Fish and Shellfish Exploitation During the Spanish Colonial Era in California at Mission Santa Clara deAsís.

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Fish, Oyster, Whale: The Archaeology of Maritime Traditions", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Fishing played a major role among aboriginal groups in California. Published sources indicate that ethnographically, groups in the San Francisco Bay region fished for coastal and freshwater fishes. They continued these practices during the Spanish Colonial period in California (AD1769-1834), despite being subjected to the many strictures imposed on them by mission life. During excavations at the Native American Ranchería (Indian Village) associated with Mission Santa Clara de Asís, thirty-nine species of fish were recovered. Also identified were forty-four invertebrate taxa, including both freshwater and marine varieties. The fishes from this faunal assemblage represent a diverse set of habitats requiring different recovery methods: nets, hook/line, and Tule reed boats; shellfish represent sandy shore or sandy substrate habitats and rocky environments. This required travel to and from a diverse set of habitats at varying distances from the mission settlement, implying a permeable colonial setting in which native residents were highly mobile.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Fish, Oyster, Whale: The Archaeology of Maritime Traditions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow