Colonization, Ecology, and Adaptive Adjustments of Paleocoastal Peoples on California's Northern Channel Islands

记录人类首次殖民美洲的时间对于了解古代北美文化和生态系统的演变至关重要。人类占领美洲的考古学证据出现在更新世-全新世过渡时期（约14，500 - 13，000 cal BP），这是一个环境和气候发生巨大变化的时期，因为地球从冰川移动到间冰期条件。美洲殖民化的几种模式已经被提出，包括晚更新世期间的陆地和沿海移民，太平洋海岸移民越来越可信。然而，在晚更新世和全新世早期，海平面的快速上升淹没了古老的海岸线和沿海低地，使得很难找到早期的沿海遗址。海平面上升和气候变化也造成了重大的地理和生物重组，对早期沿海人民提出了挑战。美洲航海和海洋适应的最早证据目前来自加州的北方海峡群岛。在圣罗莎和圣米格尔岛上挖掘五个更新世末期和全新世早期遗址，包括北美太平洋海岸（约12，000 - 11，500 cal BP）已知的三个最早遗址，将记录这些古代人的生活方式，他们生活的环境及其对岛屿生态系统的影响。考古调查还将寻找古代地貌，以寻找更多的早期遗址。该项目将提供有关最早定居海峡群岛和太平洋海岸的古海岸人的重要新数据，他们如何适应晚更新世和早全新世的动态环境，以及他们用于生存这种变化的策略。该项目的更广泛影响包括为研究生和本科生以及当地Chumash部落成员提供研究培训。公开讲座中的研究成果展示将强调考古学如何为社会面临的当代环境问题提供信息。

Documenting when people first colonized the Americas is crucial to understanding the evolution of ancient North American cultures and ecosystems. Definitive archaeological evidence for human occupation of the Americas appears during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (~14,500-13,000 cal BP), a time of dramatic environmental and climatic changes as the planet moved from glacial to interglacial conditions. Several models have been proposed for the colonization of the Americas, including land-based and coastal migrations during the Late Pleistocene, with a Pacific Coast migration gaining increasing credibility. Rapid sea level rise in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene submerged ancient shorelines and coastal lowlands, however, making it difficult to locate early coastal sites. Rising seas and climate change also caused significant geographic and biological reorganization that posed challenges for early coastal peoples.The earliest evidence for seafaring and maritime adaptations in the Americas currently comes from California's Northern Channel Islands. Excavation of five Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites on Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands, including three of the earliest known from the Pacific Coast of North America (~12,000-11,500 cal BP), will document the life ways of these ancient peoples, the environments they lived in, and their effects on island ecosystems. Archaeological survey will also search ancient landforms for additional early sites.This project will provide important new data on the Paleocoastal people who first settled the Channel Islands and Pacific Coast, how they adapted to the dynamic environments of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, and the strategies they used to survive such changes. The broader impacts of this project include providing research training for graduate and undergraduate students and local Chumash tribal members. Presentation of research results in public lectures will highlight how archaeology can inform contemporary environmental issues facing society.