Prehistoric Marine Mammal Hunting on California's Northern Channel Islands

Colten, Roger H.; Arnold, Jeanne E.

doi:10.2307/2694115

Cited by 39 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Researchers studying ecosystem and human cultural change on the Pacific margin have offered several explanations for drops in marine mammal abundance in archaeological sites. These include predation by Europeans in historic times (30), intensifying human predation spanning several millennia before European contact (5), climate change on land that drove humans to unsustainably harvest marine prey (31), or climatically driven reductions in marine productivity, with humans playing no major role (32). Our accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dates on NFS and published radiocarbon data on archaeological material firmly associated with NFS provide constraints on these hypotheses (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shifting baseline of northern fur seal ecology in the northeast Pacific Ocean

Newsome

Etnier

Gifford–Gonzalez³

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Historical data provide a baseline against which to judge the significance of recent ecological shifts and guide conservation strategies, especially for species decimated by pre-20th century harvesting. Northern fur seals (NFS; Callorhinus ursinus) are a common pinniped species in archaeological sites from southern California to the Aleutian Islands, yet today they breed almost exclusively on offshore islands at high latitudes. Harvest profiles from archaeological sites contain many unweaned pups, confirming the presence of temperate-latitude breeding colonies in California, the Pacific Northwest, and the eastern Aleutian Islands. Isotopic results suggest that prehistoric NFS fed offshore across their entire range, that California populations were distinct from populations to the north, and that populations breeding at temperate latitudes in the past used a different reproductive strategy than modern populations. The extinction of temperate-latitude breeding populations was asynchronous geographically. In southern California, the Pacific Northwest, and the eastern Aleutians, NFS remained abundant in the archaeological record up to the historical period Ϸ200 years B.P.; thus their regional collapse is plausibly attributed to historical hunting or some other anthropogenic ecosystem disturbance. In contrast, NFS populations in central and northern California collapsed at Ϸ800 years B.P., long before European contact. The relative roles of human hunting versus climatic factors in explaining this ecological shift are unclear, as more paleoclimate information is needed from the coastal zone.Callorhinus ursinus ͉ historic ecology ͉ stable isotopes ͉ zooarchaeology ͉ ancient DNA

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shifting baseline of northern fur seal ecology in the northeast Pacific Ocean

Newsome

Etnier

Gifford–Gonzalez³

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Localized breeding areas or rookeries containing females and vulnerable offspring can represent a huge bounty for human hunters, but they can very quickly lead to behavioral/microhabitat depression as these species respond to predation. Hildebrandt and Jones (1992;Jones and Hildebrandt 1995;Jones et al 2004;; but see Colten and Arnold 1998;Lyman 1995Lyman , 2003 argue that predation on mainland rookeries of migrating populations of seal and sea lion along the Oregon and California coasts resulted in these species shifting to offshore rocks and islands and a decline in the abundance of these populations. Evidence from Middle Holocene archaeological sites containing females and pups indicate the existence of and predation on mainland rookeries for some migratory species such as the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) in central and northern California (Burton et al 2001(Burton et al , 2002Burton and Koch 1999;; also see Etnier 2002).…”

Section: Anthropogenic Exploitation Depression Modelsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Evolutionary Foraging Models in Zooarchaeological Analysis: Recent Applications and Future Challenges

Lupo

2007

J Archaeol Res

174

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The last few decades have witnessed a rapid rise in the use of foraging models derived from behavioral ecology to explain and predict temporal and spatial differences in faunal assemblages. Although these models build on conventional ideas about utility firmly embedded in zooarchaeological analyses, when cast in an evolutionary framework these ideas produce some of the most sophisticated and elegant interpretations of archaeofaunas to date. In this article I review the methodological and practical strengths and weaknesses of current zooarchaeological applications of foraging models. Recent applications of foraging models to the zooarchaeological record reveal important variability in human-prey interactions across time and space. Case-specific applications generate theoretical and methodological advances that augment and are complementary to model building in allied fields. Recent applications also identify shortcomings in the underlying assumptions and rationale of some foraging models that mirror past and on-going discussions in anthropology and biology. I discuss how these shortcomings can fruitfully direct future applications and research in foraging economics.

