UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Ancient Plant Use and the Importance of Geophytes among the Island Chumash of Santa Cruz Island, California A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Kristina Marie Gill Committee in charge: Professor Michael A. Glassow, Chair Professor Michael A. Jochim Professor Amber M. VanDerwarker Professor Lynn H. Gamble September 2015 The dissertation of Kristina Marie Gill is approved. __________________________________________ Michael A. Jochim __________________________________________ Amber M. VanDerwarker __________________________________________ Lynn H. Gamble __________________________________________ Michael A. Glassow, Committee Chair July 2015 Ancient Plant Use and the Importance of Geophytes among the Island Chumash of Santa Cruz Island, California Copyright © 2015 By Kristina Marie Gill iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my Family, Mike Glassow, and the Chumash People. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people who have provided guidance, encouragement, and support in my career as an archaeologist, and especially through my undergraduate and graduate studies. For those of whom I am unable to personally thank here, know that I deeply appreciate your support. First and foremost, I want to thank my chair Michael Glassow for his patience, enthusiasm, and encouragement during all aspects of this daunting project. I am also truly grateful to have had the opportunity to know, learn from, and work with my other committee members, Mike Jochim, Amber VanDerwarker, and Lynn Gamble. I cherish my various field experiences with them all on the Channel Islands and especially in southern Germany with Mike Jochim, whose worldly perspective I value deeply. I also thank Terry Jones, who provided me many undergraduate opportunities in California archaeology and encouraged me to attend a field school on San Clemente Island with Mark Raab and Andy Yatsko, an experience that left me captivated with the islands and their history. I thank Jan Timbrook for sparking my interest in ancient plant use, and Eric Wohlgemuth for setting me on the right track with California paleoethnobotany. Eric’s guidance, encouragement, and openness in teaching me flotation methods, identifications, and talking about ancient plant use in California have been critical. The field aspect of my research was logistically challenging, and I am grateful to the many people who schlepped themselves, equipment, and samples uphill (both ways) on the steep, rugged slopes of the northern range: 2008 Cal Poly Field Class, Dan Avera, Suzie Black, Kelli Brasket, Henry Chodsky, Aaron Elzinga, Jon Erlandson, Mike Glassow, Tim Gross, Stephen Henneck, Kristin Hoppa, Chris Jazwa, Terry Joslin, Erin King, Amber Marie v Madrid, Dusty McKenzie, Christina Navarro, Sarah (Mellinger) Nicchitta, Jessica Peak, Jenn Perry, Tim Slowik, Michelle Wilcox, and Eric Wohlgemuth. I also want to thank Jay Carlson, David Dewey, John Knapp, and the ProHunt helicopter crew for graciously moving the last ton of soil samples from Diablo Valdez to a location accessible by vehicle. Island research would also not be possible without the amazing crew at Island Packers, who have always graciously transported our equipment and “boxes of rocks” back to the mainland. Thanks especially to Jean Scholes and Captain Dave, whose enthusiasm and knowledge about the Channel region is magnetic. Numerous undergraduate students and volunteers helped me in the lab over the years, and I cannot thank them enough for their hard work, long hours, and attention to detail. I especially want to thank Kelsey Sullivan for her assistance with lithics, Chelsea Buell for her assistance with bone, and three women who assisted with paleoethnobotanical lab work: Jennifer Alvarado, Michelle Wilcox, and my mom, Peggy Gill. I am also grateful to The Nature Conservancy and the UC Natural Reserve System for facilitating this research and providing outstanding opportunities for field scientists. The invaluable conversations, interactions, and friendships I’ve made with various island research scientists and staff contributed greatly to my deeper understanding and appreciation of the unique ecology of the Channel Islands. Thanks especially to: TNC’s Jennifer Baker, Christy Boser, Jay Carlson, David Dewey, John Knapp, Scott Morrison, and John Randall; the UC Reserve’s Brian Guerrero and Lyndal Laughrin; and, Sara Baguskas, Todd Braje, Karen Flagg, Don Hartley, Steve Junak, Ken Niessen, Seetha Reddy, Torrey Rick, and Nicole Swabey. vi This research would not have been possible without the financial support I received from various agencies: the National Science Foundation (BCS 1232523), the Peter Paige Memorial Fund through UC Santa Barbara’s Anthropology