conception, California, With Particular Regard to Shellfish Exploitation. American Antiquity 53: 36–51.Google Scholar
Gobalet, K. W. 1992 Inland Utilization of Marine Fishes by Native Americans Along the Central California Coast. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 14: 72–84.Google Scholar
Gobalet, K. W. 1997 Fish Remains from the Early 19th Century Native Alaskan Habitation at Fort Ross. In The Native Alaskan Neighborhood: A Multiethnic Community at Colony Ross, edited by Lightfoot, K., Schiff, A., and Wake, T., pp. 319–327. Contributions to the Archaeological Research Facility No. 55. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Grayson, D. K. 1984 Quantitative Zooarchaeology: Topics in the Analysis of Archaeological Faunas. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Guthrie, D. A. 1980 Analysis of Avifaunal and Bat Remains from Midden Sites on San Miguel Island. In The California Islands: Proceedings of a Multidisciplinary Symposium, edited by Power, D. M., pp. 689–702. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Hayden, B. 1981 Research and Development in the Stone Age: Technological Transitions among Hunter-Gatherers. Current Anthropology 22: 519–531.Google Scholar
Huddleston, R. W. 1992 Report on Fish Otoliths from Daisy Cave, San Miguel Island, California. Scientific Research Systems, El Monte, California. Technical Report on File, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. R. 1982 Analysis of Fish Remains from the Late Period Chumash Village of Talepop (LAN-229). In Archaeological Investigations at Talepop (LAN-229), edited by King, C., pp. 12–1 to 12-29. Ms. on file, South Central Coast Information Center, Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. R., Stafford, T. W, Ajie, H. O., and Morris, D. P. 2000 Arlington Springs Revisited. In Proceedings of the 5th California Islands Symposium, edited by Browne, D., Mitchell, K., and Chaney, H., pp. 541–545. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Jones, T. L. 1991 Marine Resource Value and the Priority of Coastal Settlement: A California Perspective. American Antiquity 56: 419–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keefer, D., de France, S., Moseley, M., Richardson, J., Satterlee, D., and Day-Lewis, A. 1998 Early Maritime Economy and El Nino Events at Quebrada Tacahuay, Peru. Science 281: 1833–1835.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelly, R. L. 1996 Foraging and Fishing. In Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Fishing Strategies, edited by Plew, M., pp. 208–214. Boise State University, Boise.Google Scholar
Kennett, D. J. 1998 Behavioral Ecology and the Evolution of Hunter-Gatherer Societies on the Northern Channel Islands, California. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Klein, R. G. 1999 The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Evolution. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Klein, R. G., and Cruz-Uribe, K. 1984 The Analysis of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Koerper, H. C, Langenwalter, P. E. II, and Schrofh, A. 1991 Early Holocene Adaptations and the Transition Phase Problem: Evidence from the Allan O. Kelly Site, Agua Hedionda Lagoon. In Hunter-Gatherers of Early Holocene Coastal California, edited by Erlandson, J. M. and Colten, R.H. pp. 43–62. Perspectives in California Archaeology Vol. 1. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landberg, L. C. W. 1975 Fishing Effort in the Aboriginal Fisheries of the Santa Barbara Region, California: An Ethnohistorical Appraisal. In Maritime Adaptations of the Pacific, edited by Casteel, R. W. and Quimby, G.I. pp. 145–170. Mouton Publishers, The Hague.Google Scholar
Llagostera, A. 1979 9,700 Years of Maritime Subsistence on the Pacific: An Analysis by Means of Bioindicators in the North of Chile. American Antiquity 44: 309–324.Google Scholar
Llagostera, A. 1992 Early Occupations and the Emergence of Fishermen on the Pacific Coast of South America. Andean Past 3: 87–109.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, K. G. 1993 Long-Term Developments in Complex Hunter-Gatherer Societies: Recent Perspectives from the Pacific Coast of North America. Journal of Archaeological Research 1: 167–201.Google Scholar
Love, M. 1996 Probably More Than You Wanted to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast. Really Big Press, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Lyman, R. L. 1991 Prehistory of the Oregon Coast. Academic Press, San Diego.Google Scholar
