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Early Storage and Sedentism on the Pacific Northwest Coast: Ancient DNA Analysis of Salmon Remains from Namu, British Columbia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Aubrey Cannon  and
Dongya Y. Yang
Aubrey Cannon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4L9 (cannona@mcmaster.ca)
Dongya Y. Yang
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada, V5A 1S6 (donyang@sfu.ca)
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Abstract

Ancient DNA identification of salmon remains from the site of Namu on the central coast of British Columbia shows use of a variety of species and an emphasis on pink salmon over the course of the past 7,000 years. These results support arguments that Namu was a permanent village settlement dependent on a salmon storage economy throughout this time. This pattern of subsistence and settlement predates by several millennia the first substantial evidence for population expansion or social differentiation in the region. Periodic salmon shortages in the period after 2000 cal B.C., which are associated with local and regional disruptions in settlement and increased reliance on more marginal resources, appear to be the result of failures in the pink salmon fishery.

Résumé

Résumé

La identificación del ADN antiguo en remanentes de salmón obtenidos en el sitio Namu en la costa central de la Columbia Británica, constituye evidencia de la utilización de una variedad de especies, con preferencia por el salmón rosado, a través de los últimos 7000 años. Dichos resultados vendrían a apoyar la hipótesis de que Namu sería un asentamiento permanente, que dependería económicamente del almacenamiento de salmón. Este patrón de subsistencia y de asentamiento vendría a ser más temprano, por varios milenios, que la importante primera evidencia de una expansión poblacional o de una diferenciación social en esta región. La escasez periódica del salmón en el período posterior al 2000 cal B.C., asociada con trastornos en los asentamientos locales y regionales y con un incremento de la dependencia sobre recursos más marginales, vendrían a ser producto del fracaso en la pesca del salmón rosado.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 71 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 123 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2006

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