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

Ewonus, Paul; Cannon, Aubrey; Yang, Dongya

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.04.005

Cited by 22 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Sockeye is one of the smaller of the five pacific salmon in the Onchorynchus genus. Ewonus et al (2011) have recently argued, based on a very small number of ancient DNA-derived species determinations (n = 11) of salmon vertebrae, that sockeye was the dominant species consumed in House 2. While this might suggest sockeye is an appropriate choice to represent all salmon, our aDNA species identification of a much larger sample of vertebrae (n = 70; Flanigan et al 2011;Grier et al 2012) shows all five Pacific salmon species and steelhead are represented in the assemblage, including equal proportions of sockeye and chum.…”

Section: Colin Grier and Susan Lukowskimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Elsewhere, Ewonus et al (2011) have argued that this aggregation occurred in the spring through summer season, based on the presumed abundance of herring and the sockeye-dominated salmon bone assemblage. Given that all five Pacific salmon and steelhead are represented in the assemblage (Flanigan et al 2011;Grier et al 2012), the occupation of Dionisio Point appears to include fall and winter, when most salmon species were available.…”

Section: Colin Grier and Susan Lukowskimentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

On Villages, Quantification, and Appropriate Context: A Comment on “Social Zooarchaeology of a Northwest Coast House” by Paul A. Ewonus

Grier

Lukowski

2012

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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Section: Colin Grier and Susan Lukowskimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Colin Grier and Susan Lukowskimentioning

confidence: 99%

On Villages, Quantification, and Appropriate Context: A Comment on “Social Zooarchaeology of a Northwest Coast House” by Paul A. Ewonus

Grier

Lukowski

2012

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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“…The preservation of a restricted range of elements at certain sites, which has directed the development of taxonomic identification protocols specific to a region; for example, the frequent representation of salmon vertebrae from sites in the North American Pacific Northwest, which has resulted in the development of methods focused predominately on vertebrae for assessing human diet, site occupation and seasonality (e.g., Butler and Chatters 1994;Cannon 2000;Ewonus et al 2011;Gobalet 2012;Gobalet et al 2004;Orchard and Szpak 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of high analytical costs, only small samples can be analysed (e.g., Ewonus et al 2011;Speller et al 2005;Yang et al 2004), which can produce conflicting interpretations of the same site (Ewonus et al 2011;Grier et al 2013). In these cases, it is necessary to use a method that is cost effective and enables large samples to be analysed, such as peptide fingerprinting.…”

Section: Identification Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While aDNA has been successfully extracted to identify Pacific Northwest archaeological assemblages of salmon vertebrae, its application is often limited to small samples due to cost Cannon and Yang 2006;Ewonus et al 2011;Grier et al 2013;Speller et al 2005;Yang et al 2004; for related work on herring DNA, see also Speller et al 2012). According to , aDNA methods still appear to be the most accurate method of identifying salmon vertebrae to species, with the morphometrics protocols of Huber et al (2011) requiring further refinement.…”

Section: Global Applications Of Vertebral Morphometricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustained prehistoric exploitation of a Marshall Islands fishery: ichthyoarchaeological approaches, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions on Ebon Atoll

Lambrides¹

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Atolls are often characterised in terms of the environmental constraints and challenges these landscapes impose on sustained habitation, including: nutrient-poor soils and salt laden winds that impede plant growth, lack of perennial surface fresh water, limited terrestrial biodiversity, and vulnerability to extreme weather events and inundation since most atolls are only 2-3 m above sea level. Yet, on Ebon Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands in eastern Micronesia, the oceanside and lagoonside intertidal marine environments are expansive, with the reef area four times larger than the land area, supporting a diverse range of taxa. Given the importance of finfish resources in the Pacific, and specifically Ebon, this provided an ideal context for evaluating methods and methodological approaches for conducting Pacific ichthyoarchaeological analyses, and based on this assessment, implement high resolution and globally recognised approaches to investigate the spatial and temporal variation in the Ebon marine fishery. Variability in landscape use, alterations in the range of taxa captured, archaeological proxies of past climate stability, and the comparability of archaeological and ecological datasets were considered. Utilising a historical ecology approach, this thesis provides an analysis of the exploitation of the Ebon marine fishery from initial settlement to the historic period-two millennia of continuous occupation.The thesis demonstrated the importance of implementing high resolution methods and methodologies when considering long-term human interactions with marine fisheries. Improving methods and data quality of Pacific fishing studies included using vertebral morphometrics for fish size reconstructions and the utilisation of all cranial and postcranial remains for taxonomic identifications. Spatial analysis of habitation sites spread across three islets representing the windward-leeward gradient indicated that marine environments local to each site were not influencing taxonomic composition, but the variability in richness and evenness identified is likely a reflection of fishing technology and site function. There was no indication of significant human impact to the inshore reef taxa, which may be a reflection of the flexible foraging strategies implemented and the resilience and structure of these marine environments. As such, the shifts in the relative abundance of skipjack (K. pelamis) in the archaeological sites were attributed to the potential influence of ENSO variability over the last two millennia.With the implementation of these comprehensive methods and the use of historical ecology as a conceptual framework the range of research questions that could be explored was expanded.Consequently, this thesis was able to address some of these questions, including: the identification of variability in foraging practices across small spatial scales, the usefulness of ichthyoarchaeological data for tracking environmental stability, and distinguishing between changes ii in resource availability and s...

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Applications of vertebral morphometrics in Pacific Island archaeological fishing studies

Lambrides

Weisler

2015

Archaeology in Oceania

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

Cited by 22 publications

References 30 publications

On Villages, Quantification, and Appropriate Context: A Comment on “Social Zooarchaeology of a Northwest Coast House” by Paul A. Ewonus

On Villages, Quantification, and Appropriate Context: A Comment on “Social Zooarchaeology of a Northwest Coast House” by Paul A. Ewonus

Sustained prehistoric exploitation of a Marshall Islands fishery: ichthyoarchaeological approaches, marine resource use, and human-environment interactions on Ebon Atoll

Applications of vertebral morphometrics in Pacific Island archaeological fishing studies

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