Bighorn hunting, resource depression, and rock art in the Coso Range, eastern California: a computer simulation model
Alan P. Garfinkel, David A. Young, Robert M. Yohe II. 2009. Bighorn hunting, resource depression, and rock art in the Coso Range, eastern California: a computer simulation model. Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 42–51.
Full text [here]
See also: Garfinkel, Alan P. 2007. Paradigm Shifts, Rock Art Studies, and the “Coso Sheep Cult” of Eastern California. North American Archaeologist, Spring 2007. [here]
Selected Excerpts:
Abstract
The extraordinary record of prehistoric rock art depicting tens of thousands of animal images in the Coso Range of eastern California provides an opportunity to study the relationship between aboriginal hunting, forager ecology, bighorn prey population levels, and the production of rock art. We review archaeofaunal evidence that the Coso desert bighorn sheep population was strongly depleted during the Newberry era after 1500 B.C. We discuss the dating of the rock art and show a correlation between bighorn depletion and increased rock art production. These data are consistent with the arrival of Numic foragers ca. A.D. 600 who competed with the Coso Pre-Numics and eventually terminated the Coso rock art tradition. An ecological predator-prey computer simulation of the human populations (Numic and Pre-Numics), the sheep population, and the rock art ‘‘population’’, demonstrates these proposed interconnections and gives a reasonable fit to the observed rock art production rate. …
Introduction
The Coso Range of eastern California has been occupied by humans since the Paleoindian period. The early inhabitants of the area left pecked rock images in very large numbers. Beginning roughly 2000/1500 B.C. and ending about A.D. 1300, aboriginal people left an elaborate record of hunting scenes with bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) as their prey. Over time the images become more naturalistic or realistic, larger in size and the image count increases remarkably during its peak period of production and then inexplicably at its peak after about A.D. 1300 the art ceased being produced. There are at least 100,000 individual rock art images represented in the Coso petroglyph record and it is estimated that about half are depictions of bighorn sheep. The Coso Rock Art Complex is one of the largest concentrations of rock drawings in all of North America.
Such a striking array of naturalistic or realistic images is very unusual for the Desert West and this startling record begs explication. Early researchers posited that the tremendous numbers of bighorn representations were indicative of vast herds of bighorn sheep that occupied the area in the distant past. Prehistorians implied that periods of peak sheep hunting correlated with the greatest abundance of bighorn rock art images. Prehistoric animal images were part of a bighorn sheep cult. These images figured in increase rites designed to ensure the return of game animals, human, plant, and animal fecundity, and the health and well-being of the Coso people and their way of life (Garfinkel, 2006; Grant et al., 1968; Hildebrandt and McGuire, 2002; Heizer and Baumhoff,1962).
This paper provides a population estimate for the metapopulation (a group of spatially separated or isolated animals that occupy a fragmented habitat, have limited exchange of individuals, and consist of a number of animal groups that interact in a restricted geographic area) of Coso bighorn and simulates the population dynamic of the local herds in light of human predation. It evaluates the proposition of whether it is possible that bighorn were over-harvested and depleted. Archaeofaunal data are adduced to provide a timeline, trajectory, and independent evaluation of the plausibility for bighorn resource depression. It also posits that the Coso inhabitants were seeing population pressure and conflicting land use issues from the neighboring Numic groups to the north moving into their territory from the Owens Valley. Standard ecological competition and predator-prey models are applied to simulate human and sheep populations. The simulation models sheep hunting across time and also models rock art production.We develop a model of the competing Numic and pre-Numic exploitation and land use strategies and close by providing a partial explanation of why the Coso Range was such an extraordinary focus of rock art expression. …
Fig. 2. Coso Representational rock art, Coso Style sheep, bowmen, and more ancient,
patinated abstract and geometric petroglyph elements.
Ecological and Cultural Significance of Burning Beargrass Habitat on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Daniela Joy Shebitz, Sarah Hay den Reichard and Peter W Dunwiddie. 2009. Ecological and Cultural Significance of Burning Beargrass Habitat on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Ecological Restoration Vol, 27. No. 3, 2009.
Full text [here]
Selected Excerpts:
ABSTRACT
To conserve or restore culturally significant plants, one must consider the important role that indigenous land management techniques have played in maintaining habitats of those species. Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) is a basketry plant used by Native Americans and is reportedly declining in traditional gathering sites. Many low-elevation beargrass sites on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington were maintained as savannas and wetland prairies through anthropogenic burning prior to European settlement. This study measures short-term (1 and 2 y) effects of reintroducing prescribed burning (both low and high severity) and manual clearing on beargrass growth and reproductive success—flowering, vegetative reproduction, and seedling establishment. High-severity fire led to a significant increase in beargrass seedling establishment and vegetative reproduction over two years but a decline in beargrass cover. Low-severity fire also decreased beargrass cover, but did not significantly affect shoot production or seedling establishment. In areas where vegetation and coarse woody debris were manually cleared, beargrass cover decreased, while shoot production and flowering increased. Neither low-severity fires nor clearing plots affected beargrass seedling establishment. Results indicate that fire is a useful tool for enhancing low-elevation beargrass populations in this region.
