Traditional Marine Management Systems in Northwest California: The Archaeology and Implications of Indigenous Stewardship Practices for Modern Marine Conservation and Restoration
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Authors
McFarland, Jeremy
Issue Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Traditional Marine Management Systems (TMMSs) represent deeply intertwined frameworks of ecological stewardship and cultural heritage rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems, socio-cultural practices, and socio-economic relationships within marine ecosystems. These systems have endured over generations through Traditional Ecological Knowledge tied to cultural landscapes, involving integrated strategies of resource procurement and management designed to enhance and sustain the abundance, diversity, and accessibility of marine resources. Despite California being a major focus of archaeological research over the past century – with over 12,000 years of documented coastal occupation – scholars have rarely examined how Indigenous societies have actively shaped marine ecosystems. Practices such as targeted harvesting, habitat enhancement, tenure systems, and resource governance remain largely underexplored, even with ethnographic and archaeological examples around the Pacific Coast.This dissertation explores concepts of TMMSs along California’s Lost Coast through the lens of Niche Construction Theory, by investigating specific settlement-subsistence strategies, socio-economic relationships, and marine stewardship practices that sustained or enhanced coastal productivity, promoting cultural resilience during periods of greater seasonal variability and environmental change in the Late Holocene (after 4200 cal BP). I employ a multi-scalar, interdisciplinary approach that integrates archaeological surveys, material studies, faunal analysis, remote sensing, ecological modeling, and radiocarbon dating of coastal sites.
Early Middle Period (3500-1500 cal BP) settlements were located near productive marine ecosystems, supporting diversified subsistence strategies. After 1500 cal BP, more permanent villages and a few logistical camps developed along the Lost Coast. Coastal populations increased substantially after 700 cal BP, marked by an expansion of permanent villages, logistical campsites, and food processing stations. These developments formed core residential areas near previously located productive marine ecosystems and extended into new locations along the coast. Subsistence strategies broadly focused on diversified diets with complimentary, multi-harvesting of shellfish and fish from nearshore intertidal environments, but intensive harvesting of certain species varied regionally with specialized tool kits, likely informed by cultural traditions relating to local environments. Since the earliest occupation of the Lost Coast, long-distance trade across northern California and the Great Basin was widespread and intensified after 700 cal BP with the rise of specialized craft production of shell beads and ornaments. By contextualizing these patterns within broader socio-economic networks, this research highlights the enduring social, cultural, and ecological legacies of maritime economies.
Two case studies explicitly test how Indigenous communities shaped nearshore environments over the past 2,700 years. Mussel size data from over 9,000 shells across eight archaeological sites, combined with harvesting models and ecological simulations, reveal selective, rotational harvesting that sustained and enhanced mussel populations for millennia. Isotopic analysis suggests seasonal shellfish harvesting primarily during late spring, early summer, and possibly early fall. UAV-based surveys and ecological mapping near a major ancestral village of Sεcōdañ document maricultural innovations such as abalone gardens and stone fish traps, which increased intertidal productivity and supported diverse lifeways. These findings demonstrate that culturally embedded strategies and traditional tenure systems help sustain ecosystems while supporting diverse subsistence and maritime economies. They offer valuable models for contemporary marine conservation and restoration, while supporting the cultural revitalization of Indigenous stewardship practices and foodways.