Boat-based foraging and discontinuous prehistoric red abalone exploitation along the California coast

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31 (2012) 196–214

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Boat-based foraging and discontinuous prehistoric red abalone exploitation along the California coast Adrian R. Whitaker ⇑, Brian F. Byrd Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., 2727 Del Rio Place, Suite A, Davis, CA 95618, United States

a r t i c l e

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Article history: Received 10 October 2011 Revision received 2 December 2011 Available online 27 January 2012 Keywords: Abalone (Haliotis spp.) California Behavioral ecology Historical ecology Shell middens Settlement and subsistence Intensification

a b s t r a c t Temporally and spatially discontinuous pulses of heavy prehistoric exploitation of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) have been documented along the southern and central California coast. This article examines the very late (post-950 cal BP) appearance of numerous red abalone processing sites on the Monterey Peninsula in central California. We test three prominent explanations offered for the sudden onset of red abalone processing sites: trophic cascades resulting from human predation on sea otters, logistical foraging by inland residents, and changes in sea surface temperature. A trophic cascade appears to have occurred but does not fully explain the nature or timing of the phenomenon in the region. We present an alternative explanation that argues that intensive procurement of red abalone emerged at a time when both population pressure and social complexity increased greatly in central California. We argue that a new exploitation strategy—diving from boats—was employed to exploit a much larger portion of the red abalone habitat. This strategy entailed logistical forays by divers who worked new patches in tandem with boaters, gathered large quantities in a single foray, and then field processed them in bulk on the shore before transporting the meat to coastal residences. This strategy provided an additional source of food, and both tradable dried meat and numerous large shells that could be manufactured into ornaments and traded as decorative accoutrements. We conclude our discussion with a consideration of the factors that created such a discontinuous record of red abalone exploitation along the California coast. Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction Abalone (Haliotis spp.) are the largest shellfish taxon consumed by prehistoric foragers along the western coast of North America. Today, red abalone (Haliotis rufescens), the largest abalone in the world, is the most highly prized intertidal or subtidal resource for sport fishermen, and farm-raised abalone fetch high prices when found on the menu at seafood restaurants. Modern divers can easily access these very slow-moving shellfish along the coastal margin and harvest them using a simple knife. Coastal archaeologists have generally assumed that red abalone, which have more meat per individual than any other intertidal taxon on the California coast, would have been preferred over most other taxa—though it is generally ranked below mussel (Mytilus californianus) in archaeological studies (e.g., Braje et al., 2007). Its iridescent-colored shell was also greatly valued as raw material for pendants and other ornaments and was traded widely throughout California (Heizer, 1978). Given both the dietary and social importance of red abalone, it is not surprising that it has been generally regarded as a highly ranked coastal resource throughout prehistory.

⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 530 756 0811. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.R. Whitaker). 0278-4165/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2011.12.001

If red abalone were such an enticing resource, however, its exploitation should have begun in the Terminal Pleistocene (ca. 12,500–11,600 cal BP), and it should have remained an important resource henceforth along the length of the California coast. The archaeological record reveals a remarkably different story. In the Santa Barbara Channel, it appears that red abalone was an emphasis of the initial occupation of San Miguel Island (CA-SMI-678) where it makes up more than 75% of shell by weight in three of four loci (Braje, 2010; Erlandson et al., 2011). Red abalone occurs in much lower frequencies during the Early Holocene, and then has a resurgence during the Middle Holocene (7500–4000 cal BP; Braje et al., 2009; Erlandson et al., 2005; Erlandson and Rick, 2010; Glassow, 1993). In contrast, shell middens with considerable red abalone on the mainland coast, adjacent to and north of the Channel Islands (in modern Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties; Fig. 1), date somewhat later, during the end of the Middle Holocene and into the Late Holocene (5200–3000 cal BP; Joslin 2010, pp. 338–350). Farther north, on the Monterey coast of central California, dense red abalone middens are even later, dating only to the last 950 years (Breschini and Haversat, 1991). Finally, dense red abalone shell middens are unknown north of San Francisco Bay, and abalone occur only in low frequencies at shell middens in northern California despite robust modern red abalone populations throughout this region. In short, heavy red abalone

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Fig. 1. Map of central California with places discussed in the text.

exploitation does not occur throughout the full geographic range of the species. The earliest heavy emphasis on red abalone occurs in the south on islands, and later in time moves northward along the mainland coast into central California, but no further. In this paper we explore the underlying causal factors that have created disparate histories of red abalone exploitation along a latitudinal gradient in California by focusing on the sudden, and late, appearance of dense red abalone shell deposits (referred to locally as abalone pavements or processing sites) on the Monterey Peninsula in central California around 950 years ago. We also consider whether our newly gained insight into the underlying factors that resulted in the very late onset of red abalone exploitation near Monterey has utility for gaining greater understanding for the Middle Holocene florescence of red abalone gathering in the Northern Channel Islands area—a phenomena that has been the subject of a

variety of interpretations (e.g., Braje and Erlandson, 2007; Braje et al., 2009; Erlandson et al., 2005; Glassow, 1993; Hubbs, 1958; Kennett, 2005; Sharp, 2000; Walker and Snethkamp, 1984). In doing so, we consider the implication of potential shifts in intertidal zone ecology, and compare ecological data with archaeological proxies for factors such as human population growth, settlement change, subsistence shifts, technological intensification, and changes in social complexity. We begin by reviewing the intertidal zone ecology of the kelp forest environments along the California coast. We then highlight the timing and nature of red abalone ‘‘pavements’’ on the Monterey Peninsula in central California and summarize potential explanations offered for dense red abalone accumulations both in Monterey and in the Santa Barbara Channel. Then, we evaluate the record in Monterey against three previously posited

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explanations. In particular we examine whether the red abalone middens resulted from inland foragers exploiting the coastal margin (e.g., Breschini and Haversat, 1991; Jones and Ferneau, 2002), which we label the ‘‘Inlander Foraging Model,’’ whether red abalone assemblages resulted from anthropogenic trophic cascades whereby red abalone were released from predation pressure by human hunting of sea otters (e.g., Braje et al., 2007; Erlandson et al., 2005; Erlandson and Rick, 2010), or whether sea surface temperature changed the abundance of red abalone in the intertidal zone (e.g., Braje, 2010; Braje et al., 2007; Glassow, 1993). We find that the Inlander Foraging Model does not account for the overall record of Late Holocene settlement patterns and sea surface temperatures are not correlated with changes in red abalone exploitation. While a trophic cascade accounts for the nature of the shellfish record, evidence of human impacts on sea otter populations are lacking and the ecological mechanism of the trophic cascade cannot explain why it occurred so early in southern California and so late in Monterey. To explain the late timing of the trophic cascade in Monterey, we suggest that following a period of population growth and terrestrial/littoral resource intensification and increased demand for red abalone shells for use as ornamentation, the logical elaboration of coastal subsistence was a move beyond the intertidal zone. This spurred investment in boat-based foraging technology by local coastal inhabitants that opened up new offshore red abalone patches and concurrent procurement of sea otters. The ecological context of abalone exploitation Kelp forest ecology in California is structured by the interactions of several key species. Importantly, several of these (e.g., sea otter, abalone, sea urchin) were of economic importance to prehistoric foragers. As archaeologists working in the Channel Islands have demonstrated, the importance of these three taxa to both prehistoric economies and to the kelp forest ecosystem has meant that human predation has structured intertidal ecology for at least the last 12,000 years (Braje et al., 2009; Erlandson and Rick, 2010; Erlandson et al., 2005, 2011). Abalone ecology Although at least seven species of abalone occur along the California coast today, two species of abalone are commonly found in shell middens in southern and central California: red abalone (H. rufescens) and black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii). Red abalone range from southern Oregon to central Baja, with the densest populations found along the central California coast. In central California red abalone occur primarily in the lower intertidal zone of rocky shorelines (typically from 6 m below mean sea level) and extend into the subtidal zone to at least 40 m below surface (Cox, 1962). They flourish in active surf near rocky promontories such as the Monterey Peninsula area and in colder water (sea surface temperatures [SST] of between 13 °C and 20 °C). In southern California (south of Point Conception), red abalone tend to be concentrated in deeper water, often subtidally. If sea otters are scarce in the area, red abalone are found in crevices, on large subsurface boulders, and on exposed bedrock. Abalone are relatively slow to mature compared to other mollusks. Female red abalone do not spawn until their third or fourth year of life, though they continue to spawn for up to 10 years (Ault, 1985, p. 5). Additionally, spawning fecundity increases with body size growth such that older individuals are more fecund. Important for archaeological signatures of red abalone ecology, spawning in red abalone generally occurs when shells reach 100 mm. Individual shells reach sizes of 290 mm when not under heavy predation from

