Human Impacts on Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters: Integrating Archaeology and Ecology in the Northeast Pacific

Description

For more than ten thousand years, Native Americans from Alaska to southern California relied on aquatic animals such as seals, sea lions, and sea otters for food and raw materials. Archaeological research on the interactions between people and these marine mammals has made great advances recently and provides a unique lens for understanding the human and ecological past. Archaeological research is also emerging as a crucial source of information on contemporary environmental issues as we improve our understanding of the ancient abundance, ecology, and natural history of these species. This groundbreaking interdisciplinary volume brings together archaeologists, biologists, and other scientists to consider how archaeology can inform the conservation and management of pinnipeds and other marine mammals along the Pacific Coast. Contents Contributors 1 People, Pinnipeds, and Sea Otters of the Northeast Pacific • Torben C. Rick, Todd J. Braje, and Robert L. DeLong 2 A History of Paleoecological Researchon Sea Otters and Pinnipeds of the Eastern Pacific Rim • R. Lee Lyman 3 The Historical Ecol ogy of Walrus Exploitation in the North Pacific • Erica Hill 4 Neoglacial Sea Ice and Life History Flexibility in Ringed and Fur Seals • Susan J. Crockford and S. Gay Frederick 5 A 4500- Year Time- Series of Otariid Abundance on Sanak Island, Western Gulf of Alaska • Matthew W. Betts, Herbert D.G. Maschner, and Veronica Lech 6 An Analysis of Seal, Sea Lion, and Sea Otter Consumption Patterns on Sanak Island, Alaska: An 1800-Year Record on Aleut Consumer Behavior • Veronica Lech, Matthew W. Betts, and Herbert D. G. Maschner 7 Toward a Historical Ecol ogy of Pinniped and Sea Otter Hunting Traditions on the Coast of Southern British Columbia • Iain McKechnie and Rebecca J. Wigen 8 Native American Use of Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters in Estuaries of Northern Oregon and Southern Washington • Madonna L. Moss and Robert J. Losey 9 Why Were Northern Fur Seals Spared in Northern California? A Cultural and Archaeological Explanation • Adrian R. Whitaker and William R. Hildebrandt 10 Holocene Monterey Bay Fur Seals: Distribution, Dates, and Ecological Implications • Diane Gifford- Gonzalez 11 Toward a Prehistory of the Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) • Terry L. Jones, Brendan J. Culleton, Shawn Larson, Sarah Mellinger, and Judith F. Porcasi 12 Resilience and Reorganization: Archaeology and Historical Ecology of California Channel Island Marine Mammals • Todd J. Braje, Torben C. Rick, Robert L. DeLong, and Jon M. Erlandson 13 Perspectives from the Past: Archaeology, Historical Ecology, and Northeastern Pacific Pinnipeds and Sea Otters • Todd J. Braje and Torben C. Rick Index