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A recent program of interdisciplinary research on the southern California coast produced a millennium-scale record of paleoenvironmental and cultural change. The findings show that ecological catastrophes and extreme weather conditions, including protracted droughts during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (between about A.D. 900 to 1300), and dramatic...
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Citations
... Paleoenvironmental changes had direct and irreversible effects on human culture across the globe. In that light, two of the most striking changes to impact humans were the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene postglacial rise in sea level and the trans-Holocene trends of sea-surface-water warming and cooling (Boxt et al. 1999;Inman 1983;Kennett and Kennett 2000). Over the past 10,000 years, during the time when humans have occupied the project area, the paleoenvironment of southern California has changed dramatically. ...
... A study of oxygen isotopes indicated that environmental fluctuations were particularly dramatic during the past 3,000 years. Sea-surface temperatures were relatively warm and stable between 3000 and 1550 b.p.; however, the period after that was marked by cold and unstable sea-surface temperatures that lasted until 700 b.p. (Boxt et al. 1999;Kennett and Kennett 2000). ...
Project Location: The project area is located in the former
Ballona Lagoon, a prehistoric wetland complex in west Los
Angeles that is known collectively as the Ballona. That area is
today bounded, roughly, by Playa del Rey to the west, Marina
del Rey to the north, the Ballona Escarpment (a high bluff )
and Del Rey Hills/Westchester Bluffs to the south, and Interstate
405 to the east. It is located approximately 0.5 km
east of the Pacific Ocean, near Santa Monica Bay, along that
section of the coast; 1.3 km west of the Baldwin Hills; and
1.6–2.6 km north of Los Angeles International Airport. Ballona
Creek, a drainage that is now channelized, crosses the
project area; Centinela Creek, a spring-fed drainage, once
ran along the southern portion of the project area, along the
base of the Ballona Escarpment.
Project Description: Statistical Research, Inc., (SRI) conducted
research—including testing, evaluation to determine
eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP), and data recovery—at eight sites in the Ballona
(CA-LAN-54/H, CA-LAN-62/H, CA-LAN-193/H, CALAN-
211/H, CA-LAN-1932/H, CA-LAN-2676/H, CALAN-
2768/H, and CA-LAN-2769/H) (hereinafter in this
volume, the prefix “CA-” and the suffix “/H” will be omitted).
Of those eight sites, five were recommended eligible for
listing in the NRHP: LAN-54, LAN-62, LAN-193, LAN-
211, and LAN-2768. Data recovery was conducted at those
five sites (Altschul 1991; Altschul et al. 1991; Altschul et al.
1998a; Altschul et al. 1999; Altschul et al. 2003; Keller and
Altschul 2002; Van Galder et al. 2006; Vargas and Altschul
2001a; Vargas et al. 2005). Research designs and plans of work
were developed and implemented (after review by regulatory
agencies). In addition, related research in the Ballona included
a paleoenvironmental study of the area (Volume 1 of the Playa
Vista Archaeological and Historical Project [PVAHP] series),
analyses and results of material classes and subsistence data
(Volume 3 of the series), and bioarchaeology (Volume 4 of the
series). The final volume in the series (Volume 5) synthesizes
the work presented in other volumes and offers detailed discussions
and modeling of the Native Californians, including
the Gabrielino/Tongva, who lived in the Ballona for thousands
of years. Volume 5 also includes detailed mortuary-analysis
ethnohistoric studies for the Ballona. This volume (Volume
2 of the series) presents the methods and results of the data
recovery at the five sites. In addition, it details the inventory
of the entire project area and documents additional sites that
either were found not eligible for listing in the NRHP or
were not evaluated.
Project Summary: This volume of the PVAHP series presents
the methodology and approach to large data recovery at
complex sites in an alluvial context, the results of the chronostratigraphic
reconstruction, and the descriptive results
of the data recovery, with emphasis on midden-constituent
analysis and feature typology. The long-term occupation in
the Ballona, from 8,000 years ago through the Mission and
early Historical periods, has been well documented through
these excavations. The large-scale excavations yielded large
data sets with complex temporal and spatial contexts that
are discussed in detail in this volume. This project is among
the very large-scale and rigorous studies of Native American
adaptations in the southern California coastal region, especially
for the Mission period Gabrielino/Tongva territory.
The data presented here illustrate both stability and change
in cultural systems extending back 8,000 years, including
denser occupations during the Protohistoric and Mission
periods. The most-pronounced changes occurred at the
beginning and end of the Intermediate period and at the
start of the Protohistoric and Mission periods.