Department, the Mildred E Mathias Foundation through the UC Natural Reserve System, and The Nature Conservancy. I thank the Chumash people, especially John Ruiz, Julie Tumamait, and Gil Unzueta, for sharing their wisdom, insight, and perspectives. I am honored to work in their homeland. Finally, I thank my close friends and family, who have supported me in various ways through all aspects of this project. To the archaeology crew, whose friendship and camaraderie I am so grateful for, and with whom I anticipate a dirt-ridden future and good times yet to be had: Amira Ainis, Dana Bardolph, Ethan Bertrando, Kelli Brasket, Amy Gusick, Kristin Hoppa, Laura Hoffman, Allison Jaqua, Chris Jazwa, Terry Joslin, Erin King, Amber Marie Madrid, Dusty McKenzie, Jenn Perry, Tim Slowik, and Michelle Wilcox. To my non-archaeology friends, especially Katie Drexhage, Jessica Peak, and Juanie Storrer, who helped keep me sane and entertained, as well as bringing some biology/botany balance to my life. To my always loving, supportive, and patient family, especially my parents, Dave and Peggy, and my sister Dana. Last but not least, I thank my husband and favorite person to work with on (and off) the islands, Jon Erlandson. vii CURRICULUM VITA OF KRISTINA M. GILL July 2015 Department of Anthropology University of California, Santa Barbara [email protected] EDUCATION Ph.D. 2015 University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology (Archaeology). Dissertation: Ancient Plant Use and the Importance of Geophytes among the Island Chumash of Santa Cruz Island, California. M.A. 2007 University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology (Archaeology). Thesis: Paleoethnobotanical Investigations in the San Emigdio Hills at Pinwheel Cave: CA-KER-5836 and CA-KER-5837. B.A. 2004 California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, Department of History. Senior Thesis: Historic Cemeteries in San Luis Obispo: What They Reveal About the City and its People Between 1880 and 1930. AFFILIATIONS Society of California Archaeology California Native Plant Society Society for American Archaeology Santa Barbara Archaeological Society San Luis Obispo Archaeological Society Society of Ethnobiology RESEARCH INTERESTS Paleoethnobotany California Archaeology Island and Coastal Adaptations Historical Ecology Cultural Resource Management Historic Preservation Native American Consultation Indigenous Land Management Practices PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS Erlandson, Jon M., Amira Ainis, Kristina M. Gill, Nicholas P. Jew 2012 Filling the Gaps: CA-SMI-274, a 10,500-Year-Old Shell Midden on San Miguel Island. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 33(1):53-60. Erlandson, Jon M., Kristina M. Gill, Torben C. Rick, and Leslie Reeder-Myers 2015 Three Late Paleocoastal Shell Middens on Santa Cruz Island, California. PaleoAmerica 1(1):113-115. viii Erlandson, Jon M., Todd J. Braje, Kristina M. Gill, and Michael H. Graham 2015 Ecology of the Kelp Highway: Did Marine Resources Facilitate Human Dispersal from Northeast Asia to the Americas? Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 10(1):1-20. Gill, Kristina M. 2013 Paleoethnobotanical Investigations on the Channel Islands: Current Directions and Theoretical Considerations. In Human Interactions with the California Channel Islands. edited by Christopher Jazwa and Jennifer Perry. pp, 113-136. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 2014 Seasons of Change: Using Seasonal Morphological Changes in Brodiaea Corms to Determine Season of Harvest from Archaeobotanical Remains. American Antiquity 79(4):638-654. Gill, Kristina M. and Jon M. Erlandson 2014 The Island Chumash and Exchange in the Santa Barbara Channel Region. American Antiquity 79(3):570-572. VanDerwarker, Amber M., Dana N. Bardolph, Kristin M. Hoppa, Heather B. Thakar, Lana S. Martin, Allison Jaqua, Matthew E. Biwer, Kristina M. Gill 2015 New World Paleoethnobotany in the New Millennium (2000-2013). Journal of Archaeological Research. In Review. EXPERIENCE Co-Principal Investigator June 2013 to Present Historical Dynamics. Co-Principal Investigator for cultural resource services inventories and technical reporting according to CEQA, NEPA, and Section 106 of NHPA. Assistant Coordinator July 2010 to December 2012 Central Coast Information Center (CCIC), California Historical Resources Inventory System, Office of Historic Preservation. Responsible for managing the CCIC office, including coordinating in-house appointments; managing site record and survey report inventories and historic resources databases; conducting record searches for projects in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Record searches include GIS mapping of site and survey locations, producing a bibliography