Red abalone collecting and marine water temperature during the Middle Holocene occupation of Santa Cruz Island, California

Michael A. Glassow; H. B. Thakar; Douglas J. Kennett

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.017

Red abalone collecting and marine water temperature during the Middle Holocene occupation of Santa Cruz Island, California

Michael A. Glassow
, H. B. Thakar
, Douglas J. Kennett

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Oxygen isotope values derived from prehistoric mussel (Mytilus californianus) shell calcite are used to determine whether sea-surface temperatures in the vicinity of the Punta Arena site (CA-SCRI-109) on Santa Cruz Island, California, were cooler than present between 6300 and 5300 cal BP. This site and others in the western sector of the island dating to this period are distinctive because of the presence of large red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) shells, a species that historically has been subtidal around Santa Cruz and the other northern Channel Islands. Comparison of temperature values derived from archaeological shells with those from modern mussel shells, along with water temperatures derived from satellites, indicates that waters were cooler during the 6300 to 5300 cal BP period. These results are consistent with a previous study and support the interpretation that collection of red abalone during the 6300-5300 cal BP period was partly the result of cooler water temperatures that made this large mollusk more available to foragers in the intertidal or shallow subtidal zone.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2574-2582
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	39
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.017
State	Published - Jul 2012

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Archaeology
Archaeology

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10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.017

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@article{42bec46e98c942fa95425502e95a0480,

title = "Red abalone collecting and marine water temperature during the Middle Holocene occupation of Santa Cruz Island, California",

abstract = "Oxygen isotope values derived from prehistoric mussel (Mytilus californianus) shell calcite are used to determine whether sea-surface temperatures in the vicinity of the Punta Arena site (CA-SCRI-109) on Santa Cruz Island, California, were cooler than present between 6300 and 5300 cal BP. This site and others in the western sector of the island dating to this period are distinctive because of the presence of large red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) shells, a species that historically has been subtidal around Santa Cruz and the other northern Channel Islands. Comparison of temperature values derived from archaeological shells with those from modern mussel shells, along with water temperatures derived from satellites, indicates that waters were cooler during the 6300 to 5300 cal BP period. These results are consistent with a previous study and support the interpretation that collection of red abalone during the 6300-5300 cal BP period was partly the result of cooler water temperatures that made this large mollusk more available to foragers in the intertidal or shallow subtidal zone.",

author = "Glassow, \{Michael A.\} and Thakar, \{H. B.\} and Kennett, \{Douglas J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: A grant from the National Science Foundation ( SBR 9707765 ) funded the initial episode of oxygen isotope analysis of mussel shells from the Punta Arena site, and a grant from the UCSB Academic Senate funded the subsequent, main episode. We are grateful to Lyndal Laughrin of the University of California{\textquoteright}s Santa Cruz Island Reserve for logistical support during fieldwork. We greatly appreciate the help of a large number of UCSB students in acquiring the mussel shells used in this analysis. Thanks go to James Kennett of UCSB{\textquoteright}s Department of Earth Science and his staff for access to the mass spectrometer to process the calcite samples of the initial episode of the analysis, to David Lea, also of the Earth Science Department, for access to the mass spectrometer in his lab, and to Georges Parades, who provided technical guidance in the use of this instrument. Thanks also to the staff of the Institute for Wildlife Studies for help when modern mussels were collected from the intertidal zone at Punta Arena, and to Carol Blanchette of the UCSB Marine Science Institute for sharing her knowledge of intertidal mussels and leading us to relevant publications. Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers, whose comments on an earlier draft of this paper helped us to clarify aspects of our arguments and identify where corrections were needed. ",

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language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Red abalone collecting and marine water temperature during the Middle Holocene occupation of Santa Cruz Island, California

AU - Glassow, Michael A.

AU - Thakar, H. B.

AU - Kennett, Douglas J.

N1 - Funding Information: A grant from the National Science Foundation ( SBR 9707765 ) funded the initial episode of oxygen isotope analysis of mussel shells from the Punta Arena site, and a grant from the UCSB Academic Senate funded the subsequent, main episode. We are grateful to Lyndal Laughrin of the University of California’s Santa Cruz Island Reserve for logistical support during fieldwork. We greatly appreciate the help of a large number of UCSB students in acquiring the mussel shells used in this analysis. Thanks go to James Kennett of UCSB’s Department of Earth Science and his staff for access to the mass spectrometer to process the calcite samples of the initial episode of the analysis, to David Lea, also of the Earth Science Department, for access to the mass spectrometer in his lab, and to Georges Parades, who provided technical guidance in the use of this instrument. Thanks also to the staff of the Institute for Wildlife Studies for help when modern mussels were collected from the intertidal zone at Punta Arena, and to Carol Blanchette of the UCSB Marine Science Institute for sharing her knowledge of intertidal mussels and leading us to relevant publications. Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers, whose comments on an earlier draft of this paper helped us to clarify aspects of our arguments and identify where corrections were needed.

PY - 2012/7

Y1 - 2012/7

N2 - Oxygen isotope values derived from prehistoric mussel (Mytilus californianus) shell calcite are used to determine whether sea-surface temperatures in the vicinity of the Punta Arena site (CA-SCRI-109) on Santa Cruz Island, California, were cooler than present between 6300 and 5300 cal BP. This site and others in the western sector of the island dating to this period are distinctive because of the presence of large red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) shells, a species that historically has been subtidal around Santa Cruz and the other northern Channel Islands. Comparison of temperature values derived from archaeological shells with those from modern mussel shells, along with water temperatures derived from satellites, indicates that waters were cooler during the 6300 to 5300 cal BP period. These results are consistent with a previous study and support the interpretation that collection of red abalone during the 6300-5300 cal BP period was partly the result of cooler water temperatures that made this large mollusk more available to foragers in the intertidal or shallow subtidal zone.

AB - Oxygen isotope values derived from prehistoric mussel (Mytilus californianus) shell calcite are used to determine whether sea-surface temperatures in the vicinity of the Punta Arena site (CA-SCRI-109) on Santa Cruz Island, California, were cooler than present between 6300 and 5300 cal BP. This site and others in the western sector of the island dating to this period are distinctive because of the presence of large red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) shells, a species that historically has been subtidal around Santa Cruz and the other northern Channel Islands. Comparison of temperature values derived from archaeological shells with those from modern mussel shells, along with water temperatures derived from satellites, indicates that waters were cooler during the 6300 to 5300 cal BP period. These results are consistent with a previous study and support the interpretation that collection of red abalone during the 6300-5300 cal BP period was partly the result of cooler water temperatures that made this large mollusk more available to foragers in the intertidal or shallow subtidal zone.

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DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.017

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SP - 2574

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JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

IS - 7

ER -

Red abalone collecting and marine water temperature during the Middle Holocene occupation of Santa Cruz Island, California

Abstract

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