... This implies that morphotypes now found in wetter areas should have prevailed there in the past. Northern California and Oregon have had no change in precipitation or have become wetter over the same time period (Boxt, Raab, Davis, & Pope, 1999;Collins et al., 2006;Diffenbaugh & Ashfaq, 2007;Gamisch, 2019;Kirby, Lund, Anderson, & Bird, 2007;Lorenz et al., 2016;Mock & Brunelle-Daines, 1999;Thompson, Schultze-Lam, Beveridge, & DesMarais, 1997). Since the Last Glacial Maximum (21 ka; LGM), each of the included fossil localities (except Samwell cave, which includes only Holocene specimens) has undergone warming and drying ( Figure 1; McGuire & Davis, 2013). ...
Aim:
This study examines how climate shaped Microtus californicus (Rodentia: Arvicolinae) ecomorphology throughout the Quaternary. It tests three hypotheses: (a) climate corresponds with consistent shape variation in M. californicus dentition; (b) Quaternary warming and drying trends caused M. californicus morphotypes to predictably shift in range through time and (c) Quaternary warming and drying led to predictable changes in tooth morphological variation. Finally, we discuss how shifts in climate‐linked morphological variation may affect the potential of M. californicus to react to future climate change.
Location:
Western United States.
Taxon:
Microtus californicus (Peale, 1848).
Methods:
Geometric morphometrics and partial least squares analyses were used to discern how climate contributes to consistent variation in the shapes of the M. californicus lower first molar (m1), validated for the full toothrow. We further corroborate this relationship, reconstructing precipitation at fossil localities using m1 morphology and comparing those values to palaeoclimate‐model‐derived precipitations. Disparity analyses and a MANOVA were performed to examine changes in variation and whether a shift in tooth shape occurred through time.
Results:
Microtus californicus m1 and toothrow shapes are narrower and more curved in cooler, wetter climates. Morphology‐based palaeoclimate reconstructions align with model‐based palaeoclimate estimations. When time averaging is accounted for, M. californicus demonstrates a 12% reduction in variation from fossil to present‐day specimens, and these changes in tooth shape correspond with climate‐related morphotypes.
Main Conclusions:
As California became drier and hotter since the late Pleistocene, M. californicus dental morphology generally tracked these changes by adapting to the consumption of rougher vegetation in drier environments. This resulted in the loss of some high‐precipitation morphotypes, indicating that ecomorphology, often observed at the species and community levels, translates to intraspecific variation and dynamically changes in response to changing climates. The loss of climate‐linked morphological variation since the late Pleistocene may limit the ability of M. californicus to respond to future changes in climate. These findings portend that other species may have experienced similar losses in adaptability.
... Studies on climate-related settlement shifts in other regions of the world with more robust data sets (e.g. California, Greenland and Labrador) could form a methodological foundation for future studies of the Late Prehistoric time period in northwest Alaska (Boxt et al. 1999;Dugmore et al. 2007;Woollett 2007). Currently there is not suffi cient archaeological or paleo-environmental data to make concrete correlations between local climatic fl uctuations and settlement for the Late Prehistoric time period in northwest Alaska. ...
... Along the Pacifi c coast, thousands of miles south of Alaska, an interdisciplinary study conducted during the 1990s (Boxt et al. 1999) had similar results to projects from the North Atlantic. Contrary to previously held beliefs that the climate has always been relatively stable, Boxt and colleagues (1999) argue that the coast of southern California has seen dramatic climate fl uctuations throughout the late Holocene resulting in culture change that includes: site abandonment, increased disease, malnutrition and increased warfare. ...
In this report, I examine a house from a Late Prehistoric village site near the confluence of Maiyumerak Creek and the Noatak River in the Noatak National Preserve, Alaska. In 2006, several thousand artifacts and over 100,000 faunal remains were excavated from this approximately 500-year-old house. Faunal remains and subsistencerelated artifacts associated with the living fl oor of the house were analyzed to assess diet and seasonal occupation. I also address how this house fits into previously proposed Late Prehistoric land- and resource-use models. The dietary reconstruction shows that both classes of data (artifacts and fauna) indicate a primary reliance upon terrestrial mammal resources, a secondary reliance upon bird and fi sh resources, and a limited reliance upon marine mammal resources. Th e seasonal analysis of the house indicates a late summer, fall, and/or winter occupation (July through February). The seasonal occupation, radiocarbon dates and evidence of coastal contact at this site illustrate current difficulties with testing hypothesized periods of coastal abandonment during this time period. Finally, this case illustrates that for any region and time period studies related to patterns of human settlement need to be comprehensive and incorporate multiple lines of evidence and large, robust region-specifi c data sets.
