Coastal Adaptations near Point Conception, California, with Particular Regard to Shellfish Exploitation

Abstract

Point Conception, California, has long been recognized as an environmental transition zone for both terrestrial and marine life forms occupying central and southern California. Recent archaeological investigations above and below Point Conception have revealed a number of differences in the archaeological records of the respective regions. Late Period coastal middens north of Point Conception contain higher densities of shellfish remains and smaller quantities of fish and sea mammal remains than coastal midden deposits along the Santa Barbara Channel to the east, where Late Period sites contain substantial quantities of fish and sea mammal remains. These differences in the archaeological records appear to be determined, in large part, by differences in the relative resource abundances in the two regions. However, to understand more completely the variability in subsistence strategies, one must go beyond simply documenting differences in food resource abundance in the environment. It is proposed that the economics of resource exploitation must be considered in the formulation of any adequate explanation of resource variability.

Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology

“…In most cases, test implications were immediately apparent. Many subsequent studies of prehistoric diet change and, to a lesser extent, patterns in patch choice have led to similar inferences (e.g., Cannon, 2000;Edwards and O'Connell, 1995;Erlandson, 1991;Glassow and Wilcoxin, 1988;Grayson, 1991;Jones and Richman, 1995;Mannino and Thomas, 2002;O'Connell et al, 1982;Perlman, 1980;Porcasi et al, 2000;Russell, 1988;Simms, 1987;Szuter and Bayham, 1989;Wright, 1994;Yesner, 1989;Zeanah and Simms, 1999; for additional review and discussion see Shennan, 2002;Winterhalder and Smith, 2000).…”

Dietary reconstruction of an early to middle Holocene human population from the central California coast: insights from advanced stable isotope mixing models

“…To explain observed shifts in subsistence economies, archaeologists often present ecological hypotheses dependent on external forcing mechanisms, in which changes in terrestrial and/or marine environmental conditions determine the type and abundance of various resources available to prehistoric human populations [26,27]. In such models, paleoclimatic data (offshore sediment cores, terrestrial pollen-based records, climate modeling results) are often used to provide a framework in which to place observed changes in prehistoric subsistence strategies.…”

Making the most of fragments: a method for estimating shell length from fragmentary mussels (Mytilus californianus and Mytilus trossulus) on the Pacific Coast of North America

“…On the Pacific Coast of North America, the bulk of archaeological research on M. californianus has predominantly occurred in California where analysis has focused on the assessment of dietary importance (Erlandson, 1988;Glassow and Wilcoxon, 1988;Greengo, 1951;Treganza and Cook, 1948), harvesting strategies (Jones and Richman, 1995;Whitaker, 2008), and seasonality (Eerkens et al, 2013;Jew et al, 2014;Jones et al, 2008). Archaeologists have additionally utilized archaeological Mytilus sp.…”