Origins and development of maritime adaptations in the northwest pacific region of north America : A zooarchaeological perspective

Abstract

Current geological, paleoenvironmental, and archaeological data suggest that maritime adaptations probably did not develop over a period of thousands of years on the south coast of the Bering Land Bridge or adjacent regions. Such adaptations appeared in the early Holocene, and may be related to both push and pull phenomena: the deterioration of the interior Alaskan environment as a habitat for early Holocene populations; and the potential in deglaciated landscapes to obtain deep-sea fish, sea mammals, sea birds, and limited amounts of invertebrate species (mollusks and echinoderms). As environmental conditions evolved into mid-Holocene times, and particularly with stabilization of rising sea levels throughout much of south coastal Alaska and adjacent coastal British Columbia, use of shellfish and salmon increased. These resources allowed stabilization of the annual energy base of the food quest, a reduction of resource seasonality, and consequently the support of larger human populations. Population growth in turn created demand for additional resources, leading to further intensification of the food quest, impacts on some animal species populations, and the development of sociopolitical solutions to problems of resource availability.