... A study of oxy- gen isotopes indicates environmental fluctuations were particularly dramatic dur- ing the past 3,000 years. Sea surface temperatures were relatively warm and stable between 3000 and 1550 B.P.; however, the period following this was marked by cold and unstable sea surface temperatures that lasted until 700 B.P. ( Boxt et al. 1999;Kennett and Kennett 2002). Recent palynological studies on San Nicolas Island suggest that there were two periods of relatively dry conditions in the late Holocene: 1250-1375 B.P. and 420-920 B.P. ( Davis et al. 2003). ...
This report presents the thematic landscape approach that will be taken to prepare the regional prehistoric context for the San Diego Subregion of the Southern Coast Archeological Region (SDSSCAR). The goal of this project was to research and develop a regional, archeologically based, historic context that will facilitate a programmatic approach to determining National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility for archeological sites at a subset of Navy Region Southwest and Marine Corps installations. The cultural resource research questions to be addressed by this project are those common to pre/protohistoric archeological sites of the SDSSCAR. This work identified gaps in the current body of knowledge, and serves as a foundation for addressing these deficiencies and as a resource to aid in determining NRHP significance, assessing effects, and creating innovative management/treatment plans at the regional level. The study identified and evaluated a variety of classes of archeological sites and other types of cultural resources that characterize distinct landscapes in the SDSSCAR. The outlined approach will significantly decrease the number of individual, case-by-case undertakings, facilitate a more effective management process, and contribute to a better collective understanding of the precontact (prior to AD 1769) Native American regional perspective.
... action record (Davis 1992). This record shows decreasing moisture availability (from 40% pollen fraction) early in the first millennium (a trend that begins much earlier, see Davis 1992), then relatively low values until the fifteenth century A.D. (pollen fractions of about 10%) when the record climbs sharply (to 60% during the eighteenth century). Boxt et al. (1999) document similar timing (1300–1400 A.D.) for evidence of increased flow in their analysis of a well-dated core (approximately 10 14 C dates between 0 and 1600 A.D.) from nearby Bouton Creek. This timing is in good agreement with the Pahranagat Lake and bristlecone pine reconstructions. [Note: It is worth pointing out that the magnitude ...
Terrestrial and marine late Holocene proxy records from the western and central US suggest that climate between approximately
500 and 1350a.d. was marked by generally arid conditions with episodes of severe centennial-scale drought, elevated incidence of wild fire,
cool sea surface temperatures (SSTs) along the California coast, and dune mobilization in the western plains. This Medieval
Climate Anomaly (MCA) was followed by wetter conditions and warming coastal SSTs during the transition into the “Little Ice
Age” (LIA). Proxy records from the tropical Pacific Ocean show contemporaneous changes indicating cool central and eastern
tropical Pacific SSTs during the MCA, with warmer than modern temperatures in the western equatorial Pacific. This pattern
of mid-latitude and tropical climate conditions is consistent with the hypothesis that the dry MCA in the western US resulted
(at least in part) from tropically forced changes in winter NH circulation patterns like those associated with modern La Niña
episodes. We examine this hypothesis, and present other analyses showing that the imprint of MCA climate change appears in
proxy records from widely distributed regions around the planet, and in many cases is consistent with a cool medieval tropical
Pacific. One example, explored with numerical model results, is the suggestion of increased westerlies and warmer winter temperatures
over northern Europe during medieval times. An analog technique for the combined use of proxy records and model results, Proxy
Surrogate Reconstruction (PSR), is introduced.
This study was undertaken for a “Prehistoric Trails Continuation Study”, a cultural resource investigation mandated as part of the impact mitigation effort associated with the Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Project (Memorandum of Agreement Section III (2) (c)). As such, it is a distinct study of routes of travel between the desert and mountains, integrating information collected for the previously prepared regional synthesis of the McCain Valley/Jacumba/Ocotillo prehistoric cultural landscape investigations (Figure 1) (Laylander et al. 2014).
The boundaries of the larger prehistoric cultural landscape study generally correspond to the boundaries of the Yuha-Jacumba Corridor (YJC) mountain-to-desert landscape historic context study by Noah (2012) which is also the contextual foundation of this project (see Figure 1). The eastern boundary of the Study Area has been established in consultation with the BLM at the 1500-ft. elevation contour. Although that contour is an arbitrary dividing line between the upland and lowland areas, the trails study transcends this boundary to examine routes of travel and cultural interaction between the Peninsular Ranges uplands and Colorado Desert lowlands.