either humans or sea otters, making red abalone the world’s largest abalone species (Ault, 1985; Haaker et al., 1986, p. 4; Hines and Pearse, 1982). Black abalone are found from Point Arena in Mendocino County to Northern Baja California. They live closer to shore than red abalone, primarily in the mid-intertidal zone (1–3 m under sea level), with larger individuals found under and on the sides of large rocks and in crevices (Ault, 1985, p. 6). Although much less studied than red abalone, data on black abalone indicates they reach maturity faster than red abalone, spawning when they reach a size of approximately 45 mm (Ault, 1985). Black abalone are smaller, reaching maximum size at around 175 mm. Typically, the shell, meat, and offal each represents about one third of the total weight for both species, although red abalone are considered to have a higher ratio of meat than other species. Scientifically documented population effects in abalone populations have resulted from SST change and El Niño events, sea otter predation (Hines and Pearse, 1982; Watson, 2000), modern human predation for international markets during both the late 18th and 19th centuries in central California (Rogers-Bennett et al., 2002), and withering foot syndrome (Hines and Pearse, 1982; RogersBennett et al., 2002). Ambient temperatures appear to affect abalone distributions. Red abalone are most abundant along the northwestern Channel Islands and mainland areas where upwelling produces cooler temperatures, and they tend to remain in deeper water with increasing ambient temperatures and deeper kelp forests (Tegner et al., 1992). Therefore, shifts toward cooler SSTs are expected to allow red abalone to expand their range and perhaps expand into shallower waters. A recent study on the effects of environmental change on abalone populations found that red abalone are less able to adapt reproductive strategies to warmer water temperatures and that the spread of withering disease proliferated with warmer conditions (Vilchis et al., 2005). Other predators on abalone include sea stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides and Pisaster ochraceus), California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher), bat-ray (Myliobatis californica), and other fish. Red and black abalone populations are also affected by competition with sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) which occupy the same general habitat and eat similar food, but require far less in terms of maintenance. Furthermore, well-established urchins have been shown to denude the intertidal zone of kelp forests (creating ‘‘urchin barrens’’), taking away the source of much of the abalone’s diet (Simensted et al., 1978). Sea otter ecology and the regulation of abalone populations The southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), found off the coast of central California, was hunted to near extinction by Mexican, American, Russian, Koniag, Aleut, and Native Californian hunters during the nineteenth century. This over-hunting has greatly limited the modern range of otters, which currently extends from just north of Monterey Bay south to Santa Barbara. Prehistorically, southern sea otters are thought to have ranged as far north as Oregon and southern Washington and south to Baja California (Scammon, 1874). Their presence up through Oregon has been confirmed archaeologically (Hildebrandt and Jones, 1992; also Jones et al., 2011). Sea otters as a population eat a generalized diet which includes all species of abalone, sea urchins, kelp crabs (Pugettia producta), rock crabs (Cancer antennarius), turban snails (Tegula spp.), octopi (Octopus spp.), and clams (e.g., Saxidomus nuttalli; Hines and Pearse, 1982). Sea otters appear to prefer abalone when it is available and several modern studies have documented the dramatic effect that sea otters can have on the density, shell size, and distribution of abalone populations (Hines and Pearse, 1982). It

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Prehistory of abalone exploitation in California

Fig. 2. Natural population demographics by shell size for live red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) populations under predation (Hopkins) and not under predation (Año Nuevo).

should be kept in mind that modern abalone ecological studies only provide a baseline for understanding the complex interplay between predators (including sea otters and humans) and the size range and density of abalone populations that may have been prevalent at various points in the past (Roy et al., 2003; see Leaf et al. (2007) for challenges of modeling the factors impacting modern red abalone population parameters). Watson (2000) reports that abalone comprise between 2% and 63% of sea otter diet depending upon how long sea otters reside in an area. As abalone and sea urchins became increasingly rare, sea otters switch to sea mussel and sea stars. Pollard (1992) reports that abalone populations remain healthy under predation from sea otters but that predation of non-cryptic (exposed) abalone affects encounter rates as abalone are increasingly limited to rock crevices. Lowry and Pearse (1973) examined the effects of sea otter predation on red abalone at the Hopkin’s Reserve in Monterey Bay after the reintroduction of sea otters in 1963. By 1973 red abalone were entirely limited to crevices. Hines and Pearse (1982) present data which indicate that red abalone shells outside sea otter range were significantly larger than those which had been subjected to sea otter predation more than 15 years. They found that live red abalone in the Hopkins Reserve (i.e., those under sea otter predation) averaged 110 mm with empty shells averaging 80 mm (Fig. 2). In contrast, those from outside the range of sea otters, at Año Nuevo beach, averaged 180 mm in length. This latter population was also thought to have been only minimally affected by recent human predation. Hines and Pearse (1982) conclude that ‘‘predation by sea otters was probably a major source of mortality for larger abalone in the study site [Hopkins Reserve].’’ A recent isotopic study of modern and archaeological sea otter bone by Jones et al. (2011) found that individual sea otters are specialists, concentrating on one or two of the species included in the overall diet of a local population. For instance, some individuals may concentrate on abalone while others eat mainly sea snails (Tegula spp.) and still others subsist on crabs. If abalone is a preferred food, even a small number of otters may continue to have an effect on abalone population even after otter populations are greatly reduced. Beyond California, several ecological studies have demonstrated the role of sea otters in structuring the kelp forest ecosystem (e.g., Dayton and Tegner, 1984; Dayton, 1985; Estes and Steinberg, 1988; Simensted et al., 1978). In sum, the ecological data indicate that abalone populations are impacted by sea otter predation and that there are statistically significant differences in red abalone populations under light or heavy sea otter predation (Erlandson et al., 2005).

In this section we briefly describe the history of red abalone exploitation in California with a special emphasis on the northern range of prehistoric economic focus on red abalone. Although coastal California has an extensive and substantial record of human occupation and subsistence strategies from the terminal Pleistocene through European contact, evidence of abalone exploitation is decidedly patchy and strongly clustered spatially and temporally. There is growing evidence of some emphasis on red abalone harvesting during the terminal Pleistocene/earliest Holocene (e.g., Daisy Cave, Cardwell Bluffs; SMI-678; Erlandson et al., 2011). This early exploitation is followed by a reduction in red abalone at early Holocene sites on the Channel Islands in southern California, which often have moderate densities of black abalone (H. cracherodii)—and sometimes green (H. fulgens) or pink abalone (H. corrugate)—while red abalone are rare or absent (Erlandson, 1994). Contemporaneous sites along the mainland coast from Point Conception to the Mexican border generally have little or no abalone despite the prevalence of rocky shorelines—instead, shellfish subsistence was focused on either rocky shore mussels or estuarine species (Erlandson and Colten, 1991). Middle holocene abalone middens in southern California Red abalone middens are a well-recognized and distinctive aspect of the Middle Holocene record on the Northern Channel Islands and San Nicolas Island (but not on the nearby mainland or the other southern Channel Islands) with more almost 50 radiocarbon-dated red abalone midden sites concentrated between 7000 and 4000 cal BP (Braje et al., 2009; Erlandson et al., 2005; Glassow, 1993; Vellanoweth et al., 2006). As Glassow notes: In many cases, the shells are so dense as to form a continuous layer in which shells of other species are either absent or in minor quantities. In other cases, red abalone shells are a prominent constituent of a varied assemblage of shellfish remains. The red abalone middens are typically thin, no more than perhaps 25 cm thick, even at sites where red abalone is mixed with a number of other species. [Glassow, 1993, p. 567] Although these middens had been loosely defined, Braje et al. (2009, p. 911), recently set ‘‘a quantitative benchmark for excavated sites by defining a red abalone midden as a stratum or discrete lens that contains at least 5% red abalone shell by mass.’’ At most of these sites that have quantitative data (56% of 18 documented middens), red abalone comprise less than 30% of the total shellfish by shell weight (but substantially more by meat weight contribution), and just over a quarter (28%) are dominated by red abalone (i.e., having 65% or more abalone; Braje et al., 2009, Table 2). Red abalone shells are large in size at these sites with overall means of 164.3 mm; Erlandson and Rick, 2010, p. 240). Although red and black abalone both occur at many Late Holocene Northern Channel Island middens, they rarely approach Braje et al.’s (2009) minimal 5% benchmark used to define a Middle Holocene red abalone midden (Erlandson and Rick, 2002; Rick et al., 2005:211; Kennett, 2005, p. 189). Moreover, red abalone dramatically declined in size in the Late Holocene, with a mean of only 99 mm (Erlandson and Rick, 2010, p. 240). Late Holocene abalone middens in central California In central California from Monterey south to Point Conception (see Fig. 1), red abalone is only minimally represented in the archaeological record of the Early Holocene (Breschini and Haversat, 1991; Jones et al., 2002) and the early Middle Holocene (Jones,

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2003; Jones et al., 2002; Mikkelsen et al., 2000). Many sites are found in estuarine and sandy beach contexts, and when rocky shore species occur they are typically mussels. Red abalone middens appear for the first time only in the latter portion of the Middle Holocene (5200–3000 cal BP) and only along the coastal strand south of San Simeon (Joslin, 2010, pp. 338–350). During the Late Holocene, both black and red abalone occur in low but consistent relative frequencies in a variety of settings along the central coastline (e.g., Bouey and Basgall, 1991; Ferneau, 1998). In the Monterey Peninsula area, red abalone occur in Early Period (5500–2550 cal BP) and Middle Period (2550–950 cal BP) middens (Table 2), but never as the dominant shellfish. For instance, higher than average frequencies of red abalone (18% by weight) are documented, dispersed in a long-occupied Early Period

midden (MNT-391 along Cannery Row, Monterey), but mussel dominate this assemblage (60%; Breschini and Haversat, 2002). Intra-site red abalone concentrations, albeit on a small-scale, are also documented for the first time at two Middle Period sites (MNT-114 and MNT-115) both of which are dominated by mussels (85% and 70% by weight, respectively). Red abalone-dominated midden deposits (typically referred to as abalone pavements owing to the virtual absence of other constituents) become common after the Middle Period. Exemplifying the potential difference between the features on the Channel Islands and the Monterey Peninsula, a benchmark of 80% abalone shell by weight would be inclusive of all sites in the category. These sites are concentrated in the Monterey Peninsula area and typically are within 50 m of the shoreline (Breschini and Haversat,

Table 1 Radiocarbon dates for red abalone shell middens from the Monterey Peninsulaa Lab number

Site number (CA-)

Measured age (RYBP)

Conventional age (RYBP)

