Colonization, Ecology, and Adaptive Adjustments of Paleocoastal Peoples on California's Northern Channel Islands

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Documenting when people first colonized the Americas is crucial to understanding the evolution of ancient North American cultures and ecosystems. Definitive archaeological evidence for human occupation of the Americas appears during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (~14,500-13,000 cal BP), a time of dramatic environmental and climatic changes as the planet moved from glacial to interglacial conditions. Several models have been proposed for the colonization of the Americas, including land-based and coastal migrations during the Late Pleistocene, with a Pacific Coast migration gaining increasing credibility. Rapid sea level rise in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene submerged ancient shorelines and coastal lowlands, however, making it difficult to locate early coastal sites. Rising seas and climate change also caused significant geographic and biological reorganization that posed challenges for early coastal peoples. The earliest evidence for seafaring and maritime adaptations in the Americas currently comes from California's Northern Channel Islands. Excavation of five Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites on Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands, including three of the earliest known from the Pacific Coast of North America (~12,000-11,500 cal BP), will document the life ways of these ancient peoples, the environments they lived in, and their effects on island ecosystems. Archaeological survey will also search ancient landforms for additional early sites. This project will provide important new data on the Paleocoastal people who first settled the Channel Islands and Pacific Coast, how they adapted to the dynamic environments of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, and the strategies they used to survive such changes. The broader impacts of this project include providing research training for graduate and undergraduate students and local Chumash tribal members. Presentation of research results in public lectures will highlight how archaeology can inform contemporary environmental issues facing society.