As discussed in the research design for this project (Schaefer and Scharlotta 2014), the Yuha-Jacumba Corridor area may be considered a vast prehistoric cultural landscape consisting of numerous inter-related cultural and natural resources. In addition to the regional trails, an interconnected network of trails tied together the various components of the landscape forming a cognitive map for the people who used them (Noah 2012: v).
...movement across the landscape became inscribed in an extensive system of trails that linked settlements, water sources, resource acquisition areas, spiritual and ceremonial places, locations with long distance trade, social, and familial connections, and even hostile territories, one to another (Noah 2012:3).
Trail alignments are an important element of the archaeological landscape that indicates how sites and natural features are tied together. In many cases where trails are only partially recorded and are a fuller understanding of their routes will benefit the analysis, some additional field reconnaissance may be undertaken to more accurately and fully trace the trail routes. GIS also will be used to construct least- effort path models of trail routes between major resource areas and occupation hubs, based on hydrology, topography, and gradient which will be compared with actual archaeologically or ethnographically documented routes. This type of analysis will be useful for reconstructing routes that are represented by only fragmented remains and to examine patterns of association with resource collection areas.
This study relies heavily on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and utilities for the integration of very large archaeological databases with cartographically imaged natural environmental data.
A robust collection of mammal, bird, fish, and shellfish remains from an 8,000-year residential sequence at Morro Bay, a small, isolated estuary on the central California coast, shows a strong focus on marine species during the Middle-Late Transition cultural phase (950–700 cal B.P.), which largely coincides with the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). Previous studies have provided modest evidence for increased fishing and rabbit hunting during the MCA in adjacent regions, but the Morro Bay findings suggest a distinctive marine-focused subsistence refugium during the period of drought. Specifically, the sequence shows striking all-time peaks in marine and estuarine birds, fish NISP/m ³ , and fish/deer + rabbits during the MCA. Heavy exploitation of fish, aquatic birds, rabbits, and shellfish suggests that the bow and arrow, which seems to have arrived in the area at this time, had little impact on local subsistence strategies.
VOLUME ABSTRACT
Sponsor: Playa Capital Company, LLC
Volume Title: Archaeological Sites and Chronology. People in a Changing Land: The Archaeology and History of the Ballona in Los Angeles, California.
Project Location: The project area is located in the former Ballona Lagoon, a prehistoric wetland complex in west Los Angeles that is known collectively as the Ballona. That area is today bounded, roughly, by Playa del Rey to the west, Marina del Rey to the north, the Ballona Escarpment (a high bluff) and Del Rey Hills/Westchester Bluffs to the south, and Interstate 405 to the east. It is located approximately 0.5 km east of the Pacific Ocean, near Santa Monica Bay, along that section of the coast; 1.3 km west of the Baldwin Hills; and 1.6–2.6 km north of Los Angeles International Airport. Ballona Creek, a drainage that is now channelized, crosses the project area; Centinela Creek, a spring-fed drainage, once ran along the southern portion of the project area, along the base of the Ballona Escarpment.
Project Description: Statistical Research, Inc., (SRI) conducted research—including testing, evaluation to determine eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and data recovery—at eight sites in the Ballona (CA-LAN-54/H, CA-LAN-62/H, CA-LAN-193/H, CALAN-211/H, CA-LAN-1932/H, CA-LAN-2676/H, CALAN-2768/H, and CA-LAN-2769/H) (hereinafter in this volume, the prefix “CA-” and the suffix “/H” will be omitted). Of those eight sites, five were recommended eligible for listing in the NRHP: LAN-54, LAN-62, LAN-193, LAN-211, and LAN-2768. Data recovery was conducted at those five sites (Altschul 1991; Altschul et al. 1991; Altschul et al.1998a; Altschul et al. 1999; Altschul et al. 2003; Keller and Altschul 2002; Van Galder et al. 2006; Vargas and Altschul 2001a; Vargas et al. 2005). Research designs and plans of work were developed and implemented (after review by regulatory agencies). In addition, related research in the Ballona included a paleoenvironmental study of the area (Volume 1 of the Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project [PVAHP] series), analyses and results of material classes and subsistence data (Volume 3 of the series), and bioarchaeology (Volume 4 of the series). The final volume in the series (Volume 5) synthesizes the work presented in other volumes and offers detailed discussions and modeling of the Native Californians, including the Gabrielino/Tongva, who lived in the Ballona for thousands of years. Volume 5 also includes detailed mortuary-analysis ethnohistoric studies for the Ballona. This volume (Volume 2 of the series) presents the methods and results of the data recovery at the five sites. In addition, it details the inventory of the entire project area and documents additional sites that either were found not eligible for listing in the NRHP or were not evaluated.
