Madonna L. Moss

Paleoindian Seafaring, Maritime Technologies, and Coastal Foraging on California’s Channel Islands

Archaeological sites reveal a variety of tools used to hunt marine birds, mammals, and fish 12,000 years ago. 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.

Shellfish feeders, carrion eaters, and the archaeology of aquatic adaptations

Numerous taphonomic studies show that archaeologists should carefully evaluate the origins of faunal remains found in archaeological sites. Although extensive research has been done on natural sources of terrestrial faunal remains in archaeological sites, much less has been devoted to potential sources of aquatic fauna. Hundreds of animal species feed on shellfish, fish, and other aquatic fauna, and many transport food to terrestrial landforms where they may be mixed or confused with faunal remains left by humans. In this paper, we illustrate the problem by summarizing the habits of a number of animals known to feed on and transport shellfish and other aquatic animals. We also discuss examples where the remains of aquatic animals of non-human origin may have been confused with archaeological materials. Such biological imprints may be most pronounced on early sites, where questions about the antiquity of aquatic adaptations are paramount.

Archaeological data provide alternative hypotheses on Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) distribution, abundance, and variability

Significance Over the last century, Pacific herring, a forage fish of tremendous cultural, economic, and ecological importance, has declined in abundance over much of its range. We synthesize archaeological fisheries data spanning the past 10,000 y from Puget Sound in Washington to southeast Alaska to extend the ecological baseline for herring and contextualize the dynamics of modern industrial fisheries. While modern herring populations can be erratic and exhibit catastrophic declines, the archaeological record indicates a pattern of consistent abundance, providing an example of long-term sustainability and resilience in a fishery known for its modern variability. The most parsimonious explanation for the discrepancy between herring abundance in the ancient and more recent past is industrial harvesting over the last century. Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), a foundation of coastal social-ecological systems, is in decline throughout much of its range. We assembled data on fish bones from 171 archaeological sites from Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington to provide proxy measures of past herring distribution and abundance. The dataset represents 435,777 fish bones, dating throughout the Holocene, but primarily to the last 2,500 y. Herring is the single-most ubiquitous fish taxon (99% ubiquity) and among the two most abundant taxa in 80% of individual assemblages. Herring bones are archaeologically abundant in all regions, but are superabundant in the northern Salish Sea and southwestern Vancouver Island areas. Analyses of temporal variability in 50 well-sampled sites reveals that herring exhibits consistently high abundance (>20% of fish bones) and consistently low variance (<10%) within the majority of sites (88% and 96%, respectively). We pose three alternative hypotheses to account for the disjunction between modern and archaeological herring populations. We reject the first hypothesis that the archaeological data overestimate past abundance and underestimate past variability. We are unable to distinguish between the second two hypotheses, which both assert that the archaeological data reflect a higher mean abundance of herring in the past, but differ in whether variability was similar to or less than that observed recently. In either case, sufficient herring was consistently available to meet the needs of harvesters, even if variability is damped in the archaeological record. These results provide baseline information prior to herring depletion and can inform modern management.

Reflections on North American Pacific Coast prehistory

The Pacific Coast of North America was occupied by many distinctive groups of coastal hunter-gatherers at the times of early contacts with Europeans. Despite significant cultural diversity, Pacific Coast peoples shared lifeways oriented toward generally similar marine, nearshore, littoral, and estuarine habitats. In this paper, we examine some major issues that guide much of the archaeology done along the Pacific Coast, then discuss some of the theoretical and methodological problems that limit the efficacy of archaeological reconstructions. Most archaeological research conducted on North Americas Pacific Coast has been oriented toward the search for the origins and development of a variety of cultural patterns. A comparative review of California and Northwest Coast sequences provides interesting parallels and discrepancies in the approaches taken in studying some of the major issues in Pacific Coast prehistory.

The systematic use of radiocarbon dating in archaeological surveys in coastal and other erosional environments

Traditionally, archaeologists have used 14 C dating primarily as a postexcavation analytical tool to establish the age of features, strata, or assemblages. In coastal zones and other environments around the world, however, thousands of archaeological sites are rapidly eroding or endangered by other destructive processes. We believe archaeologists should expand their use of 14 C dating, systematically incorporating it into surveys in coastal, lacustrine, riverine, and other environments where erosional exposures often provide access to extensive stratigraphic profiles. With examples from the Pacific Coast of North America, we show how widespread 14 C dating of sites during surveys can be used to help manage archaeological sites more effectively and identify significant patterns of paleoenvironmental change, site survival, settlement and demography, technology, and social organization. Without more widespread application of such techniques, and a reallocation of research and cultural resource management funds, thousands of sites will be lost before even the most basic information about their age and contents is known.