Introduction
The persistence of many indigenous traditions is dependent upon the availability of culturally significant resources {Anderson 1996a, 1996b, 2005). Baskets made from local plants, for example, strengthen cultures by preserving traditions, reinforcing communities, and providing income (Shebitz and Kimmerer 2005). Indigenous basketmakers throughout the United States, however, have reported a decline in abundance and quality of basketry plant material at historic gathering sites. The absence of traditional burning over the past century is a potential cause for the decline in abundance of some basketry plant species, including deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens) (Anderson 1996b), sweetgrass (Anthoxanthum nitem [=Hierochloe odorata]) (Shebitz and Kimmerer 2004), and beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) (Hunter 1988, Rentz 2003, Shebitz 2005).
Historic Anthropogenically Maintained Bear Grass Savannas of the Southeastern Olympic Peninsula
David Peter and Daniela Shebitz. 2006. Historic Anthropogenically Maintained Bear Grass Savannas of the Southeastern Olympic Peninsula. Restoration Ecology Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 605–615
Full text [here]
Selected Excerpts:
Abstract:
This paper documents the existence and character of a little known fire-maintained anthropogenic ecosystem in the southeastern Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, U.S.A. Due to cessation of anthropogenic burning, there is no longer an intact example of this ecosystem. We present evidence from Skokomish oral tradition, historical documents, floral composition, tree-ring analysis, stand structure, and site potential to describe former savanna structure and function. We believe this system was a mosaic of prairies, savannas, and woodlands in a forest matrix maintained through repeated burning to provide culturally important plants and animals. The overstory was dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Bear grass (Xerophyllum tenax) likely was a dominant understory component of the savannas, woodlands, and prairie edges. These lands grew forests in the absence of anthropogenic burning. Wide spacing of older trees or stumps in former stands and rapid invasion by younger trees in the late 1800s and early 1900s suggest a sudden change in stand structure. Shade-intolerant prairie species are still present where openings have been maintained but not in surrounding forests. Bark charcoal, fire scars, tree establishment patterns, and oral traditions point to use of fire to maintain this system. A common successional trajectory for all these lands leads to forested vegetation. These findings suggest that frequent application of prescribed burning would be necessary to restore this ecosystem.
Introduction
Some anthropogenically maintained ecosystems owe their character to cultural burning and are inherently unstable when management practices change. Fire-dependent habitats that were maintained through burning by Native Americans include the prairies and savannas of western Washington State, U.S.A. Although these habitats were common in the region prior to European settlement (Jones 1936; Norton 1979; Leopold and Boyd 1999), their former extent in the southeastern Olympic Peninsula is not well known. …
Prior to European settlement, anthropogenic burning in many areas was regular, constant, and long term, causing cumulative effects reflected in current plant communities and species distributions (Pyne 1982; Anderson 1996, 2005; Boyd 1999). Prairie and savanna flora and fauna were integral components of diets, medicines, baskets, and rituals of local tribes (Norton 1979). The most significant sources of complex carbohydrates in the diets of Olympic Peninsula tribes came from bulbs and rhizomes found in prairies and savannas. Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn) and Common camas (Cammasia quamash (Pursh) Greene) were commonly used by the Skokomish and other native peoples in wetter Washington coastal environments (Gunther 1974; Norton 1979; Deur 2000). Berries growing in prairie forest ecotones were important sources of sugars and vitamins. Bear grass, used in Skokomish basketry and burial ceremonies (Gunther 1974; Shebitz 2005), also grew historically on the periphery of prairies (B. Miller, Skokomish Tribe, 2004, personal communication). According to Skokomish oral tradition, fire intervals were determined, in part, to maximize production of Trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus Cham. and Schlecht) (B. Miller, Skokomish Tribe, 1996, personal communication). Prairies and savannas provided important Blacktail deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Elk (Cervus canadensis) winter range, and were convenient places to hunt (Kruckeberg 1991; B. Miller, Skokomish Tribe, 2004, personal communication). …
Our objective is to provide evidence for the historic existence and character of an anthropogenically managed savanna ecosystem on the southeastern Olympic Peninsula of Washington as mixed prairie forest areas supporting extensive patches of bear grass. We compare data from two vegetation types identified on 1929 aerial photographs as savanna and matrix forests and describe forest invasion of savannas in the late 1800s. We interpret current vegetation in light of tree-ring analysis, fire history, and native oral traditions to reconstruct former savanna vegetation. We discuss our results in terms of site potential, cultural influence, and fire history. This information is assisting current efforts of the Olympic National Forest (ONF) in restoring savannas to the area. …