Mason, R. D., Peterson, M., Brechbiel, B., Singer, C., Bonner, W., Gibson, R.., and Morgan, T. 1992 Newport Coast Archaeological Project: Results of Data Recovery from Sites Impacted by Construction of Pacific Coast Highway (Inland Side), CA-ORA-246 and CA-ORA- 1208. The Keith Companies, Costa Mesa.Google Scholar
Matson, R. G., and Coupland, G. 1995 Prehistory of the Northwest Coast. Academic Press, San Diego.Google Scholar
McInnis, H. 1999 Subsistence and Maritime Adaptations at Quebrada Jaguay (QJ-280): A Faunal Analysis. Unpublished Master's thesis, Institute for Quaternary Studies, University of Maine.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W. 1965 Pacific Coast Archaeology. In The Quaternary of the United States, edited by Wright, H. and Frey, D., pp. 709–720. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W. 1989 Early Shell Mound Dwellers of the Pacific Coast of North America. In Circum-Pacific Prehistory Conference Proceedings, Vol. IIIb, The Development of Hunting-Fishing-Gathering Maritime Societies on the Pacific. Washington State University Press, Pullman.Google Scholar
Miller, D. I., and Lea, R. N. 1972 Guide to the Coastal Marine Fishes of California. California Department of Fish and Game Bulletin No. 157.Google Scholar
Minor, R., and Toepel, K. 1986 The Archaeology of the Tahkenitch Landing Site: Early Prehistoric Occupation on the Oregon Coast. Heritage Research Associates Report No. 46. Ms. on file Heritage Research Associates, Eugene.Google Scholar
Moratto, M. J. 1984 California Archaeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Moseley, M. E. 1975 The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization. Cummings, Menlo Park.Google Scholar
Moss, M. L. 1998 Northern Northwest Coast Regional Overview. Arctic Anthropology 35: 88–111.Google Scholar
Moss, M. L., and Erlandson, J. M. 1995 Reflections on North American Pacific Coast Prehistory. Journal of World Prehistory 9: 1–45.Google Scholar
Moss, M. L., and Erlandson, J. M. 1998 Early Holocene Adaptations on the Southern Northwest Coast. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 20: 13–25.Google Scholar
Noah, A. C. 2000 Early Holocene Coastal-Inland Human Connections in Southern California: Evidence from the Windsong Shores Site Faunal Collection. Paper presented at the 34th Annual Society for California Archaeology Meetings, Riverside.Google Scholar
Norris, S. E. 1997 Early Holocene Cordage and Perishable Artifacts from the Daisy Cave Site (CA-SMI-261), San Miguel Island, California. Unpublished Master's paper, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene.Google Scholar
Olson, R. L. 1930 Chumash Prehistory. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 28: 1–21.Google Scholar
Osborn, A. J. 1977 Strandloopers, Mermaids, and Other Fairy Tales: Ecological Determinants of Marine Resource Utilization-the Peruvian Case. In For Theory Building in Archaeology, edited by Binford, L. R., pp. 157–205. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Perlman, S. M. 1980 An Optimum Diet Model, Coastal Variability, and Hunter-Gatherer Behavior. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 3: 257–310.Google Scholar
Porcasi, J. F., Jones, T. L., and Mark Raab, L. 2000 Trans-Holocene Marine Mammal Exploitation on San Clemente Island: A Tragedy of the Commons Revisited. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 19: 200–220.Google Scholar
Raab, L. M. 1997 The Southern Channel Islands during the Middle Holocene: Trends in Maritime Cultural Evolution. In Archaeology of the California Coast During the Middle Holocene, edited by Erlandson, J. and Glassow, M., pp. 23–34. Perspectives in California Archaeology Vol. 4. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Raab, L. M., Porcasi, J. F., Bradford, K., and A. Yatsko, 1995 Debating Cultural Evolution: Regional Implications of Fishing Intensification at Eel Point, San Clemente Island. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 31: 3–27.Google Scholar
Rick, T. C. 1999 From Sandy Beaches to Rocky Shores: Early Holocene Fishers of the California Coast. Unpublished Master's paper, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene.Google Scholar
Rick, T. C, and Erlandson, J. M. 2000 Early Holocene Fishing Strategies on the California Coast: Evidence from CA-SBA-2057. Journal of Archaeological Science 27: 621–633.Google Scholar
Roosevelt, A. C, Costa, M., Machado, C., Michab, M., Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Feathers, J., Barnett, W., Silveira, M., Henderson, A., Silva, J., Chernoff, B., Reese, D., Holman, J., Toth, N., and Schick, K. 1996 Paleoindian Cave Dwellers in the Amazon: The Peopling of the Americas. Science 272: 373–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rozaire, C. E. 1967 Archaeological Considerations Regarding the Southern California Islands. In Proceedings of the Symposium on the Biology of the California Islands, edited by Philbrick, R., pp. 327–336. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. 1969 Remains of Fishes and other Aquatic Animals. In Science in Archaeology, edited by Brothwell, D. and Higgs, E., pp. 376–394. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Salls, R. A. 1988 Prehistoric Fisheries of the California Bight. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Salls, R. A. 1991 Early Holocene Maritime Adaptations at Eel Point, San Clemente Island. In Hunter-Gatherers of Early Holocene Coastal California, edited by Erlandson, J. and Colten, R., pp. 63–80. Perspectives in California Archaeology Vol. 1. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Sandweiss, D. H., Richardson, J., III, Reitz, E., Hsu, J., and Feldman, R. 1989 Early Maritime Adaptations in the Andes: Preliminary Studies at the Ring Site, Peru. In Ecology, Settlement, and History in the Osmore Drainage, Peru, edited by Rice, D., Stanish, C., and Scarr, P., pp. 35–84. British Archaeological Reports International Series No. 545. Oxford.Google Scholar
Sandweiss, D. H., McInnis, H., Burger, R. L., Cano, A., Ojeda, B., Paredes, R., Del Carmen Sandweiss, M., and Glascock, M. D. 1998 Quebrada Jaguay: Early South American Maritime Adaptations. Science 281: 1830–1833.Google Scholar
Schoenherr, A. A., Feldmeth, C. R., and Emerson, M. J. 1999 Natural History of the Islands of California. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Schwaderer, R. 1992 Archaeological Test Excavation at the Duncans Point Cave, CA-SON-348/H. In Essays on the Prehistory of Maritime California, edited by Jones, T.L., pp. 55–72. Publication No. 10. Center for Archaeological Research, Davis, California.Google Scholar
Stothert, K. E. 1985 The Preceramic Las Vegas Culture of Coastal Ecuador. American Antiquity 50: 613–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. 1993 Extended 14C Data Base and Revised Calib 3.0 14C age Calibration Program. Radiocarbon 35: 215–230.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. 2000 Calib 4.3 Radiocarbon Calibration Program 2000. Quaternary Isotope Lab, University of Washington.Google Scholar
Timbrook, J. 1993 Island Chumash Ethnobotany. In Archaeology on the Northern Channel Islands, California, edited by Glassow, M., pp. 47–62. Archives of California Prehistory No. 34. Coyote Press, Salinas.Google Scholar
Vellanoweth, R. L., and Erlandson, J. M. 1999 Middle Holocene Fishing and Maritime Adaptations at CA-SNI-161, San Nicolas Island, California. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 21: 257–274.Google Scholar
Vellanoweth, R. L., Erlandson, J. M., Lambright, M., and Rick, T. C. 2001 Early New World Maritime Technologies: Sea Grass Cordage, Shell Beads, and a Bone Tool from Cave of the Chimneys, San Miguel Island, California. MS on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene.Google Scholar
Wheeler, A., and Jones, A. 1989 Fishes. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Yesner, D. R. 1980 Maritime Hunter-Gatherers: Ecology and Prehistory. Current Anthropology 21: 727–750.Google Scholar
Yesner, D. R. 1987 Life in the Garden of Eden: Causes and Consequences of the Adoption of Marine Diets by Human Societies. In Food and Evolution, edited by Harris, M. and Ross, E., pp. 285–310. Temple University Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Yesner, D. R. 1996 Human Adaptation at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary (circa 13,000 to 8,000 B.P.) in Eastern Beringia. In Humans at the End of the Ice Age: The Archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, edited by Straus, L. G., Eriksen, B. V., Erlandson, J. M., and Yesner, D. R., pp. 255–276. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar