Santa Cruz Island Reserve

07 Sep, 03 AM - 15 Sep, 02 AM

Over the past year, Michael Glassow and I have conducted various research trips to Santa Cruz Island with the goal of locating late Pleistocene /early Holocene age sites on Santa Cruz Island. Much of our research focus has been on the southern shore of the west end of the island as there are numerous rock shelters found within this landscape. The results of this research, though productive, did not result in the location of a site that pre-dates 10,000 BP. Although this landscape may still hold evidence of early occupation, there have been numerous surveys conducted in the surrounding areas that continually expose middle Holocene sites, not late Pleistocene or even early Holocene sites. At this point in the research, I would like to survey locales that have not previously been the subject of extensive survey, but still exhibit characteristic consistent with those landscapes on San Miguel Island, where early deposits have been located. The northern shore of the west end of Santa Cruz Island does exhibit characteristics similar to the landscape surrounding Daisy Cave on San Miguel Island, namely rocky sea cliffs and steep bathymetry. There has been very little survey conducted on this northern shore; however, the surveys that have been conducted have consistently shown there to be rockshelters all along this shoreline. Additionally, the earliest sites on the Northern Channel Islands are located on northern facing shores. If groups were migrating across Santarosae along this northern shoreline, then this area of Santa Cruz may have been along the migration route of groups exploiting the resources on the northern shores of Santa Rosa and San Miguel. I am proposing a survey along the western part of this northern shoreline in an effort to locate additional rockshelters that may contain evidence of prehistoric habitation. The research team will include four people and will focus on the location and recording of new rockshelter sites for analysis. Any rockshelter found will be recorded and assessed for the possibility of further study. Samples will be collected from any rockshelters exhibiting characteristics typical of early hunter-gatherer occupation.

Visit #15820 @Santa Cruz Island Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 7883 | Research

Early Maritime Hunter-Gatherer Occupation and the Initial Human Migration into the New World, Santa Cruz Island, California

faculty - Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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Group of 2 Graduate Student Sep 7 - 15, 2008 (9 days)

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Dorm 2 Sep 7 - 15, 2008
Jeep 2 Sep 7 - 15, 2008