There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little... more There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little understanding of how human foragers integrated into and impacted ecosystems through their roles as hunter-gatherers. We present two highly resolved intertidal and nearshore food webs for the Sanak Archipelago in the eastern Aleutian Islands and use them to compare trophic roles of prehistoric humans to other species. We find that the native Aleut people played distinctive roles as super-generalist and highly-omnivorous consumers closely connected to other species. Although the human population was positioned to have strong effects, arrival and presence of Aleut people in the Sanak Archipelago does not appear associated with long-term extinctions. We simulated food web dynamics to explore to what degree introducing a species with trophic roles like those of an Aleut forager, and allowing for variable strong feeding to reflect use of hunting technology, is likely to trigger extinctions. P...
ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Alaska's Sanak Island ecosystem has been the focus o... more ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Alaska's Sanak Island ecosystem has been the focus of prehistoric, historic, and modern exploitation by Aleut peoples for over 5000 years. Extensive village deposits measure a dynamic history of demographic expansion and contraction, changes in economic focus, stress on marine resources, and regional interaction with other peoples. The paleoecological records show distinct shifts in marine productivity, climate, coastal geomorphic processes, and shifts in the distributions of key economic/subsistence resources. Keys to our understanding of the interactions between peoples and the landscapes they inhabit are grounded in finding the drivers of social and demographic change in the context of humans interacting with nearly every part of the greater ecosystem. Results/Conclusions Using faunal data from dozens of archaeological sites, demographic reconstructions, and temporal changes in the scale and distribution of occupation of Sanak Island, in consort with a suite of paleoenvironmental records and proxies, we show that many of the social changes visible in the archaeological record are a direct response to changing environmental conditions, especially climate driven marine productivity and patterns of storminess. Much like problems facing the modern peoples of the region, climate structures the spatial and temporal distributions of key species, as well as their absolute abundances in the marine environment. Reversely, we also show that humans have had a key role in structuring the distributions and abundances of many species in the regional ecosystem, especially Steller sea lions, some species of birds, and certain intertidal species. Conversely, we demonstrate that despite substantial and prolonged harvests of Pacific cod in both prehistoric subsistence and modern commercial contexts, the local peoples have had little impact on cod populations.
4. A 3D model is produced using laser scanning techniques. In the past we used NextEngine and Cyb... more 4. A 3D model is produced using laser scanning techniques. In the past we used NextEngine and Cyberware model scanners, but the current phase of the project uses a Konica Vivid 9i laser scanner and medical imaging (CT scanning). A single element might ...
Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo a... more Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo archaeological sites across the eastern Arctic. Relational ecology, combined with Amerindian perspectivism, provides an integrated framework within which to comprehensively assess the connections between Dorset and polar bears. By considering the representational aspects of the objects, we reveal an ethology of polar bears encoded within the carvings’ various forms. Reconstructing the experiences and perceptions of Dorset as they routinely interacted with these creatures, and placing these interactions in socioeconomic, environmental, and historical context, permits us to decode a symbolic ecology inherent in the effigies. To the Dorset, these carvings were simultaneously tools and mnemonics (symbols). As tools, they were used to directly access the predatory and spiritual abilities of bears or, more prosaically, to teach and remind of the variety of proper hunting tech- niques available for capturing seals. As symbols, however, they were far more powerful, signaling how Dorset people con- ceptualized themselves and their place in the universe. Symbolic of an ice-edge way of life, the effigies expose the role that this special relationship with polar bears played in the creation of Dorset histories and identities.
