Late Holocene Size Variation of Mytilus californianus Remains from Shelter Cove (CA-HUM-182), Northern California

ABSTRACT

Here we evaluate variation in Mytilus californianus size from CA-HUM-182, comparing patterns with those from Punta Gorda Rock Shelter that suggested sustainable resource management. Using a novel equation, we reconstruct the size profile of the assemblage over time and provide a new age-depth chronology. Results indicate no decrease in size over time; instead, increases are observed from initial harvest (∼730 cal BP) to site abandonment (∼260 cal BP), suggestive of sustainable practices and the possibility of conservation.

RESUMEN

Este estudio examina la variación temporal del tamaño de conchas de Mytilus californianus en el sitio arqueológico CA-HUM-182. Los resultados revelan un aumento estadísticamente significativo en el tamaño de las conchas en CAHUM-182 desde la recolección inicial (∼730 AP) hasta el abandono del sitio (∼260 AP), lo que sugiere una gestión sostenible de la recolección de moluscos en Punta Gorda Rock Shelter en comparación con el resto de California.

KEYWORDS:

• Optimal foraging theory
• resource depression
• Mytilus californianus; Shelter Cove
• hunter-gatherers
• late Holocene
• shellfish gathering
• shell middens

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Adrian Whitaker, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, for inspiring this project and sharing his data and models; Dr. Gregory Burns from the University of Utah and the National Park Service for his help with the statistical analysis; and Dr. Jack Broughton and Kasey Cole from the University of Utah for comments on drafts of this article. We also thank Sandra Konzak from Sonoma State University for helping us acquire the necessary data. Thank you also to Dr. Aleksa Alaica and Luis Manuel Gonzalez La Rosa of the University of British Columbia and Blanca Yagüe from the University of Utah for their assistance in translating the abstract. We received financial support for this project from the Global Change and Sustainability Center at the University of Utah.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of Utah Global Change and Sustainability Center: [Grant Number N/A].