Human Impacts on Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters

by Braje, Todd J.; Rick, Torben C.

• ISBN13: 9780520267268
• ISBN10: 0520267265
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-03-23
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Todd J. Braje, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Humboldt State University, is author of Modern Oceans, Ancient Sites: Archaeology and Marine Conservation on San Miguel Island, California. Torben C. Rick is Curator and Research Scientist in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. He is the coeditor, with Jon M. Erlandson, of Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems: A Global Perspective (UC Press).

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. vii
People, Pinnipeds, and Sea Otters of the Northeast Pacific	p. 1
A History of Paleoecological Research on Sea Otters and Pinnipeds of the Eastern Pacific Rim	p. 19
The Historical Ecology of Walrus Exploitation in the North Pacific	p. 41
Neoglacial Sea Ice and Life History Flexibility in Ringed and Fur Seals	p. 65
A 4500-Year Time-Series of Otariid Abundance on Sanak Island, Western Gulf of Alaska	p. 93
An Analysis of Seal, Sea Lion, and Sea Otter Consumption Patterns on Sanak Island, Alaska: An 1800-Year Record on Aleut Consumer Behavior	p. 111
Toward a Historical Ecology of Pinniped and Sea Otter Hunting Traditions on the Coast of Southern British Columbia	p. 129
Native American Use of Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters in Estuaries of Northern Oregon and Southern Washington	p. 167
Why were Northern fur Seals Spared in Northern California? A Cultural and Archaeological Explanation	p. 197
Holocene Monterey Bay fur Seals: Distribution, Dates, and Ecological Implications	p. 221
Toward a Prehistory of the Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra Lutris Nereis)	p. 243
Resilience and Reorganization: Archaeology and Historical Ecology of California Channel Island Marine Mammals	p. 273
Perspectives from the Past: Archaeology, Historical Ecology, and Northeastern Pacific Pinnipeds and Sea Otters	p. 297
Index	p. 309
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