Mollusks and Mass Harvesting in the Middle Holocene

Archaeological excavations at California Channel Island sites have produced a history of roughly 12,000 years of maritime subsistence, technological change, human-environmental interactions, and cultural evolution. These excavations provide valuable data on the dynamics of Channel Island nearshore marine ecosystems and the adaptive strategies of maritime hunter-gatherers who foraged, fished, and hunted in them for millennia. In this article, we summarize the context, chronology, and implications of two Middle Holocene sites on San Miguel Island, where black turban snails (Tegula funebralis) dominate the faunal assemblages. We discuss the dominance of small shellfish in relation to optimal foraging theory and the general belief that larger-bodied animals were more attractive to ancient coastal foragers.