Coastal Foraging During the Last ∼4,800 Years at Bajamar-Jatay, Baja California, Mexico

Indigenous inhabitants of the Baja California peninsula used littoral and marine resources for food and raw materials from the Holocene through the Spanish Colonial and Mission period. This study analyzes faunal assemblages from seven archaeological sites in the Bajamar-Jatay area spanning ∼4,800 years to examine coastal foraging strategies during periods of cultural transition and environmental variability. Subsistence practices focused on harvesting mollusks, particularly larger species from upper and middle intertidal zones—such as black abalone, California mussel, and owl limpet—along with smaller aggregated species like turban snails. Nearshore fishing occurred but remained supplementary. Results indicate relative stability in harvested intertidal mollusks, with shell densities and ecological indices oscillating through time. These findings suggest localized adaptive strategies and sustained intertidal resource management within rocky boulder intertidal and subtidal habitats. There is no clear evidence that environmental shifts significantly affected local shellbeds.