Project Summary: This volume of the PVAHP series presents the methodology and approach to large data recovery at complex sites in an alluvial context, the results of the chronostratigraphic reconstruction, and the descriptive results of the data recovery, with emphasis on midden-constituent analysis and feature typology. The long-term occupation in the Ballona, from 8,000 years ago through the Mission and early Historical periods, has been well documented through these excavations. The large-scale excavations yielded large data sets with complex temporal and spatial contexts that are discussed in detail in this volume. This project is among the very large-scale and rigorous studies of Native American adaptations in the southern California coastal region, especially for the Mission period Gabrielino/Tongva territory. The data presented here illustrate both stability and change in cultural systems extending back 8,000 years, including denser occupations during the Protohistoric and Mission periods. The most-pronounced changes occurred at the beginning and end of the Intermediate period and at the start of the Protohistoric and Mission periods.
VOLUME ABSTRACT
Sponsor: Playa Capital Company, LLC
Volume Title: Archaeological Sites and Chronology. People in a Changing Land: The Archaeology and History of the Ballona in Los Angeles, California.
Project Location: The project area is located in the former Ballona Lagoon, a prehistoric wetland complex in west Los Angeles that is known collectively as the Ballona. That area is today bounded, roughly, by Playa del Rey to the west, Marina del Rey to the north, the Ballona Escarpment (a high bluff) and Del Rey Hills/Westchester Bluffs to the south, and Interstate 405 to the east. It is located approximately 0.5 km east of the Pacific Ocean, near Santa Monica Bay, along that section of the coast; 1.3 km west of the Baldwin Hills; and 1.6–2.6 km north of Los Angeles International Airport. Ballona Creek, a drainage that is now channelized, crosses the project area; Centinela Creek, a spring-fed drainage, once ran along the southern portion of the project area, along the base of the Ballona Escarpment.
Project Description: Statistical Research, Inc., (SRI) conducted research—including testing, evaluation to determine eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and data recovery—at eight sites in the Ballona (CA-LAN-54/H, CA-LAN-62/H, CA-LAN-193/H, CALAN-211/H, CA-LAN-1932/H, CA-LAN-2676/H, CALAN-2768/H, and CA-LAN-2769/H) (hereinafter in this volume, the prefix “CA-” and the suffix “/H” will be omitted). Of those eight sites, five were recommended eligible for listing in the NRHP: LAN-54, LAN-62, LAN-193, LAN-211, and LAN-2768. Data recovery was conducted at those five sites (Altschul 1991; Altschul et al. 1991; Altschul et al.1998a; Altschul et al. 1999; Altschul et al. 2003; Keller and Altschul 2002; Van Galder et al. 2006; Vargas and Altschul 2001a; Vargas et al. 2005). Research designs and plans of work were developed and implemented (after review by regulatory agencies). In addition, related research in the Ballona included a paleoenvironmental study of the area (Volume 1 of the Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project [PVAHP] series), analyses and results of material classes and subsistence data (Volume 3 of the series), and bioarchaeology (Volume 4 of the series). The final volume in the series (Volume 5) synthesizes the work presented in other volumes and offers detailed discussions and modeling of the Native Californians, including the Gabrielino/Tongva, who lived in the Ballona for thousands of years. Volume 5 also includes detailed mortuary-analysis ethnohistoric studies for the Ballona. This volume (Volume 2 of the series) presents the methods and results of the data recovery at the five sites. In addition, it details the inventory of the entire project area and documents additional sites that either were found not eligible for listing in the NRHP or were not evaluated.
Project Summary: This volume of the PVAHP series presents the methodology and approach to large data recovery at complex sites in an alluvial context, the results of the chronostratigraphic reconstruction, and the descriptive results of the data recovery, with emphasis on midden-constituent analysis and feature typology. The long-term occupation in the Ballona, from 8,000 years ago through the Mission and early Historical periods, has been well documented through these excavations. The large-scale excavations yielded large data sets with complex temporal and spatial contexts that are discussed in detail in this volume. This project is among the very large-scale and rigorous studies of Native American adaptations in the southern California coastal region, especially for the Mission period Gabrielino/Tongva territory. The data presented here illustrate both stability and change in cultural systems extending back 8,000 years, including denser occupations during the Protohistoric and Mission periods. The most-pronounced changes occurred at the beginning and end of the Intermediate period and at the start of the Protohistoric and Mission periods.