2-Sigma range (cal BP)

Median probability (cal BP)

WSU-2981 WSU-3627 WSU-2980 WSU-2982 WSU-3628 WSU-2983 WSU-2984 WSU-2985 WSU-3641 WSU-3688 RL-1364 RL-1363 RL-1365 RL-1366 WSU-4046 WSU-4047 WSU-4048 WSU-4049 WSU-3926 WSU-4076 BETA-25406 BETA-25407 WSU-2389 BETA-25403 BETA-271381 BETA-271379 BETA-271380 BETA-271378 WSU-4075 WSU-4097 WSU-4074 WSU-4073 WSU-4095 WSU-4094 WSU-2245 WSU-2576 WSU-2667 WSU-2666 WSU-3790 WSU-3791 WSU-3794 WSU-3792 WSU-3793 WSU-3293 WSU-3637 WSU-3639 WSU-3640 WSU-3638

MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17A MNT-17C MNT-98 MNT-117 MNT-117 MNT-118 MNT-118 MNT-129 MNT-129 MNT-129 MNT-129 MNT-148 MNT-160 MNT-170A MNT-170A MNT-170A MNT-170A MNT-217/H MNT-217/H MNT-217/H MNT-217/H MNT-240 MNT-240 MNT-242 MNT-242 MNT-418 MNT-418 MNT-438 MNT-690 MNT-998 MNT-998 MNT-1084 MNT-1084 MNT-1084 MNT-1084 MNT-1084 MNT-1331 MNT-1348 MNT-1348 MNT-1348 MNT-1348

320 ± 50 380 ± 90 400 ± 70 610 ± 60 930 ± 60 935 ± 45 980 ± 40 1055 ± 40 850 ± 70 305 ± 90 650 ± 100 1040 ± 110 460 ± 90 590 ± 90 755 ± 60 920 ± 80 1080 ± 90 1220 ± 70 480 ± 70 1160 ± 60 590 ± 70 670 ± 80 700 ± 75 750 ± 80 N/A N/A N/A N/A 625 ± 75 720 ± 60 810 ± 80 1080 ± 70 800 ± 80 855 ± 80 1020 ± 75 330 ± 75 400 ± 70 785 ± 70 930 ± 95 940 ± 75 960 ± 85 1090 ± 70 1240 ± 90 600 ± 80 450 ± 80 490 ± 90 780 ± 75 790 ± 90

754 ± 52 814 ± 91 834 ± 71 1044 ± 61 1364 ± 61 1369 ± 47 1414 ± 42 1489 ± 42 1284 ± 71 739 ± 91 1084 ± 101 1474 ± 111 894 ± 91 1024 ± 91 1189 ± 61 1354 ± 81 1514 ± 91 1654 ± 71 914 ± 71 1594 ± 61 1024 ± 71 1104 ± 81 1134 ± 76 1184 ± 81 890 ± 40 1090 ± 50 1200 ± 40 1290 ± 40 1059 ± 76 1154 ± 61 1244 ± 81 1514 ± 71 1234 ± 81 1289 ± 81 1454 ± 76 764 ± 76 834 ± 71 1219 ± 71 1364 ± 96 1374 ± 76 1394 ± 86 1524 ± 71 1674 ± 91 1034 ± 81 884 ± 81 924 ± 91 1214 ± 76 1224 ± 91

241–1 360–1 335–1 509–283 778–530 761–547 820–610 886–667 714–485 272–1 623–260 970–545 451–49 547–221 642–429 811–505 980–627 1114–752 459–88 1014–713 513–261 605–294 621–319 662–366 406–125 532–313 628–467 669–515 540–270 632–377 700–439 932–653 690–428 737–473 913–607 268–1 335–1 665–438 860–504 826–519 872–532 942–658 1166–739 538–248 432–49 481–63 670–423 713–398

114 174 188 407 656 660 697 765 594 124 435 764 261 386 531 650 796 932 290 863 390 456 484 526 266 451 537 596 417 502 570 793 564 598 741 132 188 554 661 667 687 802 955 396 249 296 550 556

Notes: All dates from Breschini and Haversat, 1991 except CA-MNT-217/H from Mikkelsen and Jones, 2010. a Radiocarbon dates were calibrated using a multi-step process. With the exception of dates from CA-MNT-217/H, all dates were reported as measured rather than conventional dates. Measured dates were converted to conventional dates using the equation derived by Stuvier and Polach (1977) and an excel spreadsheet available on the Calib website (http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/). Delta 13C values were unreported for all but the samples from MNT-217/H and therefore conversions assumed the mean (+1.7) and standard deviation (.79) of the four samples from MNT-217/H. Once conventional dates were derived, all dates were calibrated using Calib 6.0 software assuming a marine reservoir effect of 269 ± 31, a value derived by averaging known reservoir effect values on shell from the Monterey Peninsula as reported in the Calib marine reservoir correction database (http://calib.qub.ac.uk/marine/). Median probabilities are reported along with two Sigma age estimates are reported accounting for no less than 98% probability.

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1992; Breschini et al., 2003). Breschini and Haversat (2003) state that ‘‘on the Monterey Peninsula, these sites have, without exception, dated to the Late Period.’’ While modern abalone populations thrive along almost the entire California coast north of Monterey Bay, there are no abalone middens. In fact, abalone shell of any kind is rarely recovered from shell middens along the several 100 miles of coast north of Monterey Bay to the Oregon border (e.g., Kennedy, 2004; Layton, 1990; Levulett, 1985; White, 1991). The only contexts in which abalone shells are found is as finished decorative ornaments prominent in San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento Valley sites, generally associated with human burials (Milliken et al., 2007; Rosenthal et al., 2007). Previous explanations for the origins of intensive red abalone exploitation Myriad explanations for the sudden rise in abalone exploitation have been posited in the Channel Islands and central California (Braje, 2007; Braje and Erlandson, 2007; Braje et al., 2009; Breschini and Haversat, 1991; Erlandson et al., 2005; Erlandson and Rick, 2010; Glassow, 1993; Hubbs, 1958; Jones and Ferneau, 2002; Sharp, 2000; Vellanoweth et al., 2006; Walker 1982). These include changes in sea surface temperature (Glassow, 1993; Hubbs, 1958), shifts to diving in the subtidal zone to access red abalone found in rock crevices and other hard to reach locations (Glassow, 1993; Sharp, 2000; Walker and Snethkamp, 1984), freeing of red abalone from sea otter predation through anthropogenic triggered trophic cascades (Braje et al., 2009; Erlandson et al., 2005; Erlandson and Rick, 2010), and use of logistical forays from distant base camps periodically exploiting, at almost an industrial level, patches of abundant abalone that lay well outside daily foraging ranges (Breschini and Haversat, 1991; Kennett, 2005, p. 145; Jones and Ferneau, 2002). We examine the data from the Monterey Peninsula in light of the three most prevalent explanations—inlander foraging, sea temperature change, and trophic cascades. We begin by re-evaluating the prevailing explanation for the Late Period florescence of red abalone middens in Monterey. The inlander logistical foray model Causal explanations for the sudden appearance of red abalone pavements on the Monterey Peninsula have rarely been explicitly addressed, and rigorous consideration of varied ecology and cultural factors, similar to research in the Channel Islands (e.g., Braje et al., 2009; Erlandson et al., 2005; Glassow, 1993), is lacking. It is generally assumed that specialized red abalone processing sites are a Late Period phenomena because there was a concurrent settlement pattern reconfiguration where central coast populations shifted inland and then made only logistical forays to the coast (Breschini and Haversat, 1992; Dietz and Jackson, 1981). We refer to this reconstruction as the Inlander Logistical Foray model. Although occupation on the Monterey Peninsula begins in the Early Holocene, most archaeological sites post-date 5600 cal BP. Following Jones et al.’s (2007, p. 134) culture chronology of central California, the latter portion of the sequence is divided into four periods: Early (5450–2550 cal BP), Middle (2550–950 cal BP), Middle–Late Transition (950–700 cal BP) and Late (700–150 cal BP). It should be noted that more recently, Jones et al. (2008:2791) place the start of the Middle–Late Transition at 900 cal BP, consistent with its well-dated onset in the San Francisco Bay Area (Milliken et al., 2007). Even more recently, Breschini and Haversat (2011) argue that there was no Middle–Late Transition in Monterey, and the Late Period should be considered to begin at 1250 cal BP. Because we believe that the broader regional pattern is important to the

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understanding of Monterey prehistory, however, we define a Middle–Late Transition Period in this analysis at 950–700 cal BP, following Jones et al. (2007, p. 134). Given the presumed appeal of abalone to coastal foragers, it is surprising that red abalone dominated-middens appear so late in central California and are concentrated in a small area near Monterey. Researchers, however, have not explored the broader implications and underlying causal factors of this development. Instead, the sudden focus on red abalone exploitation is considered to be a straight-forward consequence of settlement pattern reorganization at the end of the Holocene. In short, abalone middens are thought to have been deposited by residents of the interior who make forays to the coast to procure abalone for storage (Breschini and Haversat, 1992, 1994; Dietz and Jackson, 1981). Although archaeologists working on the central California coast have posited a variety of settlement systems, the following reconstruction, which highlights the prominent changes occurring between the Middle and Late periods (e.g., Jones and Ferneau, 2002; Jones et al., 2007; Jones and Schwitalla, 2008), represents the interpretive foundations for the Inlander Logistical Foray model of Late Period red abalone exploitation. This settlement reconstruction posits two main residential camps, a coastal village and an interior village, during the Middle Period (2000–950 cal BP; see discussion in Jones et al., 2008). Although several different seasonal scenarios have been suggested, winter coastal occupation and summer inland occupation is considered prevalent at Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay and the Fort Hunter Liggett area of southern Monterey County during the Middle Period (Hildebrandt and Mikkelsen, 1993; Jones and Haney, 2005). A major shift in settlement organization is considered to have ensued by the start of the Late Period (ca. 700 cal BP). Jones has argued that droughts due to global warming during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (notably during the Middle–Late Transition between 900 and 700 cal BP) were the primary cause of this settlement pattern reconfiguration (Jones and Kennett, 1999; Jones et al., 1999, pp. 148–149). These droughts disrupted social interaction, caused a downturn in trade, and precipitated population migrations (Jones et al., 2007, pp. 143–146). Surprisingly, a corresponding rise and enhanced seasonal variation in sea temperature appears not to have impacted marine productivity and coastal fisheries, as northern anchovy were heavily exploited along the central coast during these droughts (Jones and Kennett, 1999, p. 81). By the start of the Late Period, coastal populations are believed to have shifted inland in a variety of settings along the central coast (Breschini and Haversat, 1991, 1992, 1994; Dietz, 1991; Jones, 1992; Jones et al., 2007). For the Monterey Peninsula area, Jones and Ferneau (2002, p. 219) state that ‘‘most Middle Period sites were abandoned before or during the Middle–Late Transition while many other sites were initially occupied during the Transition or Late Period.’’ During the Late Period, settlement systems are considered to have been inland-oriented, more fluid, and more varied. This created numerous smaller residential sites, occupied for short periods of time, as well as specialized sites (Jones et al., 2007, p. 140). Jones and Ferneau, (2002, p. 224) note that ‘‘an apparent proliferation of bedrock mortar sites suggests increased reliance on nut crops and seeds during the Late Period. . .’’ At the same time that settlements decreased in size, populations were at the highest levels, social complexity is documented, and a number of costly resources were heavily exploited (Jones et al., 2007). These seemingly contradictory and unresolved aspects of this Late Period reconstruction along the central coast are well-recognized by Jones et al. (2007, pp. 143–145). Shellfish processing sites represent the other task-specific locations and were believed to appear for the first time during the Late Period. The view that these sites were formed by inlander logistical

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forays was first suggested 75 years ago by Wedel (1935, p. 22), who discussing the archaeology on Point Lobos at the western tip of Monterey Peninsula, interprets ‘‘intermittent’’ sites dominated by abalone and mussel as being created by inland groups: Since abalone and mussel preponderate on the ‘‘intermittent’’ sites, it is probable that these spots were visited by small parties of Indians from the interior, who collected only these two forms of shellfish, the largest and most productive as a food source, dried them, and carried the edible portions away, leaving only the shell behind. [Wedel, 1935, p. 22] The main reason cited for this reconstruction is that these ‘‘intermittent’’ sites are situated too close to nearby ‘‘seasonal’’ residential sites (considered to have been occupied only in the spring or summer) for people not to have carried the whole shell back to these camps for processing. Local ethnohistoric information has been used to buttress the perspective that inland groups had an annual visit to the coast each summer. For example, Breschini and Haversat (1994, pp. 183–189) used baptismal data from Mission San Carlos to argue that during the Mission Period (i.e., the Late Period) inland groups traveled to the coast for the annual July smelt run, intensively collecting shellfish as well. Previously uncalibrated radiocarbon dating of numerous nearshore red abalone pavement sites in the Monterey area indicated that these were a Late Period phenomenon (see Table 1), and reinforced the perspective that residential sites were mainly in inland settings, and that these inlanders made periodic logistical trips to the coast to procure abalone (Breschini and Haversat, 1992;

Breschini et al., 2003; Dietz and Jackson, 1981). Some coastal sites in the Monterey area have Early–Middle Period generalized middens overlain by Late Period abalone pavement deposits, further reinforcing the perspective that a shift occurred from coastal residential sites to specialized processing locations created by inland groups temporarily coming to the coast to target highly ranked resources (Breschini and Haversat, 1991; Dietz, 1991). Re-evaluating the model with new data Overall, the Inlander Logistical Foray model, which posits a decline in Late Period coastal residential occupation and use of the coast during seasonal forays is predicated on two inferences: (1) there is an absence of Late Period village sites near the coast; and (2) if Late Period villages were present on the coast, they would not have created numerous bulk processing sites indicative of industrial-scale events; instead, local inhabitants would have gathered abalone more frequently and in smaller quantities, carried the abalone back to a nearby village, and processed and discarded it there within the generalized midden deposit. We suggest that two new lines of evidence—excavation results showing Late Period coastal residential sites, and central-place foraging research on shellfish processing—call into question these long-held views. Late period coastal residences Recent investigations at a series of sites along the coast are now providing evidence of multi-seasonal occupation during the Late Period, contradicting the perspective that this period witnessed a

Table 2 Relative abundance of shellfish by weight at coastal shell middens on the Monterey Peninsula. Site

Site type

Early period MNT-170a MNT-391 Average

Village Village

Middle period MNT-437b MNT-114 MNT-115 Average

Mytilus californianus (%)

Other (%)

3 18 11

95 60 77

3 21 12

Village Village Village

3 8 14 9

91 85 71 82

6 7 15 9

Middle–Late Transition MNT-111 MNT-112 MNT-116 Average

Shell processing Village Village

93 32 43 56

4 64 45 38

3 4 12 6

Late period MNT-12c MNT-113 MNT-1612d MNT-103 MNT-1892 MNT-217/He MNT-110 MNT-120 MNT-1084f MNT-117 MNT-98f MNT-129f MNT-118 Average

Village Village Village Shell processing Shell processing Shell processing Shell processing Shell processing Shell processing Shell Processing Shell processing Shell processing Shell processing

2 25 48 80 85 91 97 98 99 99 99 99 100 78

83 72 40 20 2 8 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 18

15 3 12 0 12 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 4

Notes: All data from Dietz and Jackson (1981) except: a Dietz (1991). b Ruby and Hildebrandt (2003). c Breschini et al. (2003). d Schwaderer (2007). e Mikkelsen and Jones (2010). f Breschini and Haversat (1991).

Haliotis rufescens (%)

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substantive decline in coastal occupation. Jones et al. (2007, p. 140) note the newly documented presence of ‘‘Late Period middens at Big Sur (Breschini and Haversat, 2005; Hildebrandt and Jones, 1998; Wohlgemuth et al., 2002), San Simeon Reef (Joslin, 2006), and Morro Bay (SLO-23).’’ We highlight two recent examples, including one from the Monterey Peninsula, that provide evidence of year-round occupation of the central California coast during the Late Period. Jones et al. (2008) have recently argued for greater settlement permanence of key residential sites on the coast and, in comparison, more seasonal movement by inland inhabitants in Point Piedra Blanca area (120 km south of the Monterey area). This recent reconstruction is based on mussel shell oxygen isotopic seasonality data from ten sites (including four coastal and inland Late Period settlements) and ethnohistoric traveler accounts regarding when during the year Native villages were occupied and abandoned. Jones et al. (2008:2292) suggest there was long-term stability in the seasonal timing of mussel acquisition stating that ‘‘coastal residents harvested mussels nearly year-round (albeit on a reduced basis in the winter) and seem to have occupied individual residential bases throughout the seasonal cycle.’’ Turning to the Monterey Peninsula area, recent research at the large multi-mound Hudson site (MNT-12) has also provided new evidence of a major Late Period residential site on the coast (Schwaderer, 2007). This site lies at the mouth of San Jose Creek near Point Lobos, and a series of Late Period abalone pavements (MNT-217/H, -215, and -263) are situated nearby. The Late Period component shellfish at this village are dominated by mussel, while abalone is infrequent (fewer than 5% by weight). High densities of acorn, along with abundant bay nut, wild cucumber, and small seeds from the Late Period component reveal consumption of plant resources from multiple seasons as would be anticipated from a residential site occupied year-round (Wohlgemuth, 2004). These results provide concrete examples of a growing body of evidence documenting Late Period residential sites along the central coast, including those located near clusters of abalone pavement sites in the Monterey Peninsula area. As such, inlanders would not have had unfettered access to coastal resources, and coastal inhabitants could have gathered shellfish, including abalone, throughout the year. One might therefore predict that this led to significant increases in the quantities of abalone in the generalized middens at residential sites and that red abalone populations were subjected to harvesting pressure. Neither situation appears to have occurred as red abalone frequencies remain low at residential sites while abalone shells at pavement sites are numerous and consistently large. Central place foraging perspectives on shellfish processing In further evaluating the Inlander Logistical Foray model, we turn to optimal foraging theory. Specifically, we draw on advances made in central place foraging to reassess the assertion that these task-specific sites would not have been formed by local Late Period coastal inhabitants. Central place forging models have explored the cost-benefit thresholds at which field processing of resources are carried out to reduce the cost of transport back to residential camps. This modeling has been effective in providing insight into the types of contexts in which waste material is discarded away from residential locations, thereby allowing archaeologists to better interpret data recovered from these sites (e.g., Bettinger et al., 1997; Metcalfe and Barlow, 1992). Bird and Bliege Bird’s (1997) and Bird et al.’s (2002) ethnoarchaeological field research among the Meriam of coastal northern Australia is most relevant to the problem at hand. They conducted detailed studies examining shellfish collection, field processing, and resource transport patterns for a variety of intertidal shellfish. These results were then used to generate central place foraging predictions regarding which shellfish would be field-processed

