Resource intensification in Central California: evidence from the Lower Sacramento River Valley

Abstract

Recent models of resource intensification in California argue for a decrease in foraging efficiency over the late Holocene for Northern and Central California. This decrease in foraging efficiency is manifest as an overall decrease in the abundance of large prey species relative to small prey species within archaeofaunal assemblages. Causes of this decrease are understood to be the results of harvest pressure resulting from rising human populations and environmental change. The purpose of this thesis is to test this model by developing a regional synthesis of diachronic faunal exploitation within the lower Sacramento River Valley. Faunal assemblages from six archaeological sites were used as case examples. Three sites from the Middle Period (2800 B.P. to 1200 B.P), SAC-67, SAC-133, and SAC-42, and three from the Late Period (1200 B.P. to 100 B.P.), Sac-329, CA-267, and SAC-29 were chosen. Catchment areas were established for each based on paleoenvironmental recreation and used to determine site specific subsistence patterns. Richness measures and chi-square analyses were used to determine the significance of variations in faunal abundance over space and time. The results demonstrated that in contrast to earlier conclusions, foraging efficiency increased during the Late Period at the same time as diet breadth widened. Quantitative analyses demonstrated that this contradiction was best explained by the introduction of new hunting technologies in the Late Period which increased successful encounter rates. Results also provided evidence for the “artiodactyl spike” and the utility of legacy collections.