Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems: A Global Perspective

Preface

Although their role has been underappreciated until recently, archaeological records from coastlines around the world contain a wealth of information on the history of marine fisheries, human impacts on marine ecosystems, and marine conservation principles. To illustrate the contributions archaeology can make to the study of historical ecology in a variety of marine ecosystems, this volume brings together experts from relatively well studied coastal regions around the world to summarize the history of human coastal occupation, environmental change, and human impacts in their area. The participants, an interdisciplinary group of archaeologists and marine ecologists, are some of the leading researchers involved in reconstructing the historical ecology and human impacts of coastal zones. They provide 11 case studies from the Americas, Pacific Islands, Europe, and Africa, and coverage of diverse marine ecosystems ranging from kelp forests to coral reefs to mangroves. For this book, we invited contributions from archaeologists and marine ecologists with a firm grasp on the data from particular regions, a deep knowledge of long coastal sequences in their respective areas, and a history of studying human-environmental relationships. Wherever possible, these studies use a multidisciplinary approach to document natural environmental change (sea level history, marine productivity, habitat change, etc.), the antiquity of coastal adaptations, and changes in human demography , technology, social organization, and subsistence through time. In each case study, we asked the authors to synthesize the evidence for human impacts on marine species or ecosystems across the full range of human occupation, from long prehistoric records, to early historical or colonial periods , to the emergence of increasingly globalized and industrialized fisheries of recent centuries or decades. Finally, these analyses consider the implications of the archaeological, historical, and ecological data from their region for our understanding of the nature of human impacts to marine ecosystems and for the development of fisheries management, conservation , and restoration protocols or policies that are more effective than those that have led to the widespread collapse of aquatic ecosystems and fisheries around the world. This is a large and complex undertaking, but one that we believe can greatly enhance the sustainability of the world’s marine ecosystems. The length, quality, and resolution of archaeological , historical, and ecological records in different coastal areas around the world also vary ix preface GRBQ335-3427G-FM[i-x].qxd 01/16/2008 10:46am Page ix Aptara Inc. considerably, so the level of detail and the relative emphasis of individual chapters vary somewhat . Following an introductory chapter by Erlandson and Rick (Chapter 1), the chapters in this volume are organized geographically. In Chapter 2, Anderson provides an in depth analysis of New Zealand and other subtropical Pacific Islands. This is followed by two North American Pacific Coast case studies by Corbett, Causey, Clementz, Koch, Doroff, Lefevre, and West (Aleutians; Chapter 3) and Rick, Erlandson , Braje, Estes, Graham, and Vellanoweth (southern California; Chapter 4). Kennett, Voorhies, Wake, and Martínez (Chapter 5) then provide a detailed analysis of the Pacific Coast of Mexico, which is followed by Reitz, Andrus, and Sandweiss’s (Chapter 6) review of human impacts on the fisheries of ancient and modern Peru. In Chapter 7, Fitzpatrick, Keegan, and Sealey provide perspectives from the Caribbean. The next three chapters focus on the North Atlantic, beginning with Bourque, Johnson, and Steneck (Chapter 8) for the Gulf of Maine, Perdikaris and McGovern (Chapter 9) on the Norse, and Bailey, Barrett, Craig, and Milner (Chapter 10) on the North Sea Basin. The focus then shifts to the Mediterranean with Morales and Rosselo’s (Chapter 11) 20,000-year analysis of fisheries in Iberia. Jerardino , Branch, and Navarro’s (Chapter 12) overview of South Africa is the final regional case study. Finally, Rick and Erlandson (Chapter 13) provide an overview of the volume, pointing out important issues in coastal archaeology and marine conservation as well as areas for future research. We owe a great deal of gratitude to the contributors of this volume for providing insightful and thought-provoking analyses of many major marine ecosystems around the world, and for graciously meeting our deadlines. David Steadman and Steven James provided a number of important comments on an earlier version of this manuscript that were instrumental in improving and expanding its content. We also thank Blake Edgar, Scott Norton, Matt Winfield, and the staff at the University of California Press, Joanne Bowser of Aptara, and Jake Kawatski of Live Oaks Indexing for helping review, edit, and produce this book. Finally, Jeremy Jackson, Paul Dayton, Bob DeLong, and Daniel Pauly provided...