There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little... more There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little understanding of how human foragers integrated into and impacted ecosystems through their roles as hunter-gatherers. We present two highly resolved intertidal and nearshore food webs for the Sanak Archipelago in the eastern Aleutian Islands and use them to compare trophic roles of prehistoric humans to other species. We find that the native Aleut people played distinctive roles as super-generalist and highly-omnivorous consumers closely connected to other species. Although the human population was positioned to have strong effects, arrival and presence of Aleut people in the Sanak Archipelago does not appear associated with long-term extinctions. We simulated food web dynamics to explore to what degree introducing a species with trophic roles like those of an Aleut forager, and allowing for variable strong feeding to reflect use of hunting technology, is likely to trigger extinctions. Potential extinctions decreased when an invading omnivorous super-generalist consumer focused strong feeding on decreasing fractions of its possible resources. This study presents the first assessment of the structural roles of humans as consumers within complex ecological networks, and potential impacts of those roles and feeding behavior on associated extinctions. Most studies of the relationships of humans and ecosystems are presented in terms of human impacts on ecosystems 1,2. However, our ability to understand and mitigate human impacts depends on research that elucidates the roles humans play in ecosystems including how they interact with other species 3. In modern marine ecosystems, humans are depleting many commercial fisheries, causing major disruptions to ecosystem function and the persistence of species 1,4–7. As a result, regulators have curtailed fisheries and excluded local peoples from traditional harvesting territories 2. This is a critical problem for the Aleut peoples of the western Gulf of Alaska, who depend strongly on biotic resources from the marine communities 8–10. This central dependence on marine resources stretches back throughout the nearly 10,000-year prehistory of human presence in the North Pacific, raising the questions of what kinds of impacts humans have had on marine species and ecosystems in this area and how should future impacts be managed. In general, the specific roles that local, prehistoric peoples have played in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems are poorly documented and largely unknown or necessarily somewhat speculative. Unlike in many terrestrial systems, where there is increasing evidence that prehistoric humans likely contributed directly and indirectly to the extinction of a number of species, there is little evidence for such extinctions in marine systems 11. This does not mean that prehistoric humans had no significant impacts on marine ecosystems. For example, in the Aleutian Islands, there is evidence that through hunting of sea otters, prehistoric humans may have caused certain areas to switch from algal-dominated kelp-forest habitats into sea-urchin-dominated barrens devoid of macroalgae 12 , a well-documented trophic cascade. This in turn could have limited the habitat and population of Steller's sea cows, which also were probably hunted or scavenged occasionally by prehistoric
Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal m... more Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal much about past fishing strategies, fish processing and trade, and fish populations. This paper documents the age and size characteristics of four samples of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) bones from early European contexts at Red Bay, Ferryland, Bay Bulls, and Crouse, which collectively span the middle 16th to early 19th centuries AD. The samples, which document the size structure of the “fished” population (the death assemblage), allow for a comparison of fishing strategies and techniques between the early Basque, French, and English commercial operations. At the same time, the samples, derived from multiple fishing regions around Newfoundland and Labrador, provide an important record of cod populations during early stages of the commercial fishery and thus offer a critical baseline record against which to compare modern handlined cod population data.
There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little... more There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little understanding of how human foragers integrated into and impacted ecosystems through their roles as hunter-gatherers. We present two highly resolved intertidal and nearshore food webs for the Sanak Archipelago in the eastern Aleutian Islands and use them to compare trophic roles of prehistoric humans to other species. We find that the native Aleut people played distinctive roles as super-generalist and highly-omnivorous consumers closely connected to other species. Although the human population was positioned to have strong effects, arrival and presence of Aleut people in the Sanak Archipelago does not appear associated with long-term extinctions. We simulated food web dynamics to explore to what degree introducing a species with trophic roles like those of an Aleut forager, and allowing for variable strong feeding to reflect use of hunting technology, is likely to trigger extinctions. P...
ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Alaska's Sanak Island ecosystem has been the focus o... more ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Alaska's Sanak Island ecosystem has been the focus of prehistoric, historic, and modern exploitation by Aleut peoples for over 5000 years. Extensive village deposits measure a dynamic history of demographic expansion and contraction, changes in economic focus, stress on marine resources, and regional interaction with other peoples. The paleoecological records show distinct shifts in marine productivity, climate, coastal geomorphic processes, and shifts in the distributions of key economic/subsistence resources. Keys to our understanding of the interactions between peoples and the landscapes they inhabit are grounded in finding the drivers of social and demographic change in the context of humans interacting with nearly every part of the greater ecosystem. Results/Conclusions Using faunal data from dozens of archaeological sites, demographic reconstructions, and temporal changes in the scale and distribution of occupation of Sanak Island, in consort with a suite of paleoenvironmental records and proxies, we show that many of the social changes visible in the archaeological record are a direct response to changing environmental conditions, especially climate driven marine productivity and patterns of storminess. Much like problems facing the modern peoples of the region, climate structures the spatial and temporal distributions of key species, as well as their absolute abundances in the marine environment. Reversely, we also show that humans have had a key role in structuring the distributions and abundances of many species in the regional ecosystem, especially Steller sea lions, some species of birds, and certain intertidal species. Conversely, we demonstrate that despite substantial and prolonged harvests of Pacific cod in both prehistoric subsistence and modern commercial contexts, the local peoples have had little impact on cod populations.
4. A 3D model is produced using laser scanning techniques. In the past we used NextEngine and Cyb... more 4. A 3D model is produced using laser scanning techniques. In the past we used NextEngine and Cyberware model scanners, but the current phase of the project uses a Konica Vivid 9i laser scanner and medical imaging (CT scanning). A single element might ...
Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo a... more Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo archaeological sites across the eastern Arctic. Relational ecology, combined with Amerindian perspectivism, provides an integrated framework within which to comprehensively assess the connections between Dorset and polar bears. By considering the representational aspects of the objects, we reveal an ethology of polar bears encoded within the carvings’ various forms. Reconstructing the experiences and perceptions of Dorset as they routinely interacted with these creatures, and placing these interactions in socioeconomic, environmental, and historical context, permits us to decode a symbolic ecology inherent in the effigies. To the Dorset, these carvings were simultaneously tools and mnemonics (symbols). As tools, they were used to directly access the predatory and spiritual abilities of bears or, more prosaically, to teach and remind of the variety of proper hunting tech- niques available for capturing seals. As symbols, however, they were far more powerful, signaling how Dorset people con- ceptualized themselves and their place in the universe. Symbolic of an ice-edge way of life, the effigies expose the role that this special relationship with polar bears played in the creation of Dorset histories and identities.
There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little... more There is a nearly 10,000-year history of human presence in the western Gulf of Alaska, but little understanding of how human foragers integrated into and impacted ecosystems through their roles as hunter-gatherers. We present two highly resolved intertidal and nearshore food webs for the Sanak Archipelago in the eastern Aleutian Islands and use them to compare trophic roles of prehistoric humans to other species. We find that the native Aleut people played distinctive roles as super-generalist and highly-omnivorous consumers closely connected to other species. Although the human population was positioned to have strong effects, arrival and presence of Aleut people in the Sanak Archipelago does not appear associated with long-term extinctions. We simulated food web dynamics to explore to what degree introducing a species with trophic roles like those of an Aleut forager, and allowing for variable strong feeding to reflect use of hunting technology, is likely to trigger extinctions. Potential extinctions decreased when an invading omnivorous super-generalist consumer focused strong feeding on decreasing fractions of its possible resources. This study presents the first assessment of the structural roles of humans as consumers within complex ecological networks, and potential impacts of those roles and feeding behavior on associated extinctions. Most studies of the relationships of humans and ecosystems are presented in terms of human impacts on ecosystems 1,2. However, our ability to understand and mitigate human impacts depends on research that elucidates the roles humans play in ecosystems including how they interact with other species 3. In modern marine ecosystems, humans are depleting many commercial fisheries, causing major disruptions to ecosystem function and the persistence of species 1,4–7. As a result, regulators have curtailed fisheries and excluded local peoples from traditional harvesting territories 2. This is a critical problem for the Aleut peoples of the western Gulf of Alaska, who depend strongly on biotic resources from the marine communities 8–10. This central dependence on marine resources stretches back throughout the nearly 10,000-year prehistory of human presence in the North Pacific, raising the questions of what kinds of impacts humans have had on marine species and ecosystems in this area and how should future impacts be managed. In general, the specific roles that local, prehistoric peoples have played in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems are poorly documented and largely unknown or necessarily somewhat speculative. Unlike in many terrestrial systems, where there is increasing evidence that prehistoric humans likely contributed directly and indirectly to the extinction of a number of species, there is little evidence for such extinctions in marine systems 11. This does not mean that prehistoric humans had no significant impacts on marine ecosystems. For example, in the Aleutian Islands, there is evidence that through hunting of sea otters, prehistoric humans may have caused certain areas to switch from algal-dominated kelp-forest habitats into sea-urchin-dominated barrens devoid of macroalgae 12 , a well-documented trophic cascade. This in turn could have limited the habitat and population of Steller's sea cows, which also were probably hunted or scavenged occasionally by prehistoric
Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal m... more Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal much about past fishing strategies, fish processing and trade, and fish populations. This paper documents the age and size characteristics of four samples of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) bones from early European contexts at Red Bay, Ferryland, Bay Bulls, and Crouse, which collectively span the middle 16th to early 19th centuries AD. The samples, which document the size structure of the “fished” population (the death assemblage), allow for a comparison of fishing strategies and techniques between the early Basque, French, and English commercial operations. At the same time, the samples, derived from multiple fishing regions around Newfoundland and Labrador, provide an important record of cod populations during early stages of the commercial fishery and thus offer a critical baseline record against which to compare modern handlined cod population data.
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