Historical Ecology and Biogeography of North Pacific Pinnipeds: Isotopes and Ancient DNA from Three Archaeological Assemblages

ABSTRACT Zooarchaeology has the potential to make significant contributions to knowledge of pinniped biogeography of import to both archaeologists and environmental scientists. We analyzed northern fur seal remains found in three archaeological sites located along the outer coast of the Northeast Pacific Ocean: Cape Addington Rockshelter in southeast Alaska, Ts’ishaa on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and the Netarts Sandspit site on the Oregon Coast. These three sites occur along an 850 km stretch of coastline between 45° to 55° N. and 123° to 134° W., far southeast of the primary breeding area for northern fur seals today, located on the Pribilof Islands at 57° N. 170° W. We use ancient DNA (aDNA) and carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes to investigate whether northern fur seal remains from these archaeological sites originated with migratory Pribilof Islands populations. For sites located in Oregon and points north, the isotope values are not distinct from those of the Pribilof fur seals. Although aDNA was recovered from three pinniped species (northern fur seal, Steller sea lion, and Guadalupe fur seal), the paucity of published genetic data from modern northern fur seals prevents us from distinguishing the archaeological specimens from modern Pribilof seals.

The Pleistocene—Holocene Transition along the Pacific Coast of North America

From the cool coastal rain forests of southeast Alaska to the parched desert shorelines of Baja California, the Pacific Coast of North America stretches for 6000 km, spans 35 degrees of latitude, and contains a remarkably diverse array of resources and environments. Encompassing the Northwest Coast and California culture areas, this region is critical for understanding the relationships between cultural and environmental changes of the PleistoceneHolocene transition. During this period, a complex web of environmental changes facilitated the dispersal of Northeast Asian peoples into Beringia and the New World. The Pacific Coast of North America is a pivotal region for tracking the movements and developmental trajectories of these early pioneers and their descendants. Knowledge of the Pacific Coast archaeological record remains uneven, but data acquired during the past 15 years allow us to identify some broad regional trends in the cultural developments of this critical time period (see also Moss and Erlandson 1995).

Local and Traditional Knowledge and the Historical Ecology of Pacific Herring in Alaska

Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) have long been a critical resource in the marine food web of the Gulf of Alaska. While the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 wreaked havoc on Prince William Sound herring populations in the northern Gulf, the southern Gulf also has been impacted, if less severely, by commercial fishing, habitat degradation, and environmental changes over the past century. Just how much Southeast Alaska’s herring have been affected is a historical-ecological question. But debate around this question is being carried out in a political-ecological environment between commercial sac roe fishers (who since the 1970s have harvested roe primarily to supply Asian markets because Japan overfished its own herring stocks), subsistence fishers (largely Alaska Natives), and other stakeholders concerned about the effect of herring declines on the marine ecosystem.

High Potential for Using DNA from Ancient Herring Bones to Inform Modern Fisheries Management and Conservation

Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) are an abundant and important component of the coastal ecosystems for the west coast of North America. Current Canadian federal herring management assumes five regional herring populations in British Columbia with a high degree of exchange between units, and few distinct local populations within them. Indigenous traditional knowledge and historic sources, however, suggest that locally adapted, distinct regional herring populations may have been more prevalent in the past. Within the last century, the combined effects of commercial fishing and other anthropogenic factors have resulted in severe declines of herring populations, with contemporary populations potentially reflecting only the remnants of a previously more abundant and genetically diverse metapopulation. Through the analysis of 85 archaeological herring bones, this study attempted to reconstruct the genetic diversity and population structure of ancient herring populations using three different marker systems (mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), microsatellites and SNPs). A high success rate (91%) of DNA recovery was obtained from the extremely small herring bone samples (often <10 mg). The ancient herring mtDNA revealed high haplotype diversity comparable to modern populations, although population discrimination was not possible due to the limited power of the mtDNA marker. Ancient microsatellite diversity was also similar to modern samples, but the data quality was compromised by large allele drop-out and stuttering. In contrast, SNPs were found to have low error rates with no evidence for deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and simulations indicated high power to detect genetic differentiation if loci under selection are used. This study demonstrates that SNPs may be the most effective and feasible approach to survey genetic population structure in ancient remains, and further efforts should be made to screen for high differentiation markers.This study provides the much needed foundation for wider scale studies on temporal genetic variation in herring, with important implications for herring fisheries management, Aboriginal title rights and herring conservation.

Understanding Variability in Northwest Coast Faunal Assemblages: Beyond Economic Intensification and Cultural Complexity

ABSTRACT On the Northwest Coast of North America, animal resource intensification is central to many explanations for increasing cultural complexity. In this article, I show that such arguments are often decoupled from specific ecological contexts. Much of the variability in faunal assemblages can be explained by the spatial and temporal distribution of animal resources. Reconstructing how these distributions have changed over time is challenging, but critical to the analysis of long-term subsistence change. Since Northwest Coast societies are exemplars of “complex hunter-gatherers,” they are often employed by researchers elsewhere as a point of comparison. I argue that a single narrative of increasing Northwest Coast cultural complexity is no longer tenable. Explaining cultural complexity has resulted in productive research across the worlds coastlines and islands, but it may be time to acknowledge some of the limitations of this explanatory approach.