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and the distance from residential sites at which this would happen, and then tested these predictions against both modern and archaeological shellfish debris at residential sites. In general, field processing occurred when the effort to remove the shell was low and the waste (i.e., the shell itself) was heavy. Notably, the two largest bivalves, Lambis and the Tridacnids Hippopus hippopus and Tridacna spp. (with average flesh weights of 490, 1200, and 300 g, respectively—comparable in size to red abalone) were invariably field processed (Bird and Bliege Bird, 1997, p. 41). Moreover, these large bivalves had the smallest mean value for the distance from a base camp that field processing was considered profitable: 74.6 m for H. hippopus and 137 m for Tridacna spp. For these larger bivalves ‘‘If foraging occurs beyond 150 m from the residence, no shells of either of these prey types are expected to be transported to a central place’’ (Bird and Bliege Bird, 1997, pp. 46–47). Data from contemporary Meriam households and prehistoric residential sites in the area corroborate these ethnoarchaeological observations and the resulting central place foraging predictions. Bird et al. (2002, p. 463) note that ‘‘. . .Lambis and Tridacnids make up more than 46% of the shells collected, and only 11–13% of the shells in the contemporary and archaeological deposits.’’ They also state: ‘‘As predicted, Hippopus and Tridacna are rare in the deposits, even though they make up the majority of the contemporary shellfish diet’’ (Bird et al., 2002, p. 465). In summary, central place foraging models predict differential patterns of field processing and transport of waste back to residential sites tied to shell weight and processing costs. Notably, large bivalves may be field processed even in settings where the base camp lies only 75–150 m away. We suggest that this central place foraging research indicates that post-950 cal BP abalone processing sites (such as those near the shoreline at Point Lobos) could easily have been created by inhabitants of newly documented coastal residential sites (such as the major Late Period mound site MNT-12 less than 2 km away). This reconstruction of field processing by local coastal residents is also consistent with the low frequencies of red abalone recovered from coastal residential sites. It seems highly unlikely that local inhabitants living year-round along the coast at Point Lobos would have ignored this supposedly high-value resource, while allowing inland groups to heavily exploit it. Given the smaller size and greater meat-shell ratio of mussel, and therefore greater transport distance dictated by field-processing models, it is not surprising that mussel shell appears at residential sites and not in specialized processing areas similar to the red abalone pavements of the same period. In summary, post-950 cal BP red abalone shell processing sites in the Monterey Peninsula area reveal intensive and selective focus on the procurement of a subtidal/low intertidal resource. Central place foraging modeling and application of Occam’s Razor (the simplest explanation tends to be the correct one) indicate that these sites were created by local coastal inhabitants. This processing may have been done for local consumption or possibly to acquire meat for long-distance trading. Sea surface temperature change Independent environmental change, in the form of sea surface temperature change (SST), was one of the first explanations for the sudden appearance of red abalone harvesting (Glassow, 1993; Hubbs, 1958; Orr, 1968) and has proved one of the most durable. Hubbs (1958) was the first to assert that cooler sea temperatures allow red abalone to expand from the subtidal zone and colonize nearshore intertidal zone areas (displacing/outcompeting black abalone) making them more easy to collect. The initial attempts at correlating the spatial and temporal extent of red abalone exploitation and SST were mainly inferential, citing the differing temperature tolerances of the two species and their modern distribution along a latitudinal gradient (i.e., cooler

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temperatures farther north; Hubbs, 1958; Orr, 1968). Glassow et al. (1994) confirmed a Middle Holocene cooling trend using stable isotope data and more recent paleoenvironmental studies (Kennett et al., 2007; Kennett and Kennett, 2000) have allowed Braje et al. (2009) and Braje (2010) to examine the relationship between the occurrence of red abalone and shifts in sea surface temperature regimes in the northern Channel Islands. While the initial exploitation of red abalone during the Terminal Pleistocene/Earliest Holocene (12,500–11,000 cal BP) corresponds in part to the general cooling trend of the Younger Dryas, the Middle Holocene (7000– 4000 cal BP) florescence of red abalone middens on San Miguel Island corresponds to warming rather than cooling temperature regimes. This leads Braje et al. (2009) to conclude that:

notion, as summarized by Braje et al., that ‘‘prehistoric otter hunting [by humans] released red abalones from predation, dramatically increasing their abundance and average size’’ (Braje et al., 2009, p. 915). Archaeological manifestations of trophic cascades

Sea surface temperature change appears to better account for the record on Santa Cruz Island, as the age of abalone middens there more closely match the cooler temperatures (Glassow, 2005) and the distribution of middens on the island—found only on the western shores—match trends toward warmer waters along the eastern shores of Santa Cruz (Glassow et al., 2008). Data for the sea surface temperatures from the central coast of California indicate that sea surface temperatures were 1 °C cooler than modern regimes between 2000 and 700 cal BP (Jones and Kennett, 1999; Jones et al., 2008). Between 700 and 500 cal BP, temperatures were similar but varied more seasonally. Between 500 and 300 cal BP, temperatures were an additional 1–2 °C cooler than the previous period. Using oxygen isotope data from ten sites spanning the Late Holocene, Jones et al. (2008, Table 4) estimate SST by time periods and find an overall warming trend between the Middle Period and Middle–Late Transition with some cooling during the Late Period into the historic era. Since the earliest red abalone pavements on the Monterey Peninsula date to the Middle–Late Transition (950–700 cal BP), the SST explanation does not account for the emergence of heavy red abalone exploitation in the Monterey Peninsula area.

Based on kelp forest ecology and the sequence of events outlined by Erlandson et al. (2005) and Braje et al. (2009) for the Channel Islands, we expect the following scenario for Monterey. Beginning in the Early Period there would have been several species of marine mammal (e.g., sea lions, fur seals, seals, sea otters), and human predation pressure on sea otters would be low. This, in turn, would have maintained an intertidal and subtidal zone habitat heavily structured by sea otter predation. In this environment, abalone and sea urchin would be mainly confined to crevices, and shell sizes would be smaller on average. The returns on these individuals would be extremely low in this scenario, and given the presence of other high-ranked intertidal resources (i.e., mussel) we would expect abalone to be included in the local Native American diet only rarely and only when taken opportunistically. Therefore, archaeological faunal assemblages are expected to include some sea otter along with high-ranking pinnipeds (seals, fur seals, and sea lions), with shellfish assemblages dominated by mussel and other intertidal taxa. Sea otter bones are expected to become more prevalent in faunal assemblages if sea otters become increasingly enticing to human hunters due to changes in technology (such as, the investment and more frequent use of boats), reductions in the abundance of high-ranking marine mammals, or increased value of fur as a trade item. The reduction of predation pressure by sea otters is expected to allow abalone and sea urchins to increase their population density by re-colonizing more open and accessible habitat. The absence of sea otters would dramatically increase encounter rates with abalone and set the stage for more intensive human exploitation. An increase in the relative abundance of abalone, therefore, is expected to follow or be concurrent with an increase in sea otter faunal remains in the archaeological record.

Evaluating trophic cascades on the Monterey peninsula

Dating the shift toward an emphasis on red abalone

Perhaps the most recent and well supported explanation for the origins of red abalone middens in the Santa Barbara Channel area is that of Erlandson, Braje, and colleagues (Braje et al., 2007; Erlandson et al., 2005; Erlandson and Rick, 2010). Based on the kelp forest ecology discussed above, Erlandson et al. (2005) predict that red abalone can only be profitably harvested by humans once sea otter population have been dramatically reduced. The overall model of the kelp forest ecology as outlined by Erlandson et al. (2005) and Braje et al. (2009) includes broader impacts on kelp, sea urchins, red and black abalone, sea otters and humans. Erlandson et al. (2005) and Braje et al. (2009) cite archaeological and historical ecology data from British Columbia and Alaska which demonstrate the explosion of sea urchin and abalone populations after sea otter populations have been reduced. Not only do red abalone populations and average shell size increase, but the explosion of sea urchins—which feed on the kelp itself—can decimate or even eliminate the kelp forest leading to the establishment of ‘‘urchin barrens’’—bare ocean floor with very low species diversity. Braje et al. (2009, p. 915) also note that as California sea otter populations have expanded under federal and state protection, sea urchin and abalone populations have declined precipitously. However, for the purposes of the Monterey Peninsula red abalone features, the important relationship within this complex ecology is that between sea otters and abalone. In short, we test the

To test whether a trophic cascade occurred on the Monterey Peninsula we examine the faunal record from the Late Holocene along the Monterey Peninsula. As outlined above, the florescence of red abalone shell middens is expected to follow increased hunting of sea otters. To examine the relationship between the timing of red abalone pavements and sea otter hunting on Monterey Bay, we compiled chronological and faunal data from a sample of sites from the region (Fig. 3). The sample is largely drawn from a large project by Dietz and Jackson (1981), though several other datasets are also used (Breschini and Haversat, 1991; Breschini et al., 2003; Dietz, 1991; Hildebrandt and Jones, 1998; Mikkelsen and Jones, 2010; Ruby and Hildebrandt, 2003). Unfortunately, quantitative data are not available for many of the dated sites and, likewise, sites with quantitative data were not always dated. In the latter case, we followed period designations made by authors and based on the presence of time-sensitive projectile points or Olivella shell beads. We did not include any sites which included mixed temporal components. Forty-eight radiocarbon dates from 19 red abalone pavement sites in the Monterey Peninsula are presented in Table 1. Using this radiocarbon database, 37% of the sites and 19% of the dates have median probabilities prior to 700 cal BP (the start of the Late Period). Additional pavements have been recorded and dated in the Monterey Peninsula, but none predates the sites in Table 1 (G.

on San Miguel Island...there is little or no correlation between SST and the presence or absence of red abalone middens, the abundance of red abalone shell within these middens, or the size of whole red abalone shells. [Braje et al., 2009, p. 914]

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Fig. 3. Location of red abalone shell middens on the Monterey Peninsula.

