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Islanders and Mainlanders: Prehistoric Context for the Southern California Coast and Channel Islands
The southern California coast has been a favored place to live for nearly 12,000 years. Dotted with marshes, estuaries, cliffs, and open beaches, with islands and mountains lying nearby, the area is rich in resources. How humans have fit into this ecological diverse and ever-changing landscape is a constant theme in the prehistory of the region. Using comparative studies of island and coastal cultures from the Pacific, the authors show how the study of southern California's past can enlighten us about coastal adaptations worldwide. Drawing on sources from anthropology, ethnohistory, geoscience, and archaeology, their findings are presented in a readable fashion that will make Islanders and Mainlanders of interest not only to a wide range of scholars but to the general public as well. Jeffrey H. Altschul is President and Donn R. Grenda is Director of the California Office of Statistical Research, Inc., a cultural resource management consulting firm. Both have been extremely active in southern California archaeology, working on sites on the mainland and the Channel Islands.
255 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2002
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April 30, 2009
Originally written as part of a contract for the Navy and the Department of Defense by Statistical Research, Islanders and Mainlanders approaches the archaeology of the Southern California bight in a simple and easy to read format for non archaeologists. Essentially an edited volume, each chapter is written by a series of authors who all wrote around a common theme of providing an intellectual context for the future representations of the bight. While the book was originally written to understand San Nicolas Island’s relationship within the Channel Islands, the main goal is to gather a bigger picture of the relationship of the Channel Islands as a whole from the islands themselves, to human environmental relationships and finally from the islands to the mainland and beyond . The chapters use a variety of methods to achieve their goals including anthropology, ethnohistory, geoscience, and archaeology. The book demonstrates how archaeology works from establishing a framework to archaeological theories to where we are today. Although it lacks new information for professionals, it serves as a review for those who have worked in California archaeology. It’s a great read for those who are looking to have a greater understanding of why archaeologists do archaeology.
Written like an introductory text book, common archaeological terms such as context, significance, village, complexity, and scale among others are defined in order to prepare the reader as they get further into the book. Theoretical basis are also explained in order to make some of the archaeological literature easier to understand should the reader want to explore further. These include concepts such as functionalism, sociopolitical complexity, cultural ecology, adaptation, social theory, and cultural complexity among others. The editor of the book chose a team of researchers in the beginning of their careers to demonstrate a fresh look at Channel Islands archaeology. These researchers included Donn Grenda, Hsian Ilahiane, René Vellanoweth, and William McCawley who had researched the history on the Gabrielino and Chumash cultures. The authors tackle complex issues simplifying them as much as possible so that the reader can understand how and why we do archaeology. With an audience like the Department of the Defense, the authors are challenging the review board to see why we need to do archaeology in order to understand the peoples of the prehistoric past.
Altshul and Grenda argue as archaeologists we need to paint a bigger picture of what was happening along the coast of California. Given their audience this makes sense, in order to sell archaeology, its easier to use the big picture. With the framework established, the readers jump in to the never ending questions: why do archaeologists study islands? Looking at a critical review of the anthropological literature, Ilahiane and Altschul look for the common threads and differences between the peoples along the Pacific Coasts. The authors argue that the environment plays a critical role in the lives of the people along the coast in the Holocene. In this manner, archaeologists have often seen islands as laboratories which they argue create artificial boundaries and assume that the inhabitants developed without outside contact. The authors argue that this scope is limiting and unrealistic because of the changes within the environment and the trade and exchange networks occurring between both the islanders and the mainlanders along the bight. Using two ethnographic and archaeological paradigms, culture history and human adaptation; they look at three populations along the coast: the Seri of Baja California, the Chumash, the cultures of the Pacific Northwest and the Eskimo. These examples provide the framework to demonstrate how both functional and ecological concepts are explored and applied to the archaeological record. By looking at the islanders, the mainlanders and the combination of the two archaeologists are able to study maritime adaptation along the southern California bight.
The book discuses the basic background necessary to understanding the cultures of the bight. McCawley presents the entnographic and ethnohistoric data of both the Chumash and the Gabrielino cultures. This includes the basics from the world systems theory perspective of the islands to the plank canoe and everything in between using archaeological research done over time. The environment and environmental change plays a huge role background of the bight. So Vellanoweth and Grenda begin with its key characteristics in the areas of the Santa Barbara coast, the Los Angeles Basin and the northern coast of Orange County. The chapter provides an insight into the habitat and the methods in which the peoples of the blight lived. Vellanoweth and Altschul then set the stage by giving a basic anthropological theory course and its application to the blight in their chapter “Antiquarians, Culture Historians and Scientists”. They demonstrate how early archaeologists were primarily collectors of artifacts and evolved to into modern day archaeologists Rather than confusing the reader, Vellanoweth and Altschul set up the basic timeline of the blight into three time periods the late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, the Middle Holocene and the Late Holocene. The parameters are quite basic, but the reader has a larger understanding of the three time periods and can advance from there.
