In a Shade of Colonial Expansion: The Subsistence Strategies and Consumption Practices in Black Star Canyon, Southern California

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Celebrating 20 Years of Support: Current Work by Recipients of the Dienje Kenyon Memorial Fellowship for Zooarchaeologists" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Puhu (Ca-Ora-132), a Native American settlement located in the Santa Ana mountains of California, has been remembered as a unique place of conflict centered around animal utilization. In 1831, Puhu was attacked and defeated by American fur trappers after the accusations of horse-thieving for food. However, analysis of animal remains from Puhu’s excavations revealed that European livestock had a minimal, if not a nonexistent, impact on the village’s subsistence strategy. The assemblages from the Late Prehistoric (1300–1770 CE) and the colonial period (1770–1850) were dominated by local species, mainly deer (*Odocoileus hemionus), and lagomorphs (*Lepus californicus, Sylvilagus). Their remains include preserved as well as fragmented and burned bones, which indicate elaborated food processing practices, and subsequent use of remains as fuel. We suggest that the deer were easily accessible for the Puhu’s inhabitants, because of coastal colonization and the introduction of European-style agriculture that caused inland migration of game herds. Furthermore, scarce remains of felines (*Puma concolor, Lynx rufux) and mustelids (*F. Mephitidae) suggest taking advantage of other indigenous species. Although our findings do not preclude the occurrence of small acts of thievery, the village’s subsistence did not depend on it, but rather thrived based on the continuous exploitation of local game.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Celebrating 20 Years of Support: Current Work by Recipients of the Dienje Kenyon Memorial Fellowship for Zooarchaeologists

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32689