Breschini personal communication, April 2011). As such, red abalone pavements actually first occur during the Middle–Late Transition at around 950 cal BP, with an initial peak in frequency between 550 and 600 cal BP and another peak near Spanish contact (Fig. 4). They are not just a Late Period phenomenon as previously thought. Shell relative abundance and red abalone shell size from many of these same sites are presented in Tables 2 and 3. As Table 2 demonstrates, the second expectation of a trophic cascade was met, as there was a fundamental shift in the emphasis of shellfish exploitation beginning during the Middle–Late Transition, and readily apparent by the Late Period. Early and Middle Period sites are dominated by mussel shell with only minor exploitation of red abalone. The dominance of mussel continues into the Middle–Late Transition with the exception of a single site, MNT-111, which appears to represent an almost exclusive abalone harvesting locality. Several abalone pavement features also date to the Middle–Late Transition including MNT-17A, -117, -129, -160, and -1084.

With the exception of two sites (MNT-113 and -1612), Late Period assemblages are heavily dominated by red abalone with no fewer than 80% of all shellfish by weight identified as red abalone. The relative percentage of abalone goes from 9% in the Middle Period to 78% in the Late Period. This pattern establishes that red abalone became the preferred shellfish prey by the Late Period. However, three sites during the Late Period have shellfish assemblages predominated by mussel (MNT-12, -113, and -1612). Interestingly, these are the only sites in Table 2 which have numerous artifacts (such as mortars, pestles and handstones) and diverse terrestrial and marine vertebrate assemblages consistent with more generalized occupation expected from long-term village sites. In addition to an increase in the quantity of red abalone shell after the Middle Period, there is an increase in shell size of whole specimens recovered from processing sites. Shell size data were compiled for 1211 individual red abalone shells from nine sites (Table 3). As noted above, the mean shell length of red abalone under predation versus protected abalone populations is significantly

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As Fig. 6 demonstrates, the shifting emphasis between mussel and red abalone coincides with a shift in the size of abalone shell. The change in size is consistent with a shift in abalone demographic profiles from that of a population under predation to one which is not. As such evidence from shellfish data is consistent with a trophic cascade. Furthermore, a comparison of means and standard deviations between a sample of red abalone middens from San Miguel Island and the Monterey Peninsula, reveal a striking similarity between Middle Holocene middens from San Miguel Island (mean = 164.3 mm, standard deviation = 32.3) and Late Period middens from Monterey (mean = 161.4 mm, standard deviation = 29.4). Additionally, both match the ‘‘un-predated’’ population recorded at Año Nuevo Island (mean = 180 mm, standard deviation = 28.2). Fig. 4. Distribution of calibrated radiocarbon dates on Haliotis rufescens shell from abalone pavements in Monterey County.

different. The median size of individuals at the Hopkins Marine Reserve in Monterey County was 110 mm, whereas the median size of individuals at Año Nuevo Island, which was free from sea otter and human predation, was 180 mm. When these average sizes are compared to the archaeological samples, it is striking that the Middle Period components have an average shell size of 115 and 117 mm respectively, with a median size of 110 at each site (Table 3; Fig. 5). Sites from the Middle–Late Transition and Late Period, however, have means between 142 and 167 mm and medians between 140 and 170 mm.

Trends in sea otter exploitation In an attempt to demonstrate the catalyst to the shift in shellfish procurement, we compiled marine mammal faunal data from a regional sample (Table 4). If a reduction of predation pressure from sea otters caused the change in shellfish procurement, sea otters are expected to have been more heavily hunted during the Middle Period, following which sea otters should be reduced or all but absent from the record. The record of marine mammal hunting from the Monterey Peninsula, however, does not follow the predicted pattern. The relative contribution of sea otter to the marine mammal faunal assemblage actually steadily increases through time from 29% in the Early

Table 3 Summary data for length measurements (in millimeters) on complete and nearly complete abalone shell from eight sites on the Monterey Peninsula. Middle

Number Mean Median Standard deviation Minimum Maximum

M/L Trans

Late

MNT-114

MNT-115

MNT-116

MNT-117

MNT-170

MNT-118

MNT-217/H

MNT-237

MNT-110

41 115.6 110 33.17 50 200

133 117.3 120 25.19 60 180

236 141.7 140 44.02 50 290

220 161.3 160 23.75 90 220

305 161.1 160 25.69 40 240

35 159.7 160 22.03 120 220

146 170.0 160 33.54 45 225

76 158.9 170 43.65 45 210

19 166.8 170 33.54 130 210

Notes: M/L Trans – Middle–Late Transition. References: see site-specific references in Table 2.

Table 4 Number of identified specimens (NISP) for Selected marine mammal fauna from sites on the Monterey Peninsula. Site (CA-)

Period

Cetacea

Sea otter

Pinniped

Otariid

Arctocephalus

MNT-170a MNT-114 MNT-115 MNT-437b MNT-101 MNT-115 MNT-111

Early Middle Middle Middle Middle Middle Middle– Late Middle– Late Late Late Late

4 – – – – – –

8 – 6 – 64 6 1

2 – – 2 – – –

5 – – 4 – – –

6 – – 2 – – –

– 1 45 – 7 45 2

– – 2 – 3 2 –

– – 2 – 29 2 1

3 – 3 – – 3 –

28 1 58 8 103 58 4

3

4

–

–

–

2

–

3

–

12

– – –

– – –

– – –

– – –

– – –

1 – –

– – –

– – –

– – –

1 0 0

Late

–

6

–

–

–

3

3

1

1

14

7

95

4

9

8

106

10

38

10

287

MNT-116 MNT-110 MNT-113 MNT1892c MNT-112 Total

Notes: All references are from Dietz and Jackson (1981) except: a Dietz (1991). b Ruby and Hildebrandt (2003). c Hildebrandt and Jones (1998).

Northern fur seal

Steller sea lion

California sea lion

Harbor seal

Total

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Fig. 5. Abalone demographic assemblages for the Middle, Middle–Late Transition, and Late periods compared to natural population curves.

red abalone populations, an emphasis on abalone procurement, and increased size of shells. The faunal data, however, do not substantiate the lynch-pin of the argument: that human-induced reduction of the sea otter population immediately preceded the trophic cascade. In fact, the occurrence of abalone pavements is concurrent with a rise in sea otter hunting. This does not fully obviate a trophic cascade in Monterey, as it is possible that sea otter hunting and subsequent increases in red abalone populations occurred within such a short time span as to be invisible in the archaeological record. If so, then we would anticipate that significant increases in sea otter remains and red abalone exploitation should appear archaeologically within the same time segment—i.e., these two sequential events would actually appear to be concurrent. Such a pattern has been suggested by Erlandson et al. (2005) for a Middle Holocene site on San Miguel Island and by Braje and Erlandson (2007) for historic-era hunting of sea otters and red abalone collection throughout the Channel Islands. In Monterey, more faunal data is needed to further test whether human predation resulted in the trophic cascade evinced by red abalone shell size data. Fig. 6. Relative percentage of abalone, mussel, and other shellfish on the monterey peninsula through time with relative percentage of sea otter in marine mammal assemblage super-imposed (Note: Jones et al., 2011 do not use the Middle–Late Transition in their dataset).

Period to 43% in the Late Period (Table 4; Fig. 6). It does not rise significantly during the Middle Period or in the Middle–Late Transition as one would predict based on an anthropogenic trophic cascade. At the same time, the overall contribution of sea mammals (inclusive of sea otters) to the diet during the Late Period greatly declines based on available data from faunal assemblages. Instead, coastal faunal assemblages are dominated by artiodactyls and other terrestrial mammals and nearly devoid of marine mammals all together. Jones and Ferneau (2002, Table 12.5) for instance found that a sample of 591 identified mammalian faunal elements from six Late Period sites included only 16 (2%) marine mammal bones, despite being located on the coastal margin. The faunal data, then, do not substantiate the proposed relationship between sea otter over-hunting and the rise of heavy red abalone procurement. While our dataset is limited to sites in the Monterey Peninsula, Jones et al. (2011) cite a much larger regional faunal sample including sites from the entire central coast of California. They find a similar pattern of low predation of sea otter prior to the Late Period, at which point sea otter remains become the most common marine mammal found in faunal assemblages (Fig. 6). The shell data fit the model of reduced predation pressure on abalone, leading to an increase in encounter rates with growing

Boat-based foraging—an alternative perspective While the sea otter faunal data do not appear to substantiate an anthropogenic trophic cascade, modern ecology and the shellfish data indicate that red abalone populations increased dramatically and match both an unpredated modern signature and the profile of Middle Holocene red abalone middens on the Channel Islands. Therefore we find good reason to believe that a trophic cascade did occur in Monterey, but we lack archaeological evidence of when this event took place. It is conceivable that the trophic cascade occurred considerably earlier but that human populations simply did not alter subsistence strategies to capitalize on the situation. We also feel interpretive reliance on this reconstruction alone is insufficient to fully account for the temporally and spatially discontinuous pulses of heavy red abalone exploitation documented along the California coast (including the high frequency of red abalone noted at the earliest sites on the Channel Islands), or to unravel the causal factors underlying the very late onset of this exploitation pattern on the Monterey Peninsula and why this phenomena was spatially restricted to only a small segment of the central California coast. We offer an additional explanation for the late onset of heavy red abalone exploitation in the Monterey Peninsula of central California that is based on changes in human social organization and subsistence practices. We also believe this may provide a useful perspective for better understanding its Middle Holocene analog in the Northern Channel Islands and lack of similar archaeological patterns north of Monterey.

