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

记录人们第一次殖民美洲的时间，对于了解古代北美文化和生态系统的演变至关重要。人类占领美洲的确凿考古证据出现在更新世-全新世过渡时期(约14,500-13,000卡BP)，这一时期的环境和气候发生了戏剧性的变化，因为地球从冰川条件转变为间冰期条件。已经提出了几种美洲殖民模式，包括晚更新世期间的陆上和沿海移民，太平洋沿岸移民的可信度越来越高。然而，在更新世晚期和全新世早期，海平面的快速上升淹没了古老的海岸线和沿海低地，使得早期沿海遗址的定位变得困难。海平面上升和气候变化也造成了重大的地理和生物重组，这对早期的沿海人构成了挑战。目前，美洲航海和海上适应的最早证据来自加利福尼亚州的北海峡群岛。圣罗莎和圣米格尔群岛上的五个更新世晚期和早期全新世遗址的发掘，包括北美太平洋海岸已知的三个最早的遗址(~12,000-11,500卡BP)，将记录这些古代民族的生活方式，他们生活的环境，以及他们对岛屿生态系统的影响。考古调查还将在古代地貌中寻找更多的早期遗址。这个项目将提供重要的新数据，关于最先在海峡群岛和太平洋海岸定居的古海岸人，他们如何适应更新世晚期和全新世早期的动态环境，以及他们为了生存这种变化而采取的策略。该项目的更广泛影响包括为研究生和本科生以及当地丘马什部落成员提供研究培训。在公开演讲中展示研究成果将突出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.