Making Ancient Birds Sing: Avian Archaeology on the California Channel Islands.

Summary

Terrestrial and marine environments of the California Channel Islands harbor a wide array of residential birds and provide breeding grounds and layovers for migratory species. Avian remains have been uncovered in paleontological and archaeological contexts, providing a long and continuous record of their presence. Although some species have persisted, others have disappeared at various points in time due to extinctions or alterations in migratory pathways. Though avian remains contain abundant cultural and environmental information, few detailed studies have been conducted on archaeological assemblages from the Channel Islands. We discuss taxonomic distributions on the islands and focus on patterns that developed across the Holocene, including the extinction of a flightless bird, the general decline of migratory species, an increased reliance on local nesting birds, and the effects of historical ranching activities on the overall decline of terrestrial species. Ecological associations and human harvesting patterns will be used to reconstruct aspects of island paleoecology and paleoenvironment and investigate changes in human selection choices through time. Examining bird remains allows archaeologists to address a variety of issues regarding the perceived marginality of islands and their resources, human/environmental dynamics, and the roles birds played in the everyday, social, and spiritual lives of native islanders.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Re-evaluating the Marginality of California's Islands: Implications for Archaeological Interpretation   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage