The Island Chumash Behavioral Ecology of a Maritime Society [Hardcover]

Colonized as early as 13,500 years ago, the Northern Channel Islands of California offer some of the earliest evidence of human habitation along the west coast of North America. The Chumash people who lived on these islands are considered to be among the most socially and politically complex hunter-gatherers in the world. This book provides a powerful and innovative synthesis of the cultural and environmental history of the chain of islands. Douglas J. Kennett shows that the trends in cultural elaboration were, in part, set into motion by a series of dramatic environmental events that were the catalyst for the unprecedented social and political complexity observed historically.

Douglas J. Kennettis Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.

The most important study to come out of the Chumash area, and one of the best examples of research on culture change in contemporary archaeology. L. Mark Raab, coeditor ofPrehistoric California

A contribution that is remarkable in its scope, quality, and importance. Terry L. Jones, coeditor ofCatalysts to Complexity

The most comprehensive effort yet made to apply the theoretical framework of behavioral ecology to a problem in human prehistory. The result is not only an excellent demonstration of the power of the approach but a major contribution to the pre-European history of California. James O'Connell, University of Utah

CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Study Area, Climate Change and Emergent Cultural Complexity, Note on Chronology


CHAPTER 2
Human Behavioral Ecology and Maritime Societies
Maritime Foraging Strategies, Diet Choice in Maritime Settings, Return Rates for Marine Resources, Central Place Foraging and Maritime Foragers, Intensification and the Ideal Free Distribution, Competition and the Formation of Social Hierarchies in Coastal Settings, Summary


CHAPTER 3
Environlù