Natural and Anthropogenic Effects on Coastal Environments along the East Cape of Baja California Sur, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Palaeoeconomic and Environmental Reconstructions in Island and Coastal Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Changes to coastal environments from natural and anthropogenic factors have influenced human subsistence and settlement patterns throughout the Baja California peninsula. These changes are visible both in the archaeological record and present-day human settlements. We discuss long-term human-environment interactions along the East Cape of Baja California Sur, an area that has received relatively little archaeological attention. Tourism and residential development throughout the cape have led to large-scale coastal changes through demolition, construction, and erosion, including the destruction of archaeological sites. The archaeological record of the cape region is focused around coastal subsistence. An initial assessment suggests that indigenous occupants of the region primarily oriented themselves along the coast and targeted a variety of shellfish species, particularly oyster. While many of the region’s present-day residents continue to engage in small-scale subsistence and commercial fishing, others have adopted livelihood strategies to take advantage of the growing coastal tourism and real estate economies. This study will highlight how inhabitants of the region, past and present, have responded to environmental and social change through coastal adaptations and new livelihood strategies. This study provides an initial step for understanding human responses to coastal change in a relatively understudied area of Baja California Sur, Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Palaeoeconomic and Environmental Reconstructions in Island and Coastal Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24341