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Late Holocene Resource Intensification in the Sacramento Valley, California: The Vertebrate Evidence

https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1994.1050Get rights and content

Abstract

Late Holocene archaeological vertebrate faunas from the Sacramento Valley of north-central California document dramatic changes through time in the relative abundances of large- and small-sized species. The abundances of medium and large mammals decrease significantly through time relative to small resident fishes. When seasonal and spatial variability is held constant, significant decreases also exist in the abundances of large anadromous fishes relative to small resident fishes. These patterns support models of resource intensification posited for central California, which suggest that substantial decreases in foraging efficiency occurred during the late Holocene.

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    In the Delta, it is assumed that people must have relied more on marshland plant and animal resources. Analysis of paleobotanical and faunal remains from archaeological sites is one means to reconstruct ancient diets, an approach followed for decades in California archaeology (e.g., Broughton, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999; Byrd et al., 2013; Gobalet et al., 2004; Reddy, 2016; Tushingham and Bettinger, 2013; Wake, 2012; Whitaker, 2008; Wohlgemuth, 1996, 2010). These studies provide important information on the species people exploited in the past, but ancient processing techniques, taphonomic issues, and quantification challenges make more precise reconstructions of diet from such remains alone complex (Grayson, 2014; Lyman, 2008).

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