California's Channel Islands : the archaeology of human-environment interactions

California’s Channel Islands are a chain of eight islands that extend along the state’s southern coastline from Santa Barbara’s Point Conception to the Mexican border. Popular tourist destinations today, these islands once supported some of the earliest human populations in the Americas; archaeological evidence of maritime Paleo-Indian settlements on the northern islands dates back some 13,000 years. The indigenous peoples of the islands—the Chumash of the northern islands and the Tongva of the southern islands—thrived into historic times by relying upon the abundance and diversity of marine and terrestrial resources available to them. __California’s Channel Islands__ presents a definitive archaeological investigation of these unique islands and their inhabitants, and is the first publication to discuss the islands and their peoples holistically rather than individually or by subgroup. Tracing the human occupation of the islands from the earliest settlement at the end of the Pleistocene by marine-adapted foragers with sophisticated stone tool technologies to the tragic story of historic depopulation continuing into the nineteenth century, contributors discuss topics including human settlement patterns on small and large scales, prehistoric trails, the use of plant resources, and ceremonialism. They also address the decisions that people made when confronted with diverse and changing environments. By focusing on distinct aspects of human relationships with California’s Channel Islands through time, they tell a story of settlement, subsistence, and ritual on the coastal edge of western North America. This compendium of scholarship condenses decades of excavation and analysis into a single, illuminating volume that will be indispensable for those interested in the Channel Islands or New World history or archaeology. Introduction / Christopher S. Jazwa and Jennifer E. Perry The ecological, environmental, and cultural contexts for island archaeology / Christopher S. Jazwa and Jennifer E. Perry Points in space and time: the distribution of paleocoastal points and crescents on California's northern Channel Islands / Todd J. Braje, Jon M. Erlandson, and Torben C. Rick The early holocene occupation of Santa Cruz Island / Amy E. Gusick Settlement systems on Santa Cruz Island between 6300 and 5300 BP / Michael A. Glassow The ideal free distribution and settlement history at old Ranch Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, California / Christopher S. Jazwa, Douglas J. Kennett, and Bruce Winterhalder Geographic information systems as a tool for analyzing intrasite spatial variability on San Nicolas Island, California / Richard B. Guttenberg, Ren L. Vellanoweth, William E. Kendig, Rebekka G. Knierim, and Steven J. Schwartz Paleoethnobotanical investigations on the Channel Islands: current directions and theoretical considerations / Kristina M. Gill The archaeology of ritual on the Channel Islands / Jennifer E. Perry Cultural landscapes of Catalina Island / Wendy G. Teeter, Desire Rene Martinez, and Karimah O. Kennedy Richardson The native depopulation of Santa Catalina Island, California / Ivan H. Strudwick Island perspectives / Michael Jochim.