Doctorol Dissertation Improvement Grant: Prehistoric Territoriality and Lithic Procurement on the Pacific Coast of North America

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Julie Stein, Ms. Amanda Taylor will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. The project investigates the prehistoric development of territorial behavior among complex hunter-fisher-gatherers on the Pacific Coast and focuses on peoples of the San Juan Islands, Washington and San Nicolas Island in the southern Channel Islands, California. A comparative study on the Northwest and California coasts facilitates archaeological investigations of the unique behaviors of coastal peoples. During the historic period, ethnographers of the Pacific Coast noted an unusual degree of social complexity including social hierarchy, exchange of prestige goods, warfare, and other evidence of territorial behavior. Ethnographers in both the San Juan Islands and Channel Islands emphasized territorial systems where access to land, water, and resources was negotiated through inter-village kin ties. Tracing the development of territoriality on the Pacific Coast prior to historic descriptions is essential to understanding the prehistoric development of social complexity in this region. Ms. Taylor proposes that when people began living in year-round permanent communities, village groups became more circumscribed in their movement across the landscape but accessed resources through kin ties that allowed reciprocal access and exchange. To test this she will investigate change over time in the acquisition of lithic raw material from cobble beaches to evaluate the relationship between settlement pattern, territoriality and resource procurement. Field research includes beach cobble surveys on the San Juan Islands and Channel Islands. Lab research includes individual attribute analysis of lithic artifacts to determine how tools were produced at sites in both regions. The research will provide theoretical insights into territoriality, lithic procurement, and manufacture among coastal peoples, a previously unexplored area of study in both geographic regions. Incorporating two study areas investigates the applicability of the model in diverse coastal settings, and more thorough testing of its validity. The research will also contribute more broadly to investigations of human coastal adaptions. Undergraduates are involved in the geological surveys led by the Ms Taylor on both the San Juan Islands, and on San Nicolas Island as part of a field school and thus will gain training in both geology and archaeology.