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In general, red abalone can be considered low ranked in comparison to other shellfish (such as mussels) when the procurement strategy is shore-based foraging. This is because most of the red abalone population was situated farther from the shoreline in deeper offshore settings (lower tidal and subtidal settings) and, therefore, only the margins of this niche could be exploited via shoreline wading—a strategy which predominated on the Monterey Peninsula prior to 950 cal BP. Regular procurement of red abalone along the nearshore edge of its habitat produced small-sized shellfish assemblages (115 mm mean) indicating heavy predation, in part caused by human foraging. Interestingly, Late Holocene red abalone assemblages from the Northern Channel Islands have similar size distributions (mean size 94 mm) that have been interpreted ‘‘. . . most likely to result from intensifying human predation caused by human population growth over time’’ (Erlandson and Rick, 2010, p. 140). Around 950 cal BP, we suggest that a new exploitation strategy—diving from boats—was employed to exploit a much wider portion of the red abalone habitat. Several previous Channel Island studies have cited a similar ecological rationale in asserting that the Middle Holocene red abalone middens there represent an increase in subtidal diving (Glassow, 1993; Sharp, 2000; Walker and Snethkamp, 1984). These previous arguments assumed simply that larger individuals are found in the subtidal zone and therefore near-coastal foragers will get only smaller individuals in the intertidal zone. However, coupling the notion of subtidal diving with a trophic cascade provides an explanation for both the delay in red abalone exploitation in Monterey and the abalone shell-size data. The boat-based procurement strategy proposed here entailed logistical forays by a more limited range of the population (healthy adults). Divers, working new patches in tandem with boaters, selectively procured the largest shellfish, gathered large quantities in a single foray, and then field processed them in bulk on the shore before transporting the meat to coastal residences. Importantly, these boat-based forays also may have also resulted in more encounters with sea otters, perhaps decreasing the sea otter population and triggering a trophic cascade. The decision to engage in boat-based foraging represents a shift in the prey rank of abalone as a result of a change in foraging strategy. The overall costs may have been higher for this new endeavor (mainly metabolically but also in terms of time investment in manufacturing and maintaining boats), and therefore it can be considered a marker of resource intensification. In addition to providing protein for a growing coastal population, it also provided a food surplus that could be traded, and, as a by-product, produced shells that had considerable social value as trade items either unmodified or as finished decorative items. We suspect that there were several underlying causal factors behind this new procurement strategy, although much more work is needed to fully unravel the timing of related events. In general, the rise of boat-based foraging by previously terrestrial/littoralbased foragers can be placed under the general causal rubric of population pressure-driven intensification. Pressure on coastal populations in central California may have been related to a number of factors including steady population growth, population realignments and migrations, or terrestrial productivity downturns due to climatic events. Notably, severe droughts took place during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, the first of which began around 1100 cal BP and persisted into the Middle–Late Transition (Stine, 1994). In the Monterey area, the resource ranking of red abalone also may have increased based on its enhanced social value during the Late Holocene when population density and social complexity increased dramatically. The heightened social value of abalone was likely tied to the long-standing importance of shell ornaments (mainly Olivella but also abalone) as trade goods, the integral use

of abalone in regalia displayed during ritual events, trade in its meat (requiring industrial-scale processing), and its use as a high prestige food at feasts and other important social gatherings (Heizer, 1978, p. 391; Latta, 1977, p. 321; Meacham, 1979, pp. 12–32). This enhanced social value might have provided sufficient incentive to dive for red abalone even before red abalone populations were freed from sea otter predation. Ethnohistorically, a major node of abalone shell trade appears to have centered on Monterey. The Native Ohlone are reported to have traded abalone shell and dried abalone to other Ohlone populations in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the Yokuts and Central Miwok of interior central California (Davis, 1961; Levy, 1978, p. 488; Wallace, 1978, p. 465). These ethnohistoric observations are consistent with existing prehistoric data: the Monterey area is the only central California locality with prehistoric middens containing high frequencies of red abalone. Although no abalone ornament manufacturing locations have been documented in central California, the Monterey area appears to be the most likely setting given the absence of intensive abalone exploitation elsewhere in the region. The sudden appearance of numerous red abalone processing and discard sites on the Monterey Peninsula occurs during the Middle–Late Transition, a time noted for terrestrial climatic fluctuation, population movements, and reconfiguration of regional interaction networks in central California (Jones et al., 2007; Jones and Schwitalla, 2008; Milliken et al., 2007). In the San Francisco Bay area, the Middle–Late Transition is also considered to have been a period of increased social complexity; for example the number of individuals with grave goods (mainly represented by Olivella beads) and the quantities per individual dramatically increased (Bennyhoff and Hughes, 1987, p. 393; Byrd and Rosenthal, submitted for publication; Fredrickson, 1994). Although few studies have compiled data on abalone decorative items, in the Livermore Valley of the southeast Bay Area, the frequency of individuals interred with abalone decorative items increased suddenly from 7.8% in the Middle Period to 25.3% in the Middle–Late Transition (Rosenthal and Byrd, 2005). These trends match the increased appearance of red abalone at Monterey Peninsula archaeological sites and may evince the emergence of a Monterey-based abalone trade and exchange network. Expansion of abalone procurement in the Late Period also may have led to an abundance/surplus of shell ornament raw material, larger in size than available previously. Decreased acquisition costs for the ultimate consumers may have in turn spurred the appearance of larger abalone ornaments, such as the ‘‘Banjo style’’ which is believed to have been associated with the Late Period and early Historic-era Kuksu cult (Atchley, 1994; Hylkema, 2002, p. 260). Overall, it appears that a series of social factors played a key role in the enhanced ranking of red abalone. In the following sections we examine two facets of boat-based foraging on the Monterey Peninsula. These include the prehistoric context of boating along the California coast and an assessment of the extent of the red abalone habitat that became accessible with the use of boast-based foraging. Prehistory of boating along the California coast Boats must have been integral to the material culture of California’s earliest inhabitants since the northern Channel Islands were inhabited in the Terminal Pleistocene/Earliest Holocene and boats would have been required to get there (Erlandson et al., 2011). Currently there is no direct evidence of the nature of these boats or the tools used to manufacture them. Cassidy et al. (2004; also Raab et al., 2009, pp. 88–92) have argued, based on the presence of wood making tools (including drills, reamers, wedges, and abraders), that later Early Holocene inhabitants of Eel Point on the

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boats. It is possible, however, that more elaborate tule boats were constructed that were better suited to spending longer periods of time offshore. Ethnographic abalone divers and the expanding exploitation of red abalone’s habitat

Fig. 7. Historical drawing of Ohlone Tule Balsa Canoe on San Francisco Bay (courtesy of the Bancroft Library).

Southern Channel Island of San Clemente made some form of composite boats, likely incorporating wooden planks into the hull design. This interpretation has not been widely accepted and most scholars believe that the ethnographic form of wooden plank canoe technology (the tomol or tiat) developed in the Late Holocene. When exactly this occurred and whether or not it was an independent invention is hotly debated (Jones and Klar, 2005; Arnold, 2007). The large plank canoe (or tomol) are, however, considered a distinctive aspect of the Chumash of the northern Channel Islands and the Santa Barbara coast (Arnold, 2007; Arnold and Bernard, 2005; Gamble, 2002), and there is no evidence to indicate that this technology was used farther north along the California coast. Elsewhere along the California coast, tule boats were being used by many Native groups at the time of historic contact (Kroeber, 1925). Tule boats (or tule balsa boats) were comprised of willow sapling core surrounded by bundles of highly buoyant tule bulrush stems, and powered by wooden paddles. Many scholars believe tule boats have a long history and may have been the earliest boating technology along the California coast. For example, Jones et al. (2008, 2011) have argued that this boating technology was used on the southern central coast of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties in the Early to Middle Holocene. It is also a technology widely used throughout the world in varied indigenous settings. The Ohlone, who inhabited the Monterey Peninsula and much of San Francisco Bay at historic contact, used tule boats. Fig. 7 shows a ca. 1822 depiction of three Ohlone with two storage baskets in a tule boat crossing the San Francisco bay. The antiquity of tule balsa use in the region is uncertain since the boats were made of perishable material and archaeological correlates of their manufacture have not been identified. Since tules were gathered and used for other purposes as well, tule boat construction probably did not require a distinctive or specialized tool kit. Indirect evidence for the use of boats prehistorically is indicated by the presence of substantial archaeological sites on the two main islands within San Francisco Bay; access to them would have required travel by boat. Archaeological sites dating as early as 3000–2000 cal BP have been documented on Yerba Buena Island (Rosenthal, 2008) and Angel Island (DeGerogey, 2007). It is reasonable to presume, therefore, that this boating technology was well-known and likely used periodically in the Monterey Peninsula prior to 950 cal BP when we believe intensive boastbased foraging for red abalone ensued. Overall, it appears that boat-based foraging did not require a major technological change, only a greater labor investment to manufacture and maintain

