Although aquatic resources are often seen as central to the development of post-Pleistocene cultural complexity, most models of human evolution have all but ignored the role of aquatic or maritime adaptations during the earlier stages of human history. When did aquatic resources, maritime adaptations, and seafaring first play a significant role in human evolution? I explore this fundamental question by (1) reviewing various theories on the subject; (2) discussing a variety of problems that prevent archaeologists from providing a clear answer; and (3) examining the archaeological record for evidence of early aquatic resource use or seafaring. I conclude that aquatic resources, wherever they were both abundant and relatively accessible, have probably always been used opportunistically by our ancestors. Evidence suggests, however, that aquatic and maritime adaptations (including seafaring) played a significantly greater role in the demographic and geographic expansion of anatomically modern humans after about 150,000 years ago. Another significant expansion occurred somewhat later in time, with the development of more sophisticated seafaring, fishing, and marine hunting technologies.

The Archaeology of Aquatic Adaptations: Paradigms for a New Millennium

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Salmon at River's End: The Role of the Estuary in the Decline and Recovery of Columbia River salmon

Fish bone chemistry and ultrastructure: implications for taphonomy and stable isotope analysis

In the Pacific Northwest of North America, researchers routinely suggest changes in human use of animals explain hunter-gatherer organizational changes and development of cultural complexity. For example, most models developed to explain developing cultural complexity invoke salmon in some fashion. Yet until recently, fish remains were not carefully studied and more generally, zooarchaeological evidence has not been systematically used to test models of culture change. This study reviews the 10,000-year-old faunal record in the Pacific Northwest to test predictions drawn from models of resource intensification, resource depression and hunter-gatherer organizational strategies. The records from two subareas, the South-Central Northwest Coast (Puget Sound/Gulf of Georgia) and the Northern Columbia Plateau, are examined in detail, representing 63 archaeological sites. While minor changes in animal use are evident, the overall record is characterized by stability rather than change.

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Resource intensification and resource depression in the Pacific Northwest of North America : A zooarchaeological review

http://pages.geo.wvu.edu/~kite/Baker2008PaleofloodHydrologyHist.pdf

Paleoflood hydrology: Origin, progress, prospects

The role of bone density in structuring prehistoric salmon bone assemblages

To understand how climatic warming might affect salmonid populations, we are following a four-step procedure, incorporating paleoenvironmental data at the beginning and ending points, as follows. First, we used geomorphic, paleobotanical, and paleomalacological data to reconstruct stream conditions during the last 8000 years. Second, we estimated the effect on salmon of conditions extant approximately 6000 to 7000 radiocarbon years before present (B.P.), when temperatures were as much as 2{degrees}C warmer than at present. This became an analog of future warmer climate and its effects on spawning, incubation, and rearing parameters of the NPPC`s Tributary Parameter Model (TPM) for estimating salmoned production. Third, we ran the TPM in conjunction with the NPPC System Planning Model (SPM) to calculate the effect of these analog conditions on the population of returning adult fish in selected stream systems. Ultimately, we will run the models for all salmon-accessible subbasins of the Columbia River system. Finally, we are identifying fish remains obtained from archaeological sites along the Columbia River to compare variations in the taxonomic composition of ancient fish assemblages with model predictions.

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A paleoscience approach to estimating the effects of climatic warming on salmonid fisheries of the Columbia River Basin

Response of the Columbia River fluvial system to Holocene climatic change

The Pacific Northwest Case Study is a multi-agency analysis of atmospheric/climatic change impacts on the Pacific Northwest (which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and portions of the Columbia River Basin in Western Montana). The purpose of the case study, which began in fiscal year 1991, was to develop and test analytical tools, as well as to develop an assessment of the effects of climate change on climate-sensitive natural resources of the Pacific Northwest and economic sectors dependent on them. The overall study, jointly funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency, was a broad-based, reconnaissance-level study to identify potential climate impacts on agriculture, coastal resources, forest resources, and irrigation in the Pacific Northwest. DOE participated in the reconnaissance study, with responsibility for hydroelectric and water supply issues. While this report briefly discusses a broader array of water issues, attention is mainly focused on three aspects of the water study: (1) the effects of the region`s higher temperatures on the demand for electric power (which in turn puts additional demand on hydroelectric resources of the region); (2) the effects of higher temperatures and changes, both in precipitation amounts and seasonality, on river flows and hydroelectric supply;more » and (3) the effect of higher temperatures and changed precipitation amounts and seasonality on salmonid resources -- particularly the rearing conditions in tributaries of the Columbia River Basin. Because the meaning of regional climate forecasts is still quite uncertain, most of the preliminary findings are based on sensitivity analyses and historical analog climate scenarios.« less

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J.C. Chatters

Papers

The role of bone density in structuring prehistoric salmon bone assemblages

A paleoscience approach to estimating the effects of climatic warming on salmonid fisheries of the Columbia River Basin

Response of the Columbia River fluvial system to Holocene climatic change

Effects of climate change on Pacific Northwest water-related resources: Summary of preliminary findings