SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE MIOCENE BEECHERS BAY FORMATION, SANTA ROSA ISLAND, CALIFORNIA

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Nuccio ◽  
John J. Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Santa Rosa Island

Earliest Evidence for Geophyte Use in North America: 11,500-Year-Old Archaeobotanical Remains from California's Santarosae Island

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kristina M. Gill ◽  
Todd J. Braje ◽  
Kevin Smith ◽  
Jon M. Erlandson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Channel Islands ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Return Rates ◽  
Archaeobotanical Remains ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Santa Rosa Island ◽  
Protein Rich

There is growing evidence for human use of geophytes long before the advent of agriculture. Rich in carbohydrates, geophytes were important in many coastal areas where protein-rich marine foods are abundant. On California's Channel Islands, scholars have long questioned how maritime peoples sustained themselves for millennia with limited plant resources. Recent research demonstrates that geophytes were heavily used on the islands for 10,000 years, and here we describe geophyte and other archaeobotanical remains from an approximately 11,500-year-old site on Santa Rosa Island. Currently the earliest evidence for geophyte consumption in North America, our data extend geophyte use on the Channel Islands by roughly 1,500 years and document a diverse and balanced economy for early Paleocoastal peoples. Experimental return rates for a key island geophyte support archaeological evidence that the corms of blue dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus) were a high-ranked staple resource throughout the Holocene.

Sargassum on Santa Rosa Island, Florida: faunal use and beachgoer perception

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Ann Schultz Schiro ◽  
Klaus J. Meyer-Arendt ◽  
Sherry K. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Santa Rosa Island

Re-evaluating the origins of late Pleistocene fire areas on Santa Rosa Island, California, USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben C. Rick ◽  
John S. Wah ◽  
Jon M. Erlandson
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
Natural Fires ◽  
Human Colonization ◽  
Santa Rosa Island

AbstractAt the close of the Pleistocene, fire regimes in North America changed significantly in response to climate change, megafaunal extinctions, anthropogenic burning and possibly, even an extraterrestrial impact. On California's Channel Islands, researchers have long debated the nature of late Pleistocene “fire areas,” discrete red zones in sedimentary deposits, interpreted by some as prehistoric mammoth-roasting pits created by humans. Further research found no evidence that these red zones were cultural in origin, and two hypotheses were advanced to explain their origin: natural fires and groundwater processes. Radiocarbon dating, X-ray diffraction analysis, and identification of charcoal from six red zones on Santa Rosa Island suggest that the studied features date between ~ 27,500 and 11,400 cal yr BP and resulted from burning or heating, not from groundwater processes. Our results show that fire was a component of late Pleistocene Channel Island ecology prior to and after human colonization of the islands, with no clear evidence for increased fire frequency coincident with Paleoindian settlement, extinction of pygmy mammoths, or a proposed Younger Dryas impact event.

Stable isotope analysis of dog, fox, and human diets at a Late Holocene Chumash village (CA-SRI-2) on Santa Rosa Island, California

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1385-1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben C. Rick ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
Carley B. Smith ◽  
John R. Johnson ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Santa Rosa Island

scholarly journals THE FIRE AREAS ON SANTA ROSA ISLAND, CALIFORNIA

1966 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 1409-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Orr ◽  
R. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Santa Rosa Island

Human Impacts on Nearshore Shellfish Taxa: A 7,000 Year Record from Santa Rosa Island, California

2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd J. Braje ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
Jon M. Erlandson ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Sociopolitical Complexity ◽  
Intensive Exploitation ◽  
Nearshore Ecosystems ◽  
Human Predation ◽  
Santa Rosa Island

Within the broad framework of historical and behavioral ecology, we analyzed faunal remains from a large habitation site (CA-SRI-147) on Santa Rosa Island to explore a 7,000 year record of coastal subsistence, nearshore ecological dynamics, and human impacts on shellfish populations. This long, stratified sequence provides a rare opportunity to study the effects of prolonged human predation on local intertidal and nearshore habitats. During the past 7,000 years, the Island Chumash and their predecessors had significant impacts on nearshore ecosystems, caused by growing human populations and depletion of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. At CA-SRI-147, local depletion of higher ranked shellfish species stimulated dietary expansion and a heavier reliance on lower-ranked shellfish taxa and more intensive exploitation of nearshore and pelagic fishes. In the Late Holocene, as local ecosystems were increasingly depleted, the Island Chumash relied increasingly on craft specialization and trade to meet their subsistence needs. Native peoples clearly impacted Channel Island ecosystems, but data from CA-SRI-147 suggest that they adjusted their subsistence strategies toward productive fisheries that sustained the high population densities and sociopolitical complexity recorded by early Spanish chroniclers at European contact.

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