Grenda and Altschul for their chapter on the “A Moveable Feast” and “Complex, Cultures and Complex Arguments” bring up issues related to settlement, economy and social organization. Using a strong theoretical background, Grenda and Altschul get into the meat of the book. They get into island, coastal and desert settlement throughout the Holocene. Here they discuss the key sites related to the different time periods on the islands and the theoretical basis for understanding these settlements. They argue that there is a lack of well dated sites to paint a complete picture of island settlement. Grenda and Altschul then explore the coastal settlement along the blight and the desert settlements including the Mojave. Using these examples, they demonstrate human environmental adaptation and the need for trade and exchange as an adaptive mechanism. Thus they set up the next chapter and challenge Arnold’s argument that adaptation was the mechanism for social change.
“Complex Culture, Complex Arguments: Sociopolitical Organization in the Bight” sets up the challenge for archaeologists. First Grenda and Altschul begin by reviewing the sociopolitical evolution of the bight, through the early Holocene and the middle Holocene. Challenging the issue of complexity they explore the multitude of meanings. The authors argue that the attributes of bands, tribes and chiefdoms are often poorly defined. In the final chapter, Altschul wraps it up by arguing that archaeologists have been limited by scale and that we need to move beyond the concept of the island as a laboratory. He argues that we need to look beyond bounded groups and looking at the interrelationships between the Chumash and their island neighbors the Gabrielino and the mainland populations to get the big picture.
Overall the book demonstrates a simplified explanation of Southern California bight archeology for those who are not archaeologists. For those of us who are advanced students or professionals the book leaves a lot to be desired. From its opening chapter, the reader might believe that he or she is going to gain a better understanding of the relationship between San Nicolas Island and the other Channel Islands and the mainland, but as we have seen, it’s an overview of the Southern California bight. However, as an introductory textbook it provides a lot of the basics and sorts though the archaeological literature which at times might be confusing for those who have basic understanding of Southern California prehistory.
As, I was reading the arguments of Grenda and Altschul, I found myself agreeing with much of their perspectives in questioning the environmental effects on human adaptation which Arnold argued lead to complexity. I found myself asking the same questions while reading articles in Raab and Jones book. I appreciated the fact that they critically reviewed much of the literature that I had read. I found myself making the same arguments How did the Chumash get to their level of complexity? For me, reading Islanders and Mainlanders cemented that I was on the right track asking the same questions.
For a time, California archaeology was so narrow minded it could barely see connections between the northern and the southern Channel Islands, today they see beyond the boundaries of the island laboratories. New archaeologists have come on to the scene and changed our views of how we see the Channel Islands today. Islanders and Mainlanders helped challenge the thinking of the time. Sure it had its faults, but as a review for advanced readers, but it challenged the framework that had been established. If we look to the archeological literature today, Jones and Kaar’s book California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture and Complexity (2007) take the big picture concept a step further. Overall Islanders and Mainlanders is a great read for those who are just getting their feet wet in Channel Islands archaeology.
Written like an introductory text book, common archaeological terms such as context, significance, village, complexity, and scale among others are defined in order to prepare the reader as they get further into the book. Theoretical basis are also explained in order to make some of the archaeological literature easier to understand should the reader want to explore further. These include concepts such as functionalism, sociopolitical complexity, cultural ecology, adaptation, social theory, and cultural complexity among others. The editor of the book chose a team of researchers in the beginning of their careers to demonstrate a fresh look at Channel Islands archaeology. These researchers included Donn Grenda, Hsian Ilahiane, René Vellanoweth, and William McCawley who had researched the history on the Gabrielino and Chumash cultures. The authors tackle complex issues simplifying them as much as possible so that the reader can understand how and why we do archaeology. With an audience like the Department of the Defense, the authors are challenging the review board to see why we need to do archaeology in order to understand the peoples of the prehistoric past.