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“…Some workers attribute the decline to climate change (Glassow 1993;Colten and Arnold 1998); others blame predation by aboriginal hunters (Hildebrandt and Jones 1992;Jones and Hildebrandt 1995). If climate change were responsible, it must have been transient, as northern fur seals maintained island rookeries in the region into historic times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Northern fur seals would have in fact been the predominant pinniped in central California waters, as California sea lions appear to have been less abundant in the past and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) are quite rare in central California archaeofaunas (Hildebrandt and Jones 1992). Northern elephant seals, which now breed in large numbers in central California (McGinnis and Schusterman 1981), are virtually nonexistent in archaeofaunas from north of Santa Barbara (Hildebrandt and Jones 1992;Lyman 1995;Colten and Arnold 1998). The nature of the interaction of these species with northern fur seals in these abundance shifts is an intriguing, but unexplored topic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Holocene changes in the ecology of northern fur seals: insights from stable isotopes and archaeofauna

et al. 2001

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The remains of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) are among the most abundant of pinniped elements recovered from mainland coastal archaeological sites in both California and Oregon. This is surprising as all contemporary northern fur seals breed exclusively on offshore islands, primarily at high latitudes, and the species is otherwise pelagic. The vulnerability of these animals to human predation suggests that either humans were foraging much further offshore than has been presumed or alternatively that the ecology of these animals has shifted during the late Holocene. We used isotopic and archaeofaunal analysis of the remains of pinnipeds from the middle to late Holocene of central and northern California to clarify the breeding and foraging behavior, and migration patterns of these ancient animals. The carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of ancient northern fur seals reveal that these animals fed as far offshore as they do today, and that they remained at middle latitudes throughout the year. From an archaeological site at Moss Landing, California, we identified 16 skeletal elements from at least 12 very small northern fur seal pups. From another site near Mendocino, California, we identified the remains of at least 6 pups. We estimate the size and age of 5 of the young animals using sex-specific regressions of body length on the short dentary length derived from measurements of modern specimens. Our estimates indicate these ancient pups were substantially smaller, and therefore younger, than modern 3-month-old northern fur seal pups from similar latitudes and their nitrogen isotope compositions suggest they had not been weaned. As present-day northern fur seals do not leave their rookeries until they are at least 4 months old, we consider it highly unlikely that these ancient pups swam to these mainland locations from some distant island rookery. While there are numerous nearshore rocky outcrops along the Mendocino Coast, which may have supported small breeding colonies, the Moss Landing site is centered on a 40-km-long sandy beach, and is more than 120 km from what at the time were the nearest offshore islands. We conclude that northern fur seal adult females, subadults, and pups whose remains were recovered at the Moss Landing archaeological site must have been taken at a mainland rookery. Evidence that northern fur seals once bred on the mainland at this central California location suggests that the abundant remains of these animals at numerous other archaeological sites along the California coast also reflect the presence of nearby mainland rookeries. Based on the relative abundance of their remains in ancient human occupation sites and the widespread distribution of sites where their remains have been found, it appears that northern fur seals were once the predominant pinniped throughout a region where they now only rarely occur. Furthermore, their presence along the central and northern California coasts appears to have once severely limited the distribution of other pinnipeds, which are now ...

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Prehistoric Marine Mammal Hunting on California's Northern Channel Islands

Cited by 39 publications

References 58 publications

The shifting baseline of northern fur seal ecology in the northeast Pacific Ocean

The shifting baseline of northern fur seal ecology in the northeast Pacific Ocean

Evolutionary Foraging Models in Zooarchaeological Analysis: Recent Applications and Future Challenges

Holocene changes in the ecology of northern fur seals: insights from stable isotopes and archaeofauna

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