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Climate Change and Subsistence Exchange in Southern California : Was Western Sea-Purslane a Channel Island Trade Good?

Fauvelle, Mikael LU orcid ; Esch, Ellen and Somerville, Andrew (2017) In American Antiquity 82(1). p.183-188
Abstract
A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to supplement island diets. Recently, western sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) has been suggested as a primary food product involved in this exchange. This report presents new caloric values for Sesuvium verrucosum and other plant foods that have been indicated as possible cross-channel trade goods. We argue that western sea-purslane is unlikely to have been a major trade item and suggest an alternate possibility for the presence of sea-purslane seeds in archaeological middens on Santa Cruz Island. While climate change may indeed have impacted social... (More)
A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to supplement island diets. Recently, western sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) has been suggested as a primary food product involved in this exchange. This report presents new caloric values for Sesuvium verrucosum and other plant foods that have been indicated as possible cross-channel trade goods. We argue that western sea-purslane is unlikely to have been a major trade item and suggest an alternate possibility for the presence of sea-purslane seeds in archaeological middens on Santa Cruz Island. While climate change may indeed have impacted social histories in the Channel Region, we argue that current data do not support the transportation of plant foods as having been a major component in this process. (Less)
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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
American Antiquity
volume
82
issue
1
pages
183 - 188
publisher
Society for American Archaeology
external identifiers
  • scopus:85016033776
ISSN
0002-7316
DOI
10.1017/aaq.2016.3
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
b8a05d77-aee3-4fdc-9e77-935bbbca420c
date added to LUP
2021-07-02 10:20:26
date last changed
2023-04-18 22:33:14
@article{b8a05d77-aee3-4fdc-9e77-935bbbca420c,
  abstract     = {{A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to supplement island diets. Recently, western sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) has been suggested as a primary food product involved in this exchange. This report presents new caloric values for Sesuvium verrucosum and other plant foods that have been indicated as possible cross-channel trade goods. We argue that western sea-purslane is unlikely to have been a major trade item and suggest an alternate possibility for the presence of sea-purslane seeds in archaeological middens on Santa Cruz Island. While climate change may indeed have impacted social histories in the Channel Region, we argue that current data do not support the transportation of plant foods as having been a major component in this process.}},
  author       = {{Fauvelle, Mikael and Esch, Ellen and Somerville, Andrew}},
  issn         = {{0002-7316}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{183--188}},
  publisher    = {{Society for American Archaeology}},
  series       = {{American Antiquity}},
  title        = {{Climate Change and Subsistence Exchange in Southern California : Was Western Sea-Purslane a Channel Island Trade Good?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2016.3}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/aaq.2016.3}},
  volume       = {{82}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}