On the Role of Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) in Northwest Coast Fisheries: The View from the Tse-whit-zen Site (45CA523), Coastal Washington

Summary

Though the study of human-prey animal relationships in the Pacific Northwest has focused largely on salmonid species (family Salmonidae) and their hypothetical connections to ancient increases in social complexity, a growing body of research demonstrates that many more fishes than have been previously recognized played key roles in the diets and social systems of peoples past and present. The Tse-whit-zen fauna, with over 80,000 fish bone specimens identified by ongoing zooarchaeological analysis, provides a unique opportunity to explore the importance of non-salmonid fishes. Preliminary results indicate sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) – a species rarely discussed in ethnographic and archaeological literature and scholarship – may have been equal to salmonids in dietary importance during part, if not all, of the village’s occupation. This poster will explore how the diachronic and synchronic patterns of sablefish representation at Tse-whit-zen might be related to taphonomy, resource procurement, relative social status of house occupants, and gradual and sudden environmental changes. While sablefish remains represent a single line of evidence, close analysis of this species may generate novel hypotheses about ancient environments and past human behavior, and help to emphasize the roles played by "secondary" resources.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Preliminary Results from the Tse-whit-zen Project: Zooarchaeology and Geoarchaeology of a 2000 yr old Lower Elwha Klallam Village on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington State

Keywords

Spatial Coverage