Small Islands and Marginality: Santa Barbara Island and its Role in the Prehistory of California’s Channel Islands

ABSTRACT

As the smallest of California’s Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Island has received limited attention from archaeologists. A United States National Park Service project designed to assess its 19 known sites evolved into an island-wide survey that increased the number to 63 sites that date between 4000 and 600 years ago. Most are small shell and lithic scatters, although some are larger shell middens with greater faunal and artifact diversity. Their constituents and geographic distribution indicate that the island not only served as a stopover during inter-island travel but was occupied for longer periods to target local resources such as marine mammal rookeries. Our research presents an opportunity to evaluate the significance of this island to prehistoric communities throughout the archipelago. On a broader level, it provides insights into the important roles that small islands have played in prehistoric lifeways as well as perceptions of marginality.

KEYWORDS:

• Marginality
• marginal environments
• Santa Barbara Island
• California Channel Islands
• Gabrielino-Tongva

Acknowledgments

First, we are grateful to Channel Islands National Park and their staff for supporting the survey of Santa Barbara Island including Laura Kirn, Kristin Hoppa, and everyone who assisted in the logistics of traveling to and from the island. We also appreciate the help of Chris Coleman at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and students at CSU Channel Islands who assisted in the analysis of museum collections including Rachel Bowman, James Brewer, Jarrod Chudacoff, Anahis Hagopian, and Frances Klingenberger. We also thank Stephen Bednar for making Figure 1 and Courtney Buchanan for her editorial assistance. Finally, we are very grateful to our three reviewers for their meaningful comments. This work was supported entirely by Channel Islands National Park.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on Contributors

Jennifer E. Perry (Ph.D. 2003, University of California, Santa Barbara) is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Channel Islands. Her research focus is on long-term perspectives on human-coastal interactions in California and specifically on its Channel Islands. Her current emphasis is on archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence of interaction and exchange throughout the archipelago.

Michael A. Glassow (Ph.D. 1972, University of California, Los Angeles) is an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research has focused on the prehistory of Santa Barbara County, including the northern Channel Islands. He is particularly interested in identifying changes in subsistence practices and how these relate to environmental changes and fluctuation in population numbers.

Mark L. Neal (M.A. 2007, University of California, Santa Barbara) is an independent archaeologist and cultural resource specialist. He has worked on projects throughout California and Alaska specializing in archaeological research planning, direction of field data collection, and the use of GIS in the analysis of cultural resource distribution and predictive modeling.

Kelly R. Minas is retired from the National Park Service, having served as the Park Archaeologist for Channel Islands National Park.

Terry L. Joslin (Ph.D. 2010, University of California, Santa Barbara) is a principal at Central Coast Archaeological Research Consultants, and a faunal specialist focusing on fish bone taxonomic identifications and analysis. Her research interests are hunter-gatherer ecology and long-term human-coastal interactions on the central California coast and California’s Channel Islands.

ORCID

Jennifer E. Perry http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8772-0718

Mark L. Neal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1072-3328