Altshul and Grenda argue as archaeologists we need to paint a bigger picture of what was happening along the coast of California. Given their audience this makes sense, in order to sell archaeology, its easier to use the big picture. With the framework established, the readers jump in to the never ending questions: why do archaeologists study islands? Looking at a critical review of the anthropological literature, Ilahiane and Altschul look for the common threads and differences between the peoples along the Pacific Coasts. The authors argue that the environment plays a critical role in the lives of the people along the coast in the Holocene. In this manner, archaeologists have often seen islands as laboratories which they argue create artificial boundaries and assume that the inhabitants developed without outside contact. The authors argue that this scope is limiting and unrealistic because of the changes within the environment and the trade and exchange networks occurring between both the islanders and the mainlanders along the bight. Using two ethnographic and archaeological paradigms, culture history and human adaptation; they look at three populations along the coast: the Seri of Baja California, the Chumash, the cultures of the Pacific Northwest and the Eskimo. These examples provide the framework to demonstrate how both functional and ecological concepts are explored and applied to the archaeological record. By looking at the islanders, the mainlanders and the combination of the two archaeologists are able to study maritime adaptation along the southern California bight.
The book discuses the basic background necessary to understanding the cultures of the bight. McCawley presents the entnographic and ethnohistoric data of both the Chumash and the Gabrielino cultures. This includes the basics from the world systems theory perspective of the islands to the plank canoe and everything in between using archaeological research done over time. The environment and environmental change plays a huge role background of the bight. So Vellanoweth and Grenda begin with its key characteristics in the areas of the Santa Barbara coast, the Los Angeles Basin and the northern coast of Orange County. The chapter provides an insight into the habitat and the methods in which the peoples of the blight lived. Vellanoweth and Altschul then set the stage by giving a basic anthropological theory course and its application to the blight in their chapter “Antiquarians, Culture Historians and Scientists”. They demonstrate how early archaeologists were primarily collectors of artifacts and evolved to into modern day archaeologists Rather than confusing the reader, Vellanoweth and Altschul set up the basic timeline of the blight into three time periods the late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, the Middle Holocene and the Late Holocene. The parameters are quite basic, but the reader has a larger understanding of the three time periods and can advance from there.
Grenda and Altschul for their chapter on the “A Moveable Feast” and “Complex, Cultures and Complex Arguments” bring up issues related to settlement, economy and social organization. Using a strong theoretical background, Grenda and Altschul get into the meat of the book. They get into island, coastal and desert settlement throughout the Holocene. Here they discuss the key sites related to the different time periods on the islands and the theoretical basis for understanding these settlements. They argue that there is a lack of well dated sites to paint a complete picture of island settlement. Grenda and Altschul then explore the coastal settlement along the blight and the desert settlements including the Mojave. Using these examples, they demonstrate human environmental adaptation and the need for trade and exchange as an adaptive mechanism. Thus they set up the next chapter and challenge Arnold’s argument that adaptation was the mechanism for social change.
“Complex Culture, Complex Arguments: Sociopolitical Organization in the Bight” sets up the challenge for archaeologists. First Grenda and Altschul begin by reviewing the sociopolitical evolution of the bight, through the early Holocene and the middle Holocene. Challenging the issue of complexity they explore the multitude of meanings. The authors argue that the attributes of bands, tribes and chiefdoms are often poorly defined. In the final chapter, Altschul wraps it up by arguing that archaeologists have been limited by scale and that we need to move beyond the concept of the island as a laboratory. He argues that we need to look beyond bounded groups and looking at the interrelationships between the Chumash and their island neighbors the Gabrielino and the mainland populations to get the big picture.
Overall the book demonstrates a simplified explanation of Southern California bight archeology for those who are not archaeologists. For those of us who are advanced students or professionals the book leaves a lot to be desired. From its opening chapter, the reader might believe that he or she is going to gain a better understanding of the relationship between San Nicolas Island and the other Channel Islands and the mainland, but as we have seen, it’s an overview of the Southern California bight. However, as an introductory textbook it provides a lot of the basics and sorts though the archaeological literature which at times might be confusing for those who have basic understanding of Southern California prehistory.
As, I was reading the arguments of Grenda and Altschul, I found myself agreeing with much of their perspectives in questioning the environmental effects on human adaptation which Arnold argued lead to complexity. I found myself asking the same questions while reading articles in Raab and Jones book. I appreciated the fact that they critically reviewed much of the literature that I had read. I found myself making the same arguments How did the Chumash get to their level of complexity? For me, reading Islanders and Mainlanders cemented that I was on the right track asking the same questions.
For a time, California archaeology was so narrow minded it could barely see connections between the northern and the southern Channel Islands, today they see beyond the boundaries of the island laboratories. New archaeologists have come on to the scene and changed our views of how we see the Channel Islands today. Islanders and Mainlanders helped challenge the thinking of the time. Sure it had its faults, but as a review for advanced readers, but it challenged the framework that had been established. If we look to the archeological literature today, Jones and Kaar’s book California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture and Complexity (2007) take the big picture concept a step further. Overall Islanders and Mainlanders is a great read for those who are just getting their feet wet in Channel Islands archaeology.
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