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

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

“…The success rate (73%, 11 of 15, see Section 5 below) is compatible with previous studies undertaken in the lab (80e90%, Cannon and Yang, 2006;Speller et al, 2005). As Butler and Bowers (1998) observed, preservation conditions are unlikely to be identical among Northwest Coast sites.…”

“…Precontact use of Pacific salmon by Indigenous populations of Northwestern North America has received considerable recent interest, including studies aimed at the identification of species based on morphometric classification and ancient DNA analysis of salmon vertebrae (Butler and Bowers, 1998;Campbell and Butler, 2010;Cannon, 1988;Cannon and Yang, 2006;Coupland et al, 2010;Huber et al, 2011;Speller et al, 2005;Yang et al, 2004). Archaeologists are also aware of the range of other food resources that were important to traditional subsistence practices, such that House 2 at Dionisio Point is not atypical in its comparatively low frequency of salmon remains (e.g., Butler and Campbell, 2004; Table 1 Radiocarbon dates associated by Grier (2006a) Coupland, 1991;Kopperl, 2001;Monks, 1977Monks, , 1987.…”

Fish ’n chips: ZooMS peptide mass fingerprinting in a 96 well plate format to identify fish bone fragments

“…They have been important in human development: from food to a source of economic power (Wheeler and Jones, 1989). Archaeologists have been interested in the species distribution of fish from assemblages because they can provide insight into fishing strategies (Van Neer, 1986;O'Connor, 2000;Casteel, 1976;Barrett et al, 1999), economic and trade patterns (Barrett, 1997;Barrett et al, 2008, 1999Grant, 1988, diet (Galik and Kunst, 2004), resource availability, social relationships (O'Day, 2004;Speller et al, 2005;Van Neer and Ervynck, 2004;Pigiere et al, 2004), species ranges, diversity, and mobility (Speller et al, 2005;O'Connell and Tunnicliffe, 2001;Zohar et al, 2008;Koksvik and Steinnes, 2005), and past climate change (Robinson et al, 2009;Chen, 2000).…”

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

“…Yang et al (2004) have successfully extracted salmon mtDNA from remains taken from multiple archaeological sites in the Pacific Northwest. Scholars have used the species identifications to address such questions as whether fish were stored, or if species use was mediated by social rank (Speller et al, 2005;Cannon and Yang, 2006). While ancient DNA is a powerful new tool, it has its limitations: the method is destructive and expensive, and consequently only a small sample of remains from a given context is typically studied.…”