Human impacts on seals, sea lions, and sea otters : integrating archaeology and ecology in the Northeast Pacific / edited by Todd J. Braje and Torben C. Rick
Cover; Contents; Contributors; 1 PEOPLE, PINNIPEDS, AND SEA OTTERS OF THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC; 2 A HISTORY OF PALEOECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON SEA OTTERS AND PINNIPEDS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC RIM; 3 THE HISTORICAL ECOLOGY OF WALRUS EXPLOITATION IN THE NORTH PACIFIC; 4 NEOGLACIAL SEA ICE AND LIFE HISTORY FLEXIBILITY IN RINGED AND FUR SEALS; 5 A 4500-YEAR TIME-SERIES OF OTARIID ABUNDANCE ON SANAK ISLAND, WESTERN GULF OF ALASKA; 6 AN ANALYSIS OF SEAL, SEA LION, AND SEA OTTER CONSUMPTION PATTERNS ON SANAK ISLAND, ALASKA: AN 1800-YEAR RECORD ON ALEUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Summary
For more than ten thousand years, Native Americans from Alaska to southern California relied on aquatic animals such as seals, sea lions, and sea otters for food and raw materials. Archaeological research on the interactions between people and these marine mammals has made great advances recently and provides a unique lens for understanding the human and ecological past. Archaeological research is also emerging as a crucial source of information on contemporary environmental issues as we improve our understanding of the ancient abundance, ecology, and natural history of these species
