Terrestrial Resource Exploitation on Santa Cruz Island, California: Macrobotanical Data from Four Middle Holocene Sites

Abstract

On the northern Channel Islands, the occupation of interior sites during the Middle Holocene (6650–3350 cal BP) has been attributed, in part, to terrestrial resource exploitation. The presence of groundstone artifacts, particularly mortars and pestles, in Middle Holocene sites and burials supports the idea that plants were important during this time period. The current study presents macrobotanical data from 4 Middle Holocene sites on Santa Cruz Island. Of the 4 sites, 3 are located within the Central Valley, the island's most productive watershed; whereas the fourth site is located on a coastal bluff on the eastern end of the island. This arrangement allows for a comparison of contemporary coastal and interior sites. Although very few seeds were recovered from these samples, the results provide clues to seasonality of occupation and exploited habitats. The presence of seeds from medicinal plants at all 3 interior sites and the absence of seeds at the coastal site suggests that access to these resources played a role in settlement decisions. Though all of the plants recovered have medical uses in the ethnographic record, very few have any recorded use as food. This study contextualizes the macrobotanical results by addressing issues of preservation and recovery and by identifying areas for future research.