Paleoindian Seafaring, Maritime Technologies, and Coastal Foraging on California’s Channel Islands
Jon M. Erlandsona b✉, Torben C. Rickc, Todd J. Brajed, Molly R. Caspersona b, Brendan J. Culletona, Brian Fulfroste, Tracy Garciaa b, Daniel A. Guthrief, Nicholas P. Jewa b, Douglas J. Kennetta, Madonna L. Mossa b, Leslie A. Reederg, Craig E. Skinnerh, Jack Wattsi, Lauren Willisa b
- aDepartment of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
- bMuseum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
- cProgram in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
- dDepartment of Anthropology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 97775, USA
- eDepartment of Geography, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA
- fJoint Science Department, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitzer Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
- gDepartment of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
- hNorthwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA
- iKellogg College, Oxford University, Oxford OX2 6PN, UK
- ✉Corresponding author
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Abstract
Three archaeological sites on California's Channel Islands show that Paleoindians relied heavily on marine resources. The Paleocoastal sites, dated between ~12,200 and 11,200 years ago, contain numerous stemmed projectile points and crescents associated with a variety of marine and aquatic faunal remains. At site CA-SRI-512 on Santa Rosa Island, Paleocoastal peoples used such tools to capture geese, cormorants, and other birds, along with marine mammals and finfish. At Cardwell Bluffs on San Miguel Island, Paleocoastal peoples collected local chert cobbles, worked them into bifaces and projectile points, and discarded thousands of marine shells. With bifacial technologies similar to those seen in Western Pluvial Lakes Tradition assemblages of western North America, the sites provide evidence for seafaring and island colonization by Paleoindians with a diversified maritime economy.
TL;DRThree archaeological sites on California’s Channel Islands show that Paleoindians relied heavily on marine resources with a diversified maritime economy with bifacial technologies similar to those seen in Western Pluvial Lakes Tradition assembls of western North America. (Semantic Scholar)