A consideration of ethnographic examples of boat-based foraging provides a useful context for assessing potential parameters for such activities on the Monterey Peninsula. While there is little ethnographic data on the methods of shellfish procurement in Central and southern California, diving for shellfish from boats using traditional technologies is well-documented ethnographically in variety of settings world-wide. In most cases it is a family-based economic activity. For example, black clams (Villorita cyprinoides) are intensively collected from the floor of Vembanad Lake in Kerala, southwest India (Suja and Mohamed, 2010). Individual males in small canoes dive to depths of 2–3 m in the estuary and harvest 300– 400 kg of clams in 4–5 h. These clams are a dietary staple for the family and the surplus is then sold, often through fishermen societies. Probably the best known open-coast shellfish divers are East Asian women known collectively in Korea as the Hai-Nyo and in Japan as the Ama—both terms are translated literally as ‘‘women divers’’ (Hong, 1965; Hong et al., 1963; Nukada, 1965). The Ama of Japan trace their profession back 1000–2000 years, and abalone (Haliotis japonica) was a key resource collected both for its meat and for trade of shell itself (Nukada, 1965). Traditionally, the Ama dove from a small boat with a male family member serving as the assistant and boat operator (Martinez, 2004). Prior to 100 years ago, they dove without goggles and with minimal clothing. Diving depths general ranged from 8 m to 20–25 m. Typical tools of the trade were limited to a rope (to assist in deep diving), a basket tied to the rope, a ballast weight, bag tied to the waist, and a scoop or pallet to remove the abalone (Kita, 1965; Nukada, 1965). Harvesting was concentrated from spring to fall and focused on rocky shoreline settings. The depths to which modern ethnographic Ama dive are instructive, as the great depths at which they presumably find larger individuals are both too far from shore to easily access by wading, and well beyond the tumultuous breakers which would presumably fatigue a forager with the extra effort to avoid and move through breaking waves. The obvious solution to accessing the subtidal zone would be the use of boats. In order have a better assessment of the potential extent of red abalone habitat that would be made available by the use of boat-based foraging, we examined the subsurface terrain of Monterey and Point Lobos where concentrations of abalone processing sites are situated. We estimate that along these two stretches of rocky coastline (some 12 km long in total), the area from the shore to 15 m below surface (the maximum depth we would anticipate shellfish collectors dove to) includes 4.1 km2 (1010 acres; Fig. 8). Throughout this stretch of the coast, the 15-m contour is generally situated from 300 to 600 m from the shoreline. Of this, we estimate that approximately 28% is shallow enough (0–2.5 m in depth) for wading and shallow-dive foraging to be possible. However, much of this area is unsuitable abalone habitat since it consists of small, sandy embayments and areas where flat bedrock outcrops are very near the surface. Given this offshore context, we estimate that diving for abalone beyond the wading-zone would have increased the area available for exploitation two and a half times at a minimum, and potentially much more. Additionally, the shallow contexts are often within the wave zone and would therefore have been more treacherous, further increasing the contrast between the area suitable for diving from boats versus shore-based procurement. The use of boats also

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Fig. 8. Estimated extent of red abalone habitat from the modern shoreline to 15 m below surface in two settings within the Monterey Peninsula, California.

would allow hunters a better opportunity to hunt sea otters; a swimmer with a club or harpoon would lack the leverage or maneuverability to pursue and dispatch a sea otter. As ethnographic and coastline physiographic data demonstrate, the potential yields on inter- and subtidal shellfish are greatly increased when the habitat is expanded to beyond the nearshore areas that can be accessed by wading foragers. Given the apparent availability of boats—even basic boats—it follows that foragers attempting to maximize caloric and other currencies along the Monterey Peninsula coastline would have benefited from the addi-

tion of boat-based foraging to their subsistence economy. However, the greater costs entailed by doing so would have required pressure to invest in the additional effort (not to mention danger) that would enable them to access the subtidal zone. Once there, the non-caloric value of both abalone shells and sea otter pelts may well have begun the trophic cascade observed in the archaeological record. The addition of the boat-based foraging argument provides the cultural catalyst to the ecological phenomenon while the economic intensification which boating required explains the long delay in the advent of the technique.

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Summary and discussion We tested three earlier interpretations employed to account for the sudden appearance of sites dominated by large red abalone and found that neither settlement shifts nor sea surface change accounted for the sudden abundance of abalone in the archaeological record. A trophic cascade was identified in the record, but does not fully explain either the late timing or the cause of this ecological phenomenon. Therefore, we have offered an alternative explanation—that intensive procurement of red abalone emerged at a time when both population pressure and social complexity increased greatly in central California. This new subsistence strategy entailed a shift from shore-based foraging to logistical boat-based foraging trips to dive for red abalone. Large quantities of red abalone were acquired that provided an additional source of food, a valuable food resource that could be dried and traded to inland groups, and numerous large shells that could be manufactured into ornaments and traded as decorative accoutrements. In general, we believe that boat-based diving for shellfish is a more intensive and specialized subsistence strategy than shorebased generalized foraging. This is in part due to the increased costs to build and maintain boats and cooperation required to gather shellfish or hunt marine mammals from beyond the intertidal zone. In a broader context, we would anticipate that it would only be a persistent, long-term strategy where resource intensification took place or where the social value of the acquired resource was extremely high. The spatially and temporally discontinuous nature of boat-based foraging for red abalone along the California coast indicates that social factors may have played a key role in its emergence late in time and only in a spatially limited setting within central California. In the larger context of California, we anticipate that the proximate causal factors that precipitated intensive procurement of red abalone will vary depending on local historical contingencies. The overall pattern (earliest in southern California, very late in central California, and absent in northern California) is directly correlated with the relative abundance of terrestrial resources. Hildebrandt and Carpenter (2006), for example, have stressed that Northern California foragers had access to abundant terrestrial and riverine resources including anadromous salmon, deer, and elk. In contrast, the southern California coast and the Channel Islands had a relative paucity of similar terrestrial resources (due to lower annual rainfall). Central California, of course, falls in between these two extremes, both geographically and in terms of the abundance of terrestrial resources. Logically, intensification—including boatbased diving for resources—is expected to occur earliest in terrestrial resource poor areas such as southern California. The time lag between the intensive exploitation on the southern central coast, in San Luis Obispo County, provides further credence to this notion—terrestrial central coast foragers did not intensify their subsistence economy until the late Middle Holocene. The further delay between the Middle Holocene red abalone middens in San Luis Obispo and post-950 cal BP middens in Monterey would then be explained by the greater terrestrial resource base in Monterey and to the further added value of red abalone meat and shells as trade items. However, given the emphasis of this explanation on the additional cost of boating technology, the Channel Islands may represent an exception for which intensification is not required. This is because boats were already in use when people arrived on the island, and they therefore represented no addition cost related to foraging—boats were made and used primarily for travel, but were available for foraging as well. Though highly speculative, the modern ethnographic example of East Asian women divers provides an intriguing analog for the possible division of labor in Early Holocene Channel Islander groups. Since women are widely

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recognized to focus subsistence activities on reliable, but more costly to process, resources, it is often assumed that women were the primary gatherers of nearshore shellfish and plants (Jones, 1991). In settings, such as the Channel Islands, which lacked staple plant foods with the diversity and abundance of those on the mainland, women might be expected to follow a similar subsistence pattern to the modern Korean and Japanese shellfish divers while men concentrated on hunting marine mammals and fishing. Given that boats were available to the earliest inhabitants of the islands, and shellfish were the staple food, representing an estimated 90% or more meat contribution at several Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene sites (Braje, 2010; Erlandson et al., 2011), inclusion of red abalone in the diet acquired from boats or on shore is expected. In a broader context, we expect that the pre-agricultural record along coastal margins worldwide may vary significantly depending on whether foraging was only shore-based or whether it also included a boat-based component. In areas where boats were used for transportation to offshore localities, we expect an early record of resource procurement beyond the intertidal zone. In areas with no obvious need for boats as a means of transportation, we expect evidence of subtidal foraging only when social, environmental, or economic pressures precipitated intensification of coastal foraging. The record from central California suggests that only when the terrestrial resource base proved insufficient and population pressure increased or social factors prevailed, did people employ strategies which allowed them to move past the breakers, into the subtidal, and beyond. Acknowledgments We thank our colleagues Pat Mikkelsen and Debbie Jones who invited us to participate in their project and provided suggestions on the manuscript. Pat, Nicole Birney, and Heather Baron provided a critical editorial eye to draft and final versions. The project from which this research stems was supported by the California Department of Parks and Recreation for work done at Pt. Lobos State Park under the capable guidance of Rae Schwaderer. Gary Breschini was enthusiastic in offering us data and guidance on the record of Monterey County. Paul Brandy prepared the maps and Kathleen Montgomery prepared the figures. Jon Erlandson, Todd Braje, and Michael Glassow provided substantive input and suggestions on various versions of the manuscript. They also shared data from the Northern Channel Islands and their assistance is greatly appreciated. References Arnold, J.E., 2007. Credit where credit is due: the history of the chumash oceangoing Plank Canoe. American Antiquity 72, 196–209. Arnold, J.E., Bernard, J., 2005. Negotiating the coasts: status and the evolution of boat technology in California. World Archaeology 37 (1), 109–131. Atchley, S.M., 1994. A Burial Analysis of the Hotchkiss Site (CA-CCO-138). Master’s Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. Ault, J.S., 1985. Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Pacific Southwest)—Black, Green, and Red Abalones. US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Publications 82. US Army Corps of Engineers. Bennyhoff, J.A., Hughes, R.E., 1987. Shell Bead and Ornament Exchange Networks between California and the Western Great Basin. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 64(2). American Museum of Natural History, New York. Bettinger, R.L., Malhi, R., McCarthy, H., 1997. Central place models of acorn and mussel processing. Journal of Archaeological Science 24, 887–899. Bird, D.W., Bliege Bird, R.L., 1997. Contemporary shellfish gathering strategies among the Merriam of the Torres Straits Islands, Australia: testing predictions of a central place foraging model. Journal of Archaeological Science 24, 39–63. Bird, D.W., Richardson, J.L., Veth, P.M., Barham, P.M., 2002. Explaining shellfish variability in middens on the Meriam Islands, Torres Strait, Australia. Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 457–469. Bouey, P.D., Basgall, M., 1991. Archaeological Patterns along the South Central Coast, Point Piedras Blancas, San Luis Obispo County, California: Archaeological Test

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