Extracting meaning from archaeological herring remains in the south Salish Sea
Presentation Abstract
Recent years have seen an increased recognition of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) as a keystone species in terms of both biological and cultural importance along much of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Studies of assemblages of faunal remains from archaeological sites along the coast are part of this trend, including the shores of the Salish Sea where a rich record of traditional Native American fishing extends for several millennia into the past. Methodological improvements such as fine-mesh sampling of site constituents and a growing data set of excavated archaeological assemblages allow more detailed inferences about both past fishing practices and past fish populations. This has had a cumulative effect of fostering recent studies of past fish use at much larger scales as well. The presentation given here reviews the archaeological record of herring use across the south Salish Sea, as well as the scope of an on-going research program of aDNA analysis of herring remains from several sites in Puyallup and Suquamish traditional territories that may shed light on their population dynamics
Session Title
Ecological and cultural context of Pacific herring in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Fish remains (Archaeology)--Northwest Coast of North America; Coastal archaeology--Northwest Coast of North America; Ethnoarchaeology--Northwest Coast of North America; Indians of North America--Social life and customs; Indians of North America--Antiquities
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Northwest Coast of North America
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Extracting meaning from archaeological herring remains in the south Salish Sea
2016SSEC
Recent years have seen an increased recognition of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) as a keystone species in terms of both biological and cultural importance along much of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Studies of assemblages of faunal remains from archaeological sites along the coast are part of this trend, including the shores of the Salish Sea where a rich record of traditional Native American fishing extends for several millennia into the past. Methodological improvements such as fine-mesh sampling of site constituents and a growing data set of excavated archaeological assemblages allow more detailed inferences about both past fishing practices and past fish populations. This has had a cumulative effect of fostering recent studies of past fish use at much larger scales as well. The presentation given here reviews the archaeological record of herring use across the south Salish Sea, as well as the scope of an on-going research program of aDNA analysis of herring remains from several sites in Puyallup and Suquamish traditional territories that